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This one sort of grew.
As the 8.20am X62 dawdled out of Edinburgh I had pretty much given up on plans for anything more ambitious than and longish, low-level ramble around Peebles.
Getting off by the post office, the cloud was still low over the hills so I thought to head for Cademuir Hill and see how the day went along. I made my way the length of the main street to the parish church and then over the Tweed Bridge (some of which dates back to the 1460s), taking a right turn at the roundabout on the south side of the river and making my way through suburban steets.
- Bridge on the River Tweed - widened 1834
- The Tweed through Peebles
- Strolling though Pebbles' suburbs
After about a mile there's a gate which takes you into open countryside on the John Buchan Way and past the last couple of buildings before another gate guides you towards Cademuir Hill.
Soon after I made a mistake, climbing over a gate and then following a track through the trees which became indistinct so I cut across to a better path which brought me out at a gate back onto the John Buchan Way which I would have reached easily had I just stayed on the original path

.
From there it's an easy 15 minutes through the rapidly growing trees to the top of Cademuir Hill. Here I decided to make the most of the picnic table and enjoyed tea and a sandwich for 25 minutes while making my mind up what to do next.
With the weather improving, but the cloud still fairly low I retraced my steps, rejoined the JBW and headed down to the road. Reaching the track for Cademuir farm, I reckoned conditions were good enough to go for a proper hillwalk so made my way past the buildings
- Gate out of the town into the countryside
- Second gate onto Cademuir Hill
- I climbed over here - which was not the best decision
- Trail through the forestry
- Following the path towards Cademuir Hill
- Straight ahead at the waymarker
- Making my way through the new growth
- Looking towards the hillforts
- The top of Cademuir Hill
- Summit area of Cademuir Hill
With the weather improving, but the cloud still fairly low I retraced my steps, rejoined the JBW and headed down to the road. Reaching the track for Cademuir farm, I reckoned conditions were good enough to go for a proper hillwalk so made my way past the buildings and onto a path through the trees. This path petered out after a while so I climbed over a wall into a field (there was a gate further back which would be easier) and started the fairly steep walk up Canada Hill.
- Gate out of the forestry (also the best way in to Cademuir Hill)
- Looking towards the hillforts on the other (more interesting) part of Cademuir Hill
- Following the John Buchan trail from Cademuir Hill
- The path after going past the farm at Cademuir
- Over the wall here - there is a gate earlier on
- Starting the climb up Canada Hill
- Tracks and paths follow the wall/fence up Canada Hill
- Looking back to Cademuir Hill
- Cademuir Hill again from near the top of Canada Hill
- Top of Canada Hill looking over at Stob Law
Once I'd reached the top of Canada Hill the most sustained ascent of the day was done and it was a case of making my way over to Stob Law, skirting around Glenrath Hill on an ATV track. The bonus was that the clouds had lifted and there was sunshine by the time I reached the top of Stob Law, although cloud persisted further south over Dollar Law and the surrounding hills.
After taking the obligatory photos at the top of Stob Law, I dropped down to Door Hass and then up again to Broom Hill before following the fence over to Middle Hill/Glenrath Heights for another tick on Percy Donald's list.
- It's not a Borders walk unless you're on an ATV track following a fence
- The summit of Stob Law, looking towards the Manor Valley and Dollar Law
- Dropping down to Door Hass from Stob Law
- Looking back on the way up Broom Hill, The Pentlands and Arthur's Seat in the distance
- Looking south west into the Manor Hills from Door Hass
- The top of Middle Hill/Glenrath Heights looking towards Dollar Law
I followed the fence back, aiming for Hundleshope Heights and here made another error. I spotted an ATV track along the hillside, so headed for that. It is an ATV track, but it's wet and overgrown and fades out after a while. Much better to get back to Broom Hill and head north at the junction of the fences.
I bashed my way over to the fence and followed that towards Hundleshope Heights, encountering the only bit of bog all day before reaching the trig point on Scawd Law where I stopped for a while in the sunshine for something to eat and drink.
From Hundleshope Heights the paths down are initially patchy, a lot having been eroded by winter rains. But once on the Land Rover track it was easy going for a mile and a half until the trees by Upper Newby where I joined the road along Glensax, realising suddenly that, with over three miles left to walk, I'd bitten off a lot more than I'm used to chewing. Still, I made it to the bus stop in plenty of time to get back to Edinburgh tired, a bit sore and a little sweaty.
- Look! A handy ATV track! Don't bother.
- Back to the fence for the day's only bit of bog-hopping
- Afternoon tea taken on Scawd Law
- Birkscairn Hill clearly visible for the first time
- Following the track down from Hundleshope Heights
- Looking back at Stob Law
- Down to the road along Glensax - just three more miles to be done