daytime

19^th September 2021

Dear All,

We had a very enjoyable and packed week in the Scottish borders. The journey up on Friday was lengthened by an hour or so by a collision between a load of straw and another lorry near Newark. We turned off at Scotch Corner for a break and travelled through the North Pennines. We were staying at Bemersyde near Melrose in what was described as a “Country House”, we were expecting a large outfit but it turned out to be a cottage with 2 rooms to let. It proved to be an excellent choice as the hosts were very friendly and we had long chats after each breakfast and eventually accompanied Martin on a group walk and took them out for an evening meal.

Eating places were heavily subscribed and we had to try five before finding a meal on the first evening.

Broomfields Country House, Bemersyde

View of the Eildon Hills

On Saturday we visited Melrose Abbey then walked along a disused railway trach to Abbotsford – Sir Walter Scott’s residence. The return journey was along the River Tweed. We had a ride to Galashiels and Selkirk and a picnic by William Wallace’s statue near home.

Melrose Abbey

Abbotsford House

Kate had looked up “Melrose Baptist church” before we left Over but we could not find it anywhere, on rechecking we found it to be Melrose, Massachusetts! We settled for Melrose Parish church. In the afternoon we went back to Galashiels to visit the newly opened “Scottish History Tapestry”. This was incredible – 160 panels sown by 1000 participants from all over Scotland. It was too much to take in during one visit but a remarkable achievement.

Galashiels Scottish Tapestry

Two of the 160 panels

The most famous resident of Bemersyde had been Earl Haig who was given Bemersyde House for his war efforts. The entrance was only 200 yards from where we were staying so we had a look round on Monday morning before driving to Traquair House near Peebles. The house was the home of the Stewarts with a long history dating back to the 1100’s. It has its own brewery and a well-maintained maze. Mary Queen of Scots stayed there and there are various relics of her visit. After we explored Peebles taking in a riverside walk.

Traquair

The Maze

On Tuesday we travelled east taking in Smailholm Tower, one of a series of defensive structures on the borders. We had a short shower which proved to be the only precipitation we had during the week. Next stop was Floors Castle at Kelso. This is a huge building owned by the Dukes of Roxburghe. The family have had a hard time meeting death duties etc. and have had sell land reducing their estate from 75,000 acres to a mere 52,000 acres – the heart bleeds for them! Apart from the house there is a huge walled garden and while walking round this we got to chatting with a lady painting the flowers. It turned out she was from Fen Drayton, two villages away from Over! And she knew some of the folk who had been exhibiting alongside our Produce Show – it is a small world! We explored Kelso with a large cobbled square and another riverside walk.

Floors castle

Kelso Abbey

Our host Martin walks with Kelso U3A and leads a walking group for folks recovering from medical conditions. He invited us to join them on their Wednesday walk starting at Bowden and circumnavigating the Eildon Hills. It was a gentle outing with the highlights being Eildon House owned by the Duke of Buccleuch and meeting a large pack of foxhounds. Evidently hunting is still legal in Scotland. After we toured Dryburgh Abbey.

Eildon Mouse

Hounds

On Thursday we headed for Jedburgh taking in a walk up to the Waterloo Monument on the way. There were splendid views from the summit. Jedburgh is an attractive small town with yet another ruined Abbey, castle, jail and Mary Queen od Scot’s house. In the evening we took Martin and his partner Lorna for meal at the Italian restaurant in Melrose that we had visited a couple of times before, which rounded off the holiday very well. The 300 miles home on Friday was again lengthened by many traffic jams on the A1.

All in all, a good holiday in an area we did not know and lodging we would recommend to family or friends.