Tuesday is our day off when we usually try and get out for the day, this week we headed to the borders to do a walk around St Boswells and the River Tweed. We parked the car at Dryburgh abbey and walked up the hill towards the huge statue of William Wallace, For some info see
here, it was a good climb, having not done any walking for a while and the views weren't to be had as it was misty. But it was still a good day to be out and we enjoyed the path up through the woods. From the statue we extended the walk to Scot's view where a panorama of the Eildon hills and the southern borders stretched out before us. With snow covered hills clothed in a light mist and the River Tweed snaking through it's deep valley, it was worth the walk. This part of the walk is along the road, and although not busy we had a couple of near misses with cars not giving enough room, and we were tight in at the verge! There are a few standing stones in fields along the way, lovely cottages to walk past and plenty smells to keep Bracken entertained.
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| Stepping out up the hill to William Wallace statue, St Boswells |
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| David and William Wallace statue, St Boswells |
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| B&W standing stone and tree, walking to Scott's view |
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| View of the Eildons from Scott's view |
We re-traced our steps back down the hill, past the statue and back to just before the car park. This part of the walk took just over an hour there and back. From the bottom of the hill we turned right onto a track that took us down to the side of the river. Before going onto the Dryburgh suspension bridge, on the right on a little hill, is the temple of muses and it's worth the wee climb to see this lovely statue in it's temple. There is some info
here
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| Detail, Muses in the temple at Dryburgh suspension bridge |
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| Dryburgh suspension bridge from the temple |
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| Muses in the temple at Dryburgh suspension bridge, B&W |
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| Muses in the temple at Dryburgh suspension bridge |
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| Bracken crossing the Dryburgh suspension bridge |
I've been here to the bridge a couple of times with David when out on bat training trips in the area, so it was good to see it in context in it's surrounding area. Once across the suspension bridge we turned left and followed the path along the river towards St Boswells. It was quite alarming to see just how high the water had reached during the floods a few weeks ago. We were walking along the path which was 4 to 6 feet above the river and the debris in the trees was another 5 to 6 feet above us! There was lots of silt on the path and areas washed away, but the main paths and walkways were still intact if very muddy at times.
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| Walking towards St Boswells |
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| Looking back up the tweed, St Boswells |
We left the riverside and climbed up into the village of St Boswells where we stopped to buy much needed chocolate bars from the post office. From here we followed the signs for St Cuthbert's walk through the village and back down to the riverside and through the golf course. All along the way was more evidence of the flooding and washed up debris sitting high in the trees and bankings, sometimes whole trees. By now we were getting a bit weary as we haven't had a chance to do much walking for a while and luckily the last couple of miles were flat. As we approached the road bridge where we would cross and turn back for the last leg we passed this lovely old mill building sitting above the weir. When I was in the post office earlier buying the chocolate the postmaster was showing me a photo of this building in the floods. In the photo the water was lapping at the walls of the buildings, frightening stuff!
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| The Mill and weir, St Boswells |
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| At last the bridge to cross, St Boswells |
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| Walking back to the car |
Once across the bridge we climbed the steps and along a field before descending to the riverside again. This last mile was nice and flat for our weary legs and we managed to beat the rain which started as we reached the car. I had hoped to look at Dryburgh abbey as we were parked right by it but it was closed by the time we got back to the car. We headed back to St Boswells and found a lovely book shop and cafe to have some well earned refreshments. Coffee and cake went down well before we browsed the book shelves and visited the deli and home ware shop. You can visit their website
here, well worth stopping off if you are passing that way north or south. All in all a great day out visiting some where we all too often drive past on the way to somewhere else.
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| Soap in the shop |
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