Tweeddale Ramblers

After my walking weekend in Wales I didn’t want to lose my momentum so I joined the local walking group, the Tweeddale Ramblers, for their weekly Sunday outing. I expected to meet a mixed group of friendly people possibly mostly older than me. I was right. Everyone but one other lady in her forties was well beyond retirement age. The eldest gentleman was 77 and on his fifth walk this week.

I got a lift to Broughton where we started the 12 km circular walk. It followed the John Buchan Way to Cowiemuir Hass and over the ridge of the Broughton Heights – Broomy Side – Green Law – Pyked Stane (from where we could almost see Edinburgh and Glasgow) – down to a road and up again Langlaw Hill with an ancient fort and a few dead lambs on top and back to Broughton for a pint and a scone in the tea house. During the walk, we took three breaks for coffee and lunch. Everyone was super friendly and super nice and made me feel very youthful indeed. To underline this, I praised the qualities of a proper map case by mentioning its use as a sledge. Our walk leader wasn’t convinced and wanted me to demonstrate - although not with his map case. Finding myself in front of a nice steep snow field I retrieved a plastic bag with an extra jumper from my backpack, sat down on it, and down the hill I went. In the end, I turned a few times over in the soft grass under the cheering of the gang.

You probably won’t believe that three of my fellow walkers, two of which could be my grandparents, grabbed their insulated seating cushions and went right after me. But I was too polite to take pictures.