Walkhighlands

Sundays off work are rare, and it's even rarer that they coincide with a good weather forecast. We headed down to the Scottish Borders for our first visit to the area around Duns - I can't recall now, but presumably the forecast for the Highlands wasn't as good. The Tour de Scotland cycle race was taking place, so we decided on a walk around Duns Castle estate with the aim of getting back to Duns just as the cyclists went past.



The circuit started with a very easy climb through forest to the summit of Duns Law, where there are good views towards the town and Cheviot Hills, and also a monument to the Covenanters:







The descent path mapped out on Walkhighlands was impassable due to overgrown vegetation, so we doubled back a little further than expected to a path which heads right on the western edge of the woodland.



This emerges onto the open field about halfway along via a makeshift "stile":



The water body at the bottom of the field has an unusual name: Hen Poo... is this just a shortening of Hen Pool? Views of the, err, poo, are restricted by trees, but there are a few glimpses of the water:



The route then heads north along a forest track to a second lochan:





After this, there's a pretty section of path through Castle Wood:





Just the 8 signposts!



Back on a track, the next stretch was very muddy due to logging activities...



The last mile is all road walking, first past Duns Castle on a quiet lane and then along the main road back into Duns. We arrived in town in plenty of time to see the Tour de Scotland go by:

Just to confirm that the route blockages described here are both still in place as at September 2023. We had thought naively that after four years other people would have made new tracks around the fallen trees, but No! We managed to find routes skirting round the fallen trees on the descent from Duns Law but eventually conceded that the route round the north end of the walk into Castle Wood really is blocked. So we made our way back along the East side of Hen Poo and we have now learned to trust the warnings posted on these walk decriptions! We still enjoyed those parts of the walk that we could access.