Check the skin frequently for ticks and if found remove them at once, taking care not to leave the mouthparts still attached (a special small tool can be purchased for this purpose).
Completion certificates and SUW badges
Attractive high quality completion certificates are available free of charge to all those who have walked the entire route of the SUW, whether in a single crossing, or as a series of shorter walks. They make excellent mementoes of your achievement and are nice souvenirs of your walking holiday. They are available from the Countryside Ranger Services of either Dumfries & Galloway or the Scottish Borders or via the SUW website (see Appendix D). Certificates for those who have walked only part of the way are also available.
Cloth SUW badges are also usually available, for a small price, at various local outlets.
A high-level alternative coast-to-coast route
Suitably experienced hill walkers and backpackers may wish to devise their own high level coast-to-coast route across the Southern Uplands. It is possible to plan and execute several such routes of various levels of difficulty. From west to east the main ranges to consider crossing are the Galloway Hills, Carsphairn Hills, Lowther Hills, Moffat Hills, Manor or Tweedsmuir Hills, the Moorfoots and the Lammermuir Hills. Such an adventure would be a considerable undertaking, far in excess of that of walking the SUW. The SUW provides access to most of these ranges and could form the principal means of linking up the high level sections. Information gleaned from this guidebook as well as in the Cicerone-published guide to the Southern Uplands (see Appendix C) should prove helpful to those planning their own routes across these hills. It is hoped that those who have not previously walked in the Southern Uplands will develop a love of this area during their SUW trek and will want to return again and again, to explore the area more fully, walk more of the hill ranges and even attempt a bespoke coast-to-coast crossing of this wonderful region. Knowledge and experience of the area gained whilst on the SUW will well equip the walker for such future visits and ventures.
THE E2
The SUW forms a significant part of the E2, which is one of several ultra-long-distance walking trails through Europe. The E2 is 2910 miles (4850km) in length and runs from Nice in southern France to Galway in Ireland. From Nice it travels north through the Alps, Jura, Vosges, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland. On the British side of the Channel there are two alternative routes through England, one from Dover and one from Harwich. These join at Kirk Yetholm, the northern terminus of the Pennine Way. In Scotland the E2 follows St Cuthbert’s Way to Melrose where it picks up the SUW Way, which it follows all the way west to Stranraer. A ferry then leads to Ireland for the last stages of this mammoth walk, which ends at the Atlantic on the Galway coast. As a walk of a lifetime, the E2 through Europe can be thoroughly recommended as it passes through a tremendous variety of landscapes and cultures, from the polders of Holland to the high Alps of France, from the fen country of East Anglia to the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Signs for the E2 will be seen in the Borders attached to SUW signposts. Alan Castle, author of the original edition of this book, is one of very few to have walked the E2 in its entirety.
Using this guide
On Lowther Hill above Wanlockhead (Stage 7)
The SUW has been divided into 14 stages in this guidebook. (This replaces the earlier scheme of 13 stages, two of them over 25 miles.) Each stage is between 15 and 30km (9–19 miles). Most of them end at accommodation points, usually with a shop as well; the others end at road crossings usable for pick-up and drop-off services.
Each stage begins with a ‘summary table’ that shows at a glance the total distance for the stage (plus, in brackets, the additional distance that may be needed to or from accommodation points at the start or end of the stage). The summary that follows provides an overview of the stage and could be read the evening before the section is undertaken to give a feel for the nature of the forthcoming walk. Any possible problems and alternatives are discussed here. (For more detail on the distances between the intermediate points of each stage, please refer to the Itinerary planner (Appendix A).)
The detailed route description that follows is intended for use when walking the Way in conjunction with the appropriate map. Places that appear on the stage maps in this guide are shown in bold in the route description. For much of the Way, the simple instruction of ‘follow the waymarks’ would suffice. But with the funding limitations on both sides of the Scotland watershed, it’s assumed that not every necessary waymark will invariably be in place. There are several new sections of the route that have replaced the original line of the SUW. Note that some old maps may still show the older routes. These would generally be found either unusable, or inferior to the newer path line.
Distances are given in the Route section of the Trail Guide only in metres and kilometres, as OS maps are metric and to quote imperial units as well would be tedious and would clutter the text with too many conversions. Any readers still unfamiliar with metric units of distance are reminded that a metre is just a little over a yard, and that to convert kilometres to miles, you should divide by 1.6 (approximately). Summits and other heights are given in both metres and feet, as many British walkers find it easier to visualise height in feet rather than the metres now marked on OS maps.
Finally, each stage includes ‘Places of Interest’ sections to provide concise but adequate information on the many towns, villages, country houses, gardens, monuments, etc, on or close to the route. In a few instances the items of interest are not actually ‘places’ (the Killing Times described in Stage 3 is one example). This information will enable SUW walkers to appreciate in full the areas through which they are passing, and allow decisions to be made as to which places to spend further time exploring. Part of the joy of walking a long-distance route through an area new to the walker is the chance to explore previously undiscovered places and the history and topography of the area. All SUW trekkers should take some time out from their walk to visit one or more of the many places of interest on the route. The places of particular merit to visit on or alongside the Way, are:
Castle Kennedy Gardens (Stage 2)
Lead Mining Museum, Wanlockhead (Stage 7)
Traquair House (end Stage 10)
Melrose Abbey (end Stage 11)
Thirlestane Castle and Gardens, Lauder (end Stage 12)
The walking stages associated with most of these attractions are relatively short, so that time should be available for an extended visit.
THE ROUTE
Cold Moss, near the highest point of the SUW in the Lowther Hills (Stage 7)
STAGE 1
Portpatrick to Castle Kennedy
| Start | Portpatrick |
| Finish | Castle Kennedy |
| Distance | 21.9km (13.6 miles) |
| Ascent | 350m |
The walk starts with a highly scenic section of about 3.5km of coastal walking, along cliff tops and down to small coves and beaches. Some care is required on the cliff sections on the first half of this route from Portpatrick. At
