Day 89 – Kershopefoot to Kielder

A good breakfast, and we are provided with return transport to the bridge which we reach just after 8:30. For about an hour and a half we’re walking through the Newcastleton and Kershope Forests, and zigzagging a couple of times between England and Scotland. But we stay in England for the final part of that section, and for the following 3 hours or so through the Kielder Forest, with the only border crossed being the one between Cumbria and Northumberland. Nothing much more to be said. It’s simply a very enjoyable walk on a warm, dry day through trees and gentle rolling hills along well defined tracks. There are certainly worse ways of spending a morning. The tracks eventually bring us to an attractive curved bridge over an inlet from Kielder Water, and the final couple of miles are along the Lakeside Way which, in this area of Kielder at least, is singularly ill-named. Due to distance and/or trees between us and the shoreline, we only rarely catch sight of the lake itself. At a T-junction, we’re not completely sure which is the better way to turn in order to reach our ultimate destination, the Anglers Arms. However, a gentleman with a dog directs us to the left – and adds that he’ll see us at the Anglers a little bit later. It only takes another 20 minutes to get to the pub which allows more than sufficient time for a drink, a bite to eat, and a nod to greet our dog accompanied T-junction guide when he arrives. Carlisle Colin also arrives, slightly ahead of schedule, and so, when we’re eventually dropped off at the station, we’re able as on the last trip to make a relaxed diversion to the Griffin before catching our trains. We’re not sure about our travel arrangements for the next trip, but could this be our final journey via the west coast mainline…?