May the God of grace go with you today. May Christ make your steps be firm. May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to the wonders all around. Amen (Blessing found on a menu at a little church cafe in Morebattle.)

The beginning of June and we are snugged away in the little hamlet of Morebattle (remove the two t's and you have the pronunciation correct), population 250. There are 2 streets here and 1 hotel/restaurant/pub but it's located directly on St. Cuthbert's Way, ensuring the Templehall Inn receives lots of business. It was a great walk again today with the rain holding off, a bit blustery in the open areas. We had fantastic vistas throughout the day and a deer graced our view at one point.

 Breakfast before we leave - I was taken with the placemats and hope to replicate them when we get home.

Up the hill and out of Jedburgh. Thirteen km to Morebattle. If you look carefully you can see the monument of the Battle of Waterloo in the distance.

Following the cross.

 Andrew getting artsy with his favourite tree.

Setting off through the wooded path. 

A different type of stile to cross.

 Rhododendron alley.

We stopped here with our picnic lunch - Cessford Castle. This was built around 1450 as part of the line of 'frontier' defences between England and Scotland. A massive L-shaped tower with walls 13 feet thick provided living space for the Ker family, their servants and a garrison of up to 60 soldiers. Apparently the family were mostly left-handed so they built the staircase spiralling anti-clockwise so they could better defend it with swords against interlopers.

This one's for you, Judy! Teapot Street leading to Teapot Bank and Thimble Row. So quaint.

 See those hills in the background? That's where we're headed tomorrow!

 The sweet local church in Morebattle. Unfortunately it was locked and there is no service there tomorrow.


This is an interesting story - this pastor and his wife from Australia purchased this old church 8 or 9 years ago and are renovating it into a cafe and spiritual centre for St. Cuthbert's Way pilgrims. There is a long way to go as seen in the following pictures but they have a dream and many hours of work to make it a reality. Andrew claims he makes an excellent cup of coffee.

See the boat near the cross? He wants to convert this into a communion table eventually.

 Richard sat down with us and shared his dream about St. Aiden's church. Fascinating. Note the sock feet - I lose my boots whenever I get the chance to!

 The views......oh to wake up to this every day.

 Templehall Inn - our stop for tonight. We happen to be right above the pub area and there is a soccer game on tonight so it's rather noisy. Also, the fire alarm went off earlier, sending Andrew and I outside. I grabbed my computer (forgot the passport and wallet). Andrew grabbed his camera (forgot his passport and wallet). We were the only ones who left the building - one woman came to the door, said "don think there's too much of a fire, guess I'll go in and finish me pint". What??? Welcome to emergency situations in Scotland. Not anticipating much sleep tonight.