Kirk Yetholm

Kirk Yetholm is a village in the Scottish Borders, best known as the northern terminus of the 268-mile Pennine Way. Kirk Yetholm is the east side of this straggly settlement; the larger part west of the river is Town Yetholm.

Visitor information

 * Kirk Yetholm and Town Yetholm visitor information

Get in
You need a car or bike. Borders Bus 81 runs between Kelso and Town and Kirk Yetholm 3 or 4 times a day M-Sat, nothing on Sunday.

See

 * is an attractive small village to the west: it was rebuilt in the 1750s in a pleasant unity of style. No battle was fought here, the name indicates "mere-abode", a dwelling place by a lake, which has been drained for farmland. However someone expected trouble, as the hill just south is an Iron Age D-shaped hillfort. A smaller one nearby has been damaged by quarrying and farming. See Jedburgh for Cessford Castle further west, a medieval stump.
 * is an attractive small village to the west: it was rebuilt in the 1750s in a pleasant unity of style. No battle was fought here, the name indicates "mere-abode", a dwelling place by a lake, which has been drained for farmland. However someone expected trouble, as the hill just south is an Iron Age D-shaped hillfort. A smaller one nearby has been damaged by quarrying and farming. See Jedburgh for Cessford Castle further west, a medieval stump.

Do

 * The Pennine Way is a 268-mile trail from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm. Its northernmost stage, from Byrness in Northumberland, is 27 miles along the ridge of the Cheviots, with no habitation or road access along the way. It can be done in one long day, or you can bivvy at the two refuge huts (bothies) along the way, or you can break it into three there-and-back walks from the valleys. OS Landranger Map 80 covers all of this stage except the last couple of miles, on Map 74. The path climbs steeply from Byrness through forest then heads north along an open ridge to enter Scotland near Ogre Hill. It now follows the border fence, switching between England and Scotland, past the Roman fort at Chew Green and Roman "Dere Street". It comes onto the exposed ridge climbing to the well-named Windy Gyle (619 m, 2031 ft) and Cairn Hill (743 m, 2438 ft). A side path branches east to the summit of The Cheviot (815 m, 2674 ft), adding two miles there & back to the 27, with a flagstone path across the boggy plateau. But the main path turns sharply northwest, following the border fence down past a refuge hut, climbing The Schil (601 m, 1972 ft) then descending into gentler countryside, to end at the Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm.
 * St Cuthbert's Way is a 62-mile trail from Melrose Abbey, where the saint spent much of his life, east via St Boswells and Maxton to Kirk Yetholm, meeting the Pennine Way. Continuing east it crosses into Northumberland in England and runs down to the coast and by tidal footpath to Lindisfarne. It's all lowland in nature.
 * Border Loop Cycle Route & Sustrans route 84 pass this way.

Buy

 * Yetholm village shop is a convenience store on Town Yetholm High St, open M-Sa 7AM-6PM, Su 9AM-4PM.

Eat

 * Bar meals at Border Hotel, see "Sleep".

Drink

 * You've earned one at the Border Hotel (see "Sleep") if you've completed the Pennine Way.

Sleep

 * B&B: Mill House is on Dow Brae in Kirk Yetholm.
 * B&B: Mill House is on Dow Brae in Kirk Yetholm.

Connect
As of April 2022, the village has a patchy mobile signal from Three and Vodafone. There's no coverage in the hills along the Pennine Way. 5G has not reached this area.

Go next
A bike ride would get you to Kelso, Jedburgh, Coldstream, Berwick-upon-Tweed or Wooller.