The Borders Abbey Walk

Crown Walking Club Long Distance Walk 2019 The Borders Abbey Way Introduction In 2018 we completed ‘The Cotswold Round’, a walk of ‘Chocolate Box’ charm, based on the HF House in Bourton on the water. We enjoyed it very much but decided that for 2019 we should go north again and revert to the old system of moving on each day to a new location. So, after much discussion, we decided that the Borders Abbey Way would fit the bill. The Borders Abbeys Way is a long-distance walk around the Scottish Borders Countryside, it is associated with the 12th Century Abbeys that were built when this area was so very prosperous. It is a circular walk in the heart of the Scottish Borders, full of attractive countryside, passing by four 12th Century Abbeys and through several Border Towns. It sounded just right for us. We had done the St Cuthbert’s Way in 2014, so were familiar with some of the area. The walk would encompass: Jedburgh – Hawick- Selkirk- Melrose- Kelso-Returning to Jedburgh There were only seven of us on this year’s walk. Theo Dibbits, Peter Proctor, Dave Wallwork, John Merrick, Colin Billiet, Dave Thompson, and our President, Jeff Hibbert. Unfortunately, three regulars, Ron Clark, Reg Collier and Peter Brookes could not make the trip due to various reasons. Sunday 2nd June We assembled in Jedburgh late afternoon, in B&B’s that were not too far apart, then walked down to have dinner in the Carters Rest Pub. Jedburgh is a fascinating town with a significant historical past. The Abbey dates from 1118, but there was an earlier church on the site in the 9th Century. There is a castle on an elevated site that was fought over by various English/ Scottish factions for hundreds of years, but later it became a prison. Queen Mary's House is in the centre of the town and was occupied by the Queen for a month in 1566. From here she visited the Earl of Bothwell at Hermitage Castle and while she was ill was visited in the house by the infamous Lord Darnley. Prince Charles Edward Stuart stayed here on his march into England during the Jacobite uprising. There are literary associations with Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns and William Wordsworth. This was also the hometown of Mary Somerville the mathematician born in 1780 and of Sir David Brewster the scientist born in 1781. In short, if you are a history buff, then there is much to do and see. Monday 3rd June – Jedburgh to Hawick The Monday morning saw us move the cars to an excellent free car park in the centre of the town, then walk up past the old prison and castle, which had been built in a truly dominating position. We then gently ascending to ‘Black Law’, which gave us some excellent views over the town. In truth this had been a hard climb to the top on our first day, but a coffee stop was taken in Blacklaw Strip, before making our way down to the little hamlet of Bedrule. On the way down we came across a door that had been positioned by the side of a wood. We were invited to leave a message on it, very strange indeed. Bedrule has a large church on a hill, a fine ‘Manse’ that had been turned into a B&B, a lovely old bridge across the Rule Water, but not too much more. The weather so far had been rather dull, with some showery rain, but it soon improved; by the time we reached our destination the sun was out. Our next objective was the village of Denholm, where we had to cross over the River Teviot. We took some lunch by the river, on well-placed seats. Denholm was interesting, with well-kept gardens and very tidy streets. From here we turned South West, down the River, following its gentle bends to Knowetown Cottages, along the way we came across some wonderful Sycamore trees. We were now approaching Hawick, so it was along the riverbank and through trees that had overgrown the path in places, the writer managed to be tripped up by some tree roots and went flying, but no harm done. The last mile into the town seemed a long way, passing old mills, industrial units and sports fields but we made it in good order. Dave Wallwork found us a very interesting old ‘Wetherspoons’ and so we rested for a little while. The drink prices were sensible, so we had a couple before walking back along the south bank of the river to Mansfield House our hotel for the night. (We spotted a ‘Morrisons’ supermarket on the way which was to provide the following days lunches). It seemed a long way to the hotel, but it was only a mile. Mansfield House proved to be very welcoming, if a little swish for our group, with good rooms and excellent views and gardens. Dinner was taken, but the wine prices proved to be very high, in fact, they said they had run out of the sensibly priced wine, so we had to negotiate a special price of only £25 per bottle! It turned out that this was a wedding venue, so they were not really used to people like us. The leader for the day had been Dave Wallwork, who never put a foot wrong, ably backed up by Jeff Hibbert, we had walked 14.2 miles and had ascended 2082 feet in total. Hawick is an interesting old town. It suffered, like its Border neighbours, at the hands of the English in 1543-47, the time of the ‘Rough Wooing’. It remembers old traditions in the form of ‘Common Riding’ and the celebration of the return of the young men after Flodden. ‘Common Riding’ needs a little explanation, it seems that in olden times the small towns in the Borders would assemble up to 200 riders on horses to do a circuit of the area to drive off cattle thieves from England. They still continue the tradition, making it quite a celebration, we had just missed one at the weekend in Selkirk. However, today Hawick is associated with the textile and hosier trade. At its height over 5000 were employed, hence the closed down mills that we saw when we walked into the town. (Shades of Bolton!) The town is also known for its great rugby tradition and the "Greens" have been the home of many Scottish international players. Tuesday 4th June. – Hawick to Selkirk Theo and Jeff, our leaders for the day, took us at a steady pace back into Hawick, the first stop being Morrisons for our lunch-packs. Some things are important! Then it was across the river Teviot again, up through the leisure complex and along a slowly climbing road almost due north to reach the bridge that would take us across the strangely named ‘Boonraw Burn’. We were now at over 900 ft elevation and the views were opening up to reveal a wonderful landscape. The weather was atmospheric, with rain in the clouds, but we were fortunate in that none came down on us. We then followed the ‘Cross Borders Drove Road’ for several miles, coming to the start of the ‘Ettrick Forest’, a huge area of forestry through which we tramped for approximately four miles. It was here that me met Susan Gray, who was the District Warden for the Borders Abbey Way. We congratulated her and her assistant on the excellent way-marking of this walk. It is probably the best that we have ever seen on a long-distance walk. (Jeff has since written to her, with photographs of us and saying how much we enjoyed our trip to the Borders.) Without the sensible way- marking it might have proved difficult to find our way through the forest, but we easily made our way down to the tiny Middlestead hamlet, to join the road that would take us across the Hartwood Burn and Haining Moss. From here it was but a short stroll across Murieston Hill which afforded glimpses of Haining Loch. This area is now a large park, with much timber felling going on; it is dominated by a very impressive mansion called ‘The Haining’, which is next to Peel Hill. We exited the park through large gates and wandered up to the centre of Selkirk. It had been a terrific days walking, of over 14.2 miles and with 1394 ft of ascent. Our two leaders had done a fine job. The necessary photos were taken in front of the statue of Sir Walter Scott who was the Deputy Sheriff and sat in the courtroom in the Market Square. It also has associations with Robert Burns, but then so did many of the places we went through, he obviously spread his oats far and wide. The Selkirk area was the setting of the first 12th century Border Abbey founded in 1113 by Prince David (later to become King David I). This Abbey did not last long and the Tyronensian monks moved to Kelso to form their new Abbey. (We saw the remains of it later in the week.) The town was spared many fights between the Scots and English until Selkirk was burnt to the ground by the English in 1513. This followed the well-known return of only one of the 100 soldiers who went from the town to fight for the King on the Flodden fields. The party was booked into two B&B’s, the County Hotel on the main square, and the Glen Hotel which was half a mile out of town.

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