Day 9 – Monday 30 July

Hawick to Edinburgh

Our picnic spot by the Tweed at Peebles

This was a really short day at only 50 miles. The previous day had been long, to get to Hawick, one of the few campsites close to our route through the borders, so we woke in good spirits looking forward to a shorter day.

However, it was raining again, the tent was wet and we were in no particular hurry. It’s easier to manage a dry tent which we eventually packed up before setting out, only for it to start raining again.

We used the A7 as far as Selkirk where the centre was busy, after which we rode alongside the River Tweed on quieter roads towards Peebles for lunch with Liz. Interestingly, we rode through Innerleithen where one of my brothers now lives close by.

It had stopped raining by the time we got to Peebles so we crossed the bridge to sit in the park for lunch looking across the Tweed to the town on the other side.

Here, the story departs from what we would do today, when we would probably stay at the Mortonhall Campsite, but we had ridden a mile or two further north to Morningside where we stayed with the family of Birmingham friends. Liz was already there, having been joined by her parents who had come by train with our sons, Simon and Philip, whom they had collected from scout camp. Leaving Simon and Philip with us in Edinburgh they visited some friends for a meal before returned to Birmingham on the midnight train.