Out and About

Around The Scottish Borders

The Scottish Borders were for centuries the war-torn land north of the border with England, fought over from Roman times to the 17th Century.

The grim and solitary hold of Hermitage Castle and the ruined abbeys of Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso and Dryburgh bear witness to a violent past in what is today attractive farming, forest and hill country.

Towns like Kelso, Hawick and Selkirk keep up their historic 'common riding' customs and Peebles and Galashiels are textile centres.

The Tweed and Teviot are famous fishing rivers which flow into the North Sea at Berwick upon Tweed. Visit Sir Walter Scott’s home at Abbotsford below the mysterious Eildon Hills.

To the west are the remains of the great Forest of Ettrick and John Buchan’s favourite Tweedsmuir Hill, while Traquair near Innerleithen, is one of the most romantic houses in all of Britain.

To the north lies the lonely moorland of the Lammermuirs and to the east the small coves, harbours and fishing villages of the Berwickshire Coast.