Hi - on the SUW was it easy to find places to stick a bottle in a stream etc. ? Wondering as it seems much more lowland than the stuff I'm used to so maybe the water sources are more prone to runoff from cattle houses etc? Comments welcome. Any particularly awkward bits waterwise or foodwise (eg. lack of a shop)?

Hoping to wild camp it all next month... great site, and brilliant for helping others planning similar trips.

Thanks.

Hi there

The SUW is not as much lowland as you might think, though there are stretches of farmland where water may be a problem. The places where we had problems finding suitable water were on the route around Stranraer (farm roads), leading up to Knowe (farm roads), and at Wanlockhead (thought the water might be contaminated with lead). Most of the farm sections you will pass by quickly, so water is generally not too much of a problem.
At Castle Kennedy you pass a filling station with a very handy outdoor tap as well as a very limited food shop - I highly recommend camping by the Loch here as it is beautiful! There are very few decent shops on the way and you will have to carry a few days worth of food at a time. There are food shops at Stranraer, New Luce, St John's Town of Dalry, Sanquhar, Moffat, Galashiels, Melrose, Lauder and Cockburnspath, though a few of these are off route. The campsite near Bargrennan also has a limited food shop - if you plan on using it make sure you bring a tin opener!

Good luck with it,

Alan & Jo

thanks for the reply - very informative.

presumably wild camping is pretty easy most places along the route - any particular areas where it was difficult to find somewhere?

Hi again

The only places where wild camping is difficult is near the various towns you pass through. One option is to camp in a campsite in these towns, but if you want to camp wild either set up camp before reaching them or give yourself time to get a couple of miles away. The worst section for wild camping is around Galashiels and Melrose - the two settlements are so close together they almost feel like one, and the Way goes through sheep-grazing fields on either side. You could camp here where the Way follows the River Tweed, but it is a popular area for dog-walkers during the day, and may be popular at night also.

Let us know how you get on.

Alan & Jo

Hi Alan and Jo!

We've done it, and it was very useful planning the trip from your site (eg. water, wild camps etc) as previously discussed.

Thought you may like to see my daughter's writeup at www.ngaio.com

Thanks,

Mike