Day 48 Tues 1st May

8 miles from Innerleithen to Peebles

The easiest day of the walk and it came at just the right time.
After heavy rain through the night I packed my rucksack and took down the inner tent. Then we waited for a break in the weather.


It's at times like this that I'm really grateful for my radio - a leaving gift from my workmates. I listen to it every morning and night, using the earphones. It's invaluable on noisy campsites.


I bought a dog lead in Innerleithen because Gyp has been on the other end of a bootlace for a week since I lost the last one. We got some funny looks in some of the posh hotels. Compo! I also bought a Tubigrip for my ankle. I also bought my first Scotch Pie for over ten years just to confirm my memories .....
I enjoyed walking along the River Tweed again, either on paths or Private Roads. Now I am in Scotland I can walk anywhere within reason. There are no red paths shown on OS maps, just black tracks. If there is a path, track, lane or road you can walk it. Through farms, hotels, hospital or whatever. The trouble is they often come to an abrupt end. Today a track that was shown crossing a river just ended on the bank. No bridge, ford or stepping stones. So we had to find our way to the A72 and then walk facing the traffic for over a mile to Cardrona.
Following my White Wave Walk theme I came across this lovely hawthorn that had red May blossom.





Last night I was lucky enough to find a pub with free WiFi, allowed dogs in and served real ale (Deuchars). Tonight I went to The Bridge. Four real ales! Mauldon's Black Adder was very good. Unfortunately, although both pubs were really friendly and had good beer neither served food. Fish supper again!
However, it is good to see that "wet" pubs are still surviving, despite reports that seven pubs a day are closing.
You don't get facilities like this in KFC!


Over the last 50 days I have visited many pubs whilst researching this walk (!) and the vast majority are now gastropubs that serve food first and beer as a supplement. The good news is that real ale is now more readily available. So far I have not drank any keg beer, apart from one pint of Guiness.

Getting off my soapbox, here is a view of Peebles from the bridge.