Hen Hole & The Cheviot
1
NT881225 Head south on a clear track into ‘Wilderness Wood’, and out through a gate. When the College Burn slips away to your left, near a circular sheep stell, leave the main track and follow the burn past an animal feedstore. Stay close to the burn as you head upstream on a faint path and ignore any side track. As the path turns towards the open mouth of Hen Hole, steep slopes begin to close in and you enter a totally different environment.
2
NT883202 ‘The Three Sisters’ waterfall is the first of four splendid cascades on your journey through this special place. With some minor scope for variation, there is an element of choice in how each one is approached. Immediately before the waterfall, cross over to the left-hand side of the burn and, to avoid the rocky outcrop, climb the grassy part of the slope to the head of the waterfall. Keeping on that side of the burn, follow the intermittent trace over a mixture of grass and large tumbled rocks, negotiating carefully a small waterfall and then a larger single-strand cascade. Once beyond the waterfall, the cleft broadens as you reach a grassy corrie and a sharp right turn in the burn.
3
NT892203 Staying left of the burn, contour the steep, pathless, grassy hillside, keeping a comfortable distance above, but parallel to, the angled waterfall. This can be an energy-sapping stretch, but you’ll soon be walking on flatter terrain as you seek the easiest line forward by criss-crossing the burn. At the base of a small, partially concealed rock-splitting waterfall, climb to the left of the burn to the head of the falls.
Now step over the burn.
4
NT893197 Turn right on a thin path, and then after 75m turn left up the rough slope, continuing south-westwards through small peat haggs to the paved Pennine Way. Turn left as far as a jumble of fencing and a three-fingered signpost. You are now on the summit of Hangingstone Hill, Roxburghshire’s historic county top. Your route turns left towards The Cheviot’s summit, an undulating paved pathway over a vast peat-covered plateau, passing along the way Cairn Hill and a small lough on the opposite side of the fence.
5
NT909205 A trig pillar on a huge concrete plinth marks the summit. Continue on the pathway as far as, but not over, a ladder stile. Turn left and then after 60m or so begin to move away from the fence, passing a stone shelter cairn on your right. With a clear, damp track over heather-covered slopes to follow, the long descent to the Lambden Valley is relatively straightforward navigation-wise.
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NT914228 At the base of the descent, turn right as far as a forest track then left downhill to the isolated farm of Goldscleugh and a narrow road around the outside of the buildings. This is a quiet private road leading to the holiday cottage of Dunsdale. When the road splits, turn left to the cottage gate, and follow the green track to the left of the buildings, rising to the edge of a part-harvested plantation. Follow this edge until you reach a broad ride on your right. Head downhill and then, at the rough track, turn left. Cross the College Burn, via a ford, and when ‘Wilderness Wood’ is reached, turn right on a track to return to the bunkhouse.