For our Scottish Borders Day 2, we would be cycling from Canonbie and heading to Hawick, where we would be staying with friends.

Due to a downpour, it was after 10 am when we left the Cross Keys Hotel, having thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

This would be the hilliest day of our tour, and it began with a climb out of Canonbie to Rowanburn.

Throughout this tour, we would see masses of grouse.

From Rowanburn, we would make our way through Harelow. Then we would cross the border back into England and head towards Kershopefoot.

We joined NCN Route 10 and followed this to Newcastleton.

By now it was lunchtime. So we stopped off at The Olive Tree cafe for lunch. We have previously stayed in Newcastleton on our Reivers Route tour, so it was an enjoyable quick little revisit.

After Newcastleton, the road gently (at first) climbed.

We took a little detour to have a quick look at Hermitage Castle.

On returning to our original route, the gradient of the hill increased! Thankfully, we met our friend Andy (who we were going to stay with) just before this tougher section, and he took our panniers. It was still a tough climb though.

Towards the top, we spotted a train! It’s not every day you see a train line at the top of a hill. This belongs to Whitrope Heritage Centre, and the line is part of the old Waverley Route.

Having reached the summit, a little further along, we cycled past another section of the old Waverley route, the Shankend Viaduct.

Eventually, after some 36 miles, we reached Hawick.

It was great to see Andy and Sylvia and share some time with our friends. We took them out for an evening meal. They chose Taste of Spice in nearby Selkirk. It was an enjoyable finish to an enjoyable day.

You can view our Scottish Borders Day 2 route between Canonbie and Hawick below: