The Border fence The first written evidence of the actual position of the eastern border was in 1173, when reference was made to the Tweed as the border. In 1222 a joint boundary commission met to define the border, but the task proved too much, so only a small section was agreed upon. Further work between 1542 and 1604 achieved little. The border as we know it today seems to have been born between 1604 and 1648, after the Union of the Crowns in 1603. Today’s border fence remains an extremely useful navigational aid, and many have good reason to be grateful for its presence on these bleak and lonely hills (see Walks 5 and 14).
The Stob Stones To the west of these two prehistoric earth-fast boulders, in the hazy distance of the Tweed Valley, stand the three distinctive peaks of the Eildon Hills at Melrose, aligned precisely by the leading edge of the larger of the two Stob Stones.
Follow instead the directional Pennine Way finger post south, with wall and fence on the left, via a sharply descending and then ascending path, wet and boggy in places, leading to the col below the summit of White Law 1407ft (417m). This testing section of ½ mile (0.8km), parallel to the wall, rises to the visible T-junction of stone dykes and stile on the col between White Law and Whitelaw Nick. Once over the stile turn left, ascending for 150yds (137m) to the summit of White Law, the highest point of the walk and a fine vantage point.
White Law The name, one can only surmise, originates from the vegetation that covers the upper slopes. Much of the grass on White Law is mat grass (Nardus stricta), an unusual species that in June bears an unbranched spike and in late summer bleaches almost white, giving rise to the local description ‘white lands’, hence the name White Law (hill).
A few yards beyond the apex of White Law the border fence (now a wire-and-post fence) turns right, i.e. south, and descends sharply to the saddle 300ft (91.5m) below. Here a small gate in the fence marks the point where the route leaves the Pennine Way by turning right, i.e. west, onto a descending grassy path, and then a track through the bracken-clad hillside of Steer Rig, to cross the shallow burn to the ruin of Old Halterburnhead in the valley below.
The Pennine Way Tom Stephenson, late of the Ramblers’ Association, was the founding father of this long-distance walkway, 270 miles (434km) from Edale to Kirk Yetholm. It is immortalised in the writings of A Wainwright in his Pennine Way Companion, where he described the traverse of the Cheviot range from Byrness to Kirk Yetholm as, ‘the longest and loneliest of all’.
Leave the sad ruins of Old Halterburnhead to the squabbling rooks and take the farm track north along the valley floor towards the working farm of Burnhead. Two hundred yards (183m) before the steading a Pennine Way finger post directs us right, by footbridge, wicket gate and wallside path, east of the farm, before rejoining the road in the Halterburn Valley. It is a pleasant stroll to the starting cattle-grid, allowing the walker time to pause and ‘smell the roses’.
The Halterburn Valley This 2½ mile (4km) stretch of the valley is perhaps more familiar to Pennine Wayfarers than resident Borderers. Forlorn reminders of former days still remain in the crumbling and decaying ruins of Old Halterburnhead, inhabited by itinerant sheep and noisy rooks. The walk alongside the burn is a delight, where from spring to late summer plants in bloom please the eye and brighten the day, primroses in particular, and musk on the banks of the burn.
Old Halterburnhead
Kirk Yetholm This village, so close to the English border, was at one time the rallying point for the Scottish Border Gypsies, providing a convenient springboard from which to nip over into England in times of strife – a far cry from 1540, when Gypsy King John Faa signed a treaty with James V of Scotland in which he was described as, ‘Our lovit Johnne Faa, Lord and Earl of little Egypt’. The last king, Charles Blyth Faa (whose coronation coach was drawn by six donkeys), died in 1802, and was succeeded by a Gypsy queen.
WALK 5
Up and Down the Cheviot Hills
| Start/Finish | Halterburn Valley, GR 840277, approximately 1 mile south-southeast from Kirk Yetholm |
| Distance | 8 miles (12.9km) |
| Total Ascent | 1821ft (555m) |
| Grade | 2; 3 in winter conditions or poor visibility |
| Time | 4–4½ hours |
| Maps | OS 1:25 000 Explorer OL16, The Cheviot Hills OS 1:50 000 Landranger sheet 74, Kelso & Coldstream Harvey 1:40 000 SuperWalker, Cheviot Hills |
| Parking | Below cattle-grid between road and Halter Burn |
| Accommodation | Kirk Yetholm and Town Yetholm – hotel, bed-and- breakfasts, caravan park, and youth hostel in Kirk Yetholm |
In addition to a rich mix of upland and hill flora and fauna, one of the principal highlights of this walk is the view that meets the eye with every turn as height is gained. Few walks can match the constantly changing horizons; none can surpass them.
A walk that typifies the Cheviot Hills, with frequent ascents and descents, following as it does both the ‘high way’ and the ‘low way’ alternatives of the Pennine Way. The pathways, a mix of dirt or peat, stone and occasionally grass, are mainly sound and firm in summer, though wet spongy sections are met in winter.
Choose a fine, clear day, it matters not what time of year, as all seasons have their highlights.
Start from the off-road parking below the cattle-grid, heading south along the narrow road across the valley floor towards the few buildings of Halterburn. On our left the busy Halter Burn, although this is crossed several times as we progress into the valley, and above it the steep slopes of Green Humbleton, met at the end of our journey. Cross a cattle-grid and pass a stable and store before the steading of Burnhead. The Pennine Way leaves the farm lane left, as per the finger post, onto a narrow dirt-and-grass wallside path that bypasses the farm, and with stiles and a bridge rejoins the Pennine Way farm track running southeast. From this point, as we meet the silent, sad stones of what was Old Halterburnhead, surrounded by the evidence of ancient settlements and homesteads, the solitude of this curving, narrowing valley kicks in.
Kirk Yetholm Together with its twin, Town Yetholm, Kirk Yetholm was home to the royal line of Faa Gypsies – several houses around the village bear names such as Gypsy Row and Gypsy Palace. Knowledgeable travellers of yesteryear gave Kirk Yetholm a wide birth, for the sight of a stranger aroused the cry, ‘Oot aik sticks and bull pups.’ Nor was there any love lost between the two Yetholms, and even today ‘Yetholm cleeks’ still adorn the walls in Town Yetholm, very useful when it came to repelling intruders from that other place.
Above on our left is the high ridge that carries our return pathway from Black Hag via Steer Rig to White Law, one of the best viewpoints in the eastern Cheviots. Heading south and rising more steeply towards the nondescript lump that is the Curr 1849ft (564m), we meet and pass through a drystone wall that runs down from Latchly Hill en route to ascending Steerrig Knowe. Although our path, flanked by bracken, heather and white grass, tends to zizag and contour around the hill’s shoulders as it climbs by Birky Knowe, the direction is south to the col ahead, between the rounded summits of the Curr and Black Hag (not the most charismatic of summits). Once through the gate, however, it is a seat ‘in the gods’ from which to enjoy the unique display of the Cheviot Hills. Continue east then southeast with the slightly descending grass track to the triple finger post ahead, passing on the left the rocky outcrop of