Day 32 - Longtown to Lockerbie

Day 32 - Wed May 6th. The day dawned brightly, but was to deteriorate. Longtown has a lot of character and is quite different in appearance from the stone-built Cumbrian towns further south, being comprised of little painted houses neatly arranged along wide streets. After breakfast, we were off at 8.30 across the Esk on the Graham's bridge. You can see how shallow the Esk is here, but when it has been raining it flows fast and there are folk songs about people getting swept away. A short way up the A7, we left it joining a minor road that headed for the Scottish border at Sark House where a bridge crosses the little River Sark. We were very disappointed that there was no sign at all of the border, which may reflect the uncertainty of the 'Debatable Lands'. Anyway, we walked in step to ensure we crossed the border at the same time and felt it to be a serious landmark on our journey.
The countryside was still flat farmland and not very interesting, but gradually started to rise as we passed through the hamlet of Chapelknowe. We reached a place called 'Kennedy's Corner' which consisted of a road junction and 3 houses, one of which had a covered seat in the front yard. I knocked on the door to ask for permission for us to sit there for a bit, and the lady, who's name turned out to be Kate Johnson, immediately invited us in for coffee! This was brilliant as we had done 10 miles and it was exactly what we wanted. We sat in her kitchen and chatted with her - she is an IT instructor for teachers in the region and recovering from illness, which is why she was at home. It absolutely made our day.
The countryside was now lovely - hilly with stretches of woodland, moorland, fields and rivers. It was a bit spoiled by the deteriorating weather, which turned what could have been a very enjoyable day's walk into a serious yomp against the elements. As we turned towards the west on a B road with 10 miles to Lockerbie, we were hit by a rain driven by a strong head wind that gusted strongly enough to knock us sideways especially in the more exposed places. There were no villages with anywhere to sit down and rest in the rain, so it was very hard work. At least the scenery was pleasant, and one bright point was a pair of gold finches that flew around each of us as we battled the elements. We were very glad to arrive in Lockerbie.
This evening we met some Californians who are doing LEJOG in instalments, coming over twice a year to do another section. They have followed a route with a lot of similarity to ours so we had some fun comparing notes, then early to bed very tired.