November 12

November

Route

	Walk leader		Ashley
	Route		Tarset Bastle Trail: Greenhaugh – Burnmouth – Redheugh – Sidwood – Hillhouse – Waterhead – Boghead – Shilla Hill – Black Middens – Gatehouse – Greenhaugh.
	Weather		Bright and sunny, although cool and a bit breezy at times.
	Walkers		Ashley, Michael, Michelle, Ron, George, Ken.
	Excuses		Sandy - working Evelyn - injured leg. Bernie - watching the Toon. Carol - at a talk on gardening given by Bob Flowerdew
	Comments		The farmer who had been interviewed on the subject by 'Countryfile' gave us leaflets about the Bastle Trail at the start. Underfoot conditions were variable - there was quite a lot of hard walking on roads and also many waterlogged paths. Some of the bastles were difficult to find. We reckoned that the Tarset Burn was more of a river than a burn. We passed a lot of nice stone houses and a smart stone dovecot at Redheugh. We would have missed the Iron Age fort at Sidwood but for the information board. The remains were still difficult to discern. A screeching child was mistaken for a peacock by Ken, just after we had commented on how quiet it was. Ashley was influenced by Ken to take an alternative route, which proved to be more attractive than the forestry track. We passed a couple with a border collie with spooky white eyes. We had lunch amongst the ruins of the bastle at Boghead. We spread ourselves out over several rooms. It was very wet and bumpy underfoot. We saw a small convoy of army lorries going along the forestry road. Ken informed us that they had their lights on to denote that they were acting on the orders of the monarch to proceed and as such everyone must give way to them. We also learned that the word 'reive' (reave) as in Border Reivers, meant to rob or plunder and then became associated with loss, as in bereaved. We passed a field with an almost continuous circle of large tyres around the edge and a semi derelict wooden structure in the middle. It was signposted as a clay pidgeon shooting area but we thought it more likely to be a temple to a tyre worshipping sect. As there was a lack of seats for afternoon tea, we had to sit on a damp dry stane dyke. We visited Black Midden, the biggest and best preserved bastle. We spent some time taking artistic photos. After the walk we went to the Holly Bush Inn in Greenhaugh, described on the pub sign as a “real country pub”. A 'Patsy' lookalike from 'Absolutely Fabulous' was propping up the bar. We were greeted by a tipsy old lady. There was a photo of Charles and Camilla serving behind the bar on the wall. Knitted scarves were on sale at £13 each, (they cost £25 in Corbridge). We saw a shooting star on the way home. Wildlife/Flora/Animals: Birds: buzzard, kestrel, tree creeper, owl, robin, geese and a wren twittering in a bush. Plants/Trees: a wide variety of fungi and flora. Mammals/others: Tall thin sheep seen alongside a smaller fatter ewe (intentions not thought to be honorable). Two limping sheep. Lots of Aberdeen Angus cattle with several calves as well as a Belted Galloway. A dead badger and a dead frog.
	Meal
	Meal		The Border Minstrel: a mixed review – a bit mediocre and lacked ambience. The steak and the apple pie were excellent but the main courses tended to have too many leeks.
	Photo Gallery		Group at the start