Scottish Border Abbey and Mill Towns

A short hop from England it may be, but the Scottish Borders is as distinctively Scottish as Caithness. In some ways it is more so as Scottish Borderers lived under constant threat of invasion or attack for many centuries and developed pride and a sense of belonging as a result.

As befits such a border, wild moorland dominates the land that divides the two nations: moorland, rough grass and occasional woods, the whole broken up by deep-sided valleys. This hard landscape produced a hardy people with a clan-like culture ideally suited to cattle reiving (raiding), and all along the border you can see and visit many of the castles and towers built at that time, as well as more modern stately homes like Floors Castle, Kelso and Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott’s house near Galashiels.

The valleys were often Church land and mediaeval monks built wonderful monasteries at places like Melrose, Dryburgh, Kelso and Jedburgh, their money coming from wool, and knitwear remains an important industry on Hawick today. They, and their bustling market towns, are fascinating places to visit, as are the other famous Border towns of Selkirk, Galashiels and Peebles.

Nearer the coast, the River Tweed valley opens out into a wide expanse of rich, fertile farmland, served by market towns like Duns and Chirnside before reaching the wild North Sea coast which runs north from near Berwick Upon Tweed to Cockburnspath and boasts the wonderful cliffs and harbour at St Abbs Head.
    
The Borders offers excellent walking, cycling, mountain biking, fishing and bird watching, while a wide range of events and festivals take place throughout the year.