Pennine Way day 16 (sat 3rd may 2014) - Bellingham to Byrness (15 miles)

The penultimate day! We've come a long way…and it feels like it too, everything hurts at this point, we just need to muster up enough energy to drag us to Kirk Yetholm! 
It's a lovely bright day and we have a fab breakfast before calling at the chemist and the co-op for the next 2 days supplies. We set off about half 10 and it's easy going to start with along the road before heading up onto the moors. It's nice walking up to Whitley Pike and around Padon hill with a fair bit of it being slabbed so not too much bogginess. Today's section is very quiet, we only pass one other walker all day coming in the opposite direction…but he seems in quite a rush and not inclined to stop for a chat!

We head up a really steep ascent by Redesale forest which takes some doing at this point and then the next section is dreadful, one of the boggiest bits so far which seems to go on forever through the forest, to the point where i'd started to question whether or not we had gone the wrong way.  It seemed to take ages jumping around trying to stay dry and we were both relieved to finally reach the forestry commission sign and walk on a proper road that wound it's way through the forest.  It's much easier going from here and we head down to the car park at Blakehope burn before following the river through woodland and a campsite and finally into Byrness.

We get a lovely welcome from Colin & Joyce at walkers view, Colin insists on cleaning up our boots for us even though Chris is mortified that his smell so bad! We enjoy a few drinks in Colin's little bar before Joyce serves us up a fabulous meal and we have a lovely time chatting to some other pennine wayers going north to south and just starting their walk.  They tell us that the couple we met earlier on in the walk stayed there the night before and were walking with a gentleman in his late 70's who was doing the pennine way as his first long distance path, got to be impressed with that!! We arrange to have an early breakfast and set the alarm for half five, yikes!!