{"id":1100,"date":"2016-01-02T01:34:58","date_gmt":"2016-01-02T00:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1100"},"modified":"2015-12-31T08:58:40","modified_gmt":"2015-12-31T07:58:40","slug":"melrose-to-st-boswells-scottish-borders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1100","title":{"rendered":"Melrose to St Boswells, Scottish Borders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=840,width=1230,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script><br \/>\nFirst published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('StBoswells.gpx');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5664\/22821585534_d715a133e8.jpg\" title='Melrose Abbey'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5664\/22821585534_d715a133e8_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5701\/22821582274_412d9e53b4.jpg\" title='Melrose from Gallows Brae'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5701\/22821582274_412d9e53b4_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/602\/23154122660_c6f472afbe.jpg\" title='Path to Eildon Hill North 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/602\/23154122660_c6f472afbe_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/609\/23449924675_b0a356bc54.jpg\" title='Path to Eildon Hill North 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/609\/23449924675_b0a356bc54_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5724\/23367405191_6995633796.jpg\" title='looking to Eildon Hill North from Eildon Mid Hill'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5724\/23367405191_6995633796_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5812\/22821572414_5f8891e1a1.jpg\" title='view over Melrose and Borders from Eildon Mid Hill'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5812\/22821572414_5f8891e1a1_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5701\/23449917735_5b5a4df413.jpg\" title='twisty trees on the path to Bowden'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5701\/23449917735_5b5a4df413_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/642\/23341438182_8a41c43ef5.jpg\" title='near Bowden'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/642\/23341438182_8a41c43ef5_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5744\/23341436062_ab223c2e58.jpg\" title='village well, Bowden'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5744\/23341436062_ab223c2e58_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/602\/22822779013_aebf77d38d.jpg\" title='St Cuthbert&#039;s Way near Newtown St Boswell 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/602\/22822779013_aebf77d38d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/639\/22822775663_99600f7ed6.jpg\" title='bridge in a dell on St Cuthbert&#039;s Way, near Newtown St Boswell'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/639\/22822775663_99600f7ed6_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5698\/23154099950_9b9f938d9b.jpg\" title='River Tweed suspension bridge (but don&#039;t cross here!)'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5698\/23154099950_9b9f938d9b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5729\/23423748026_e15c68215d.jpg\" title='River Tweed near Dryburgh Abbey 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5729\/23423748026_e15c68215d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/664\/23341422612_317f12da6b.jpg\" title='River Tweed near Dryburgh Abbey 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/664\/23341422612_317f12da6b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1100\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\n<a href=\"javascript:pwindow=window.open('\/Walks\/prn.php?f=1100','pwin','height=700,width=1000,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes');\" title=\"Click for printable version\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Walks\/print.gif\" align=\"right\"><\/a><br \/>\nThe cowled face of the nun stared down from the dusky red wall of Melrose Abbey. There was an upward curl at the corners of her sandstone lips, a smile of quiet amusement put there by a long-forgotten stone carver six hundred years ago. I was smiling myself, having just heard the tale of what archaeologists found inscribed on the container that held Robert the Bruce&#8217;s heart, when they unearthed it at the abbey in 1996. No inspiring last words or ringing exhortation from the iconic Scottish king, but a splendidly prosaic note: &#8216;Found beneath Chapter House floor, March 1921, by His Majesty&#8217;s Office of Works.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>St Cuthbert&#8217;s Way rises southward out of Melrose, a broad green path climbing to a saddle between the dramatic camel humps of the Eildon Hills. A short, steep upward haul \u2013 perfect for sorting out a post-Hogmanay heid* &#8211; and I was standing at the peak of Eildon Mid Hill, looking across to the multiple ramparts on Eildon Hill North where the Romans once built a signal tower.<br \/>\n*Please keep \u2018heid\u2019!<\/p>\n<p>These abrupt, conical hills are thick with legend. The best and most extraordinary is an early medieval ballad concerning Thomas the Rhymer, a poetical youth who meets a beauteous lady on the Eildons. She is the Queen of Elfland, and Thomas is whirled away for an adventure full of blood, sex and magic.<\/p>\n<p>On the summit of Mid Hill I stood as long as I could in the cold wind, gazing from the distant Cheviots in the east to the low blue ridges of Ettrick Forest along the western skyline. Then I skeltered downhill, out of the wind and on down St Cuthbert&#8217;s Way to Bowden and a sheltered green lane that led east to Newtown St Boswells. The River Tweed wraps a couple of snaky coils around the edge of town, and I followed a bushy path along the south bank. The water rushed noisily over shallows and shillets, sucking at the opposite shore.<\/p>\n<p>Behind a screen of trees, Dryburgh Abbey and its glories of architecture lay hidden. That was for tomorrow &#8211; today I was content to walk beside the softly roaring Tweed, looking back to the high humps of the Eildon Hills and thinking of Thomas the Rhymer and his elfin lover.<br \/>\nStart: Market Square, Melrose TD6 9PL (OS ref NT 548340)<\/p>\n<p>Getting there: Rail: Borders Railway (scotrail.co.uk) to Tweedbank; taxi (07929-232923 &#8211; \u00a35), or Border Abbeys Way (2\u00bd mile walk) to Melrose.<br \/>\nBus: 95 Edinburgh-Galashiels, 68 Galashiels-Melrose<br \/>\nRoad: Melrose is signed from A68 (Jedburgh-Lauder)<\/p>\n<p>Walk (7\u00bd miles, moderate, OS Explorer 338. Online maps, more walks at christophersomerville.co.uk): From Market Square, south uphill, under A6091. In 100m, left (547339; &#8216;St Cuthbert&#8217;s Way&#8217;\/SCW); bear left on edge of woodland. Up steps; up gravel path (SCW); uphill for \u00be of a mile to saddle between North and Mid Hills (551325). Climb either\/both; back to saddle; south (SCW) for 1\u00bd miles to B6398 in Bowden (554305). Dogleg right\/left across road, down lane (&#8216;Bowden Kirk&#8217;); in 250m, left (555303). Follow SCW for 1\u2154 of a mile into Newtown St Boswells. Cross B6398 (578315); ahead, following SCW\/Border Abbeys Way under A68 (581317). Follow SCW, ascending and descending steps, for \u00bd a mile to reach suspension bridge over River Tweed (589320). Don\u2019t cross bridge; continue along south bank for \u00be of a mile to B6404 (594311). Right for Bus 67 or 68 to Melrose.<\/p>\n<p>Lunch\/Accommodation: Buccleuch Arms, The Green, St Boswells TD6 0EW (01835-822243, <a href=\"http:\/\/buccleucharms.com\">buccleucharms.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Melrose Abbey: 01896-822562; <a href=\"http:\/\/historic-scotland.gov.uk\">historic-scotland.gov.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ballad of Thomas the Rhymer: <a href=\"http:\/\/sacred-texts.com\/neu\/eng\/child\/ch037.htm\">sacred-texts.com\/neu\/eng\/child\/ch037.htm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Info: Peebles TIC (01896-822283)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/visitscotland.com\"> visitscotland.com <\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/satmap.com\">satmap.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The cowled face of the nun stared down from the dusky red wall of Melrose Abbey. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}