Kelso to Jedburgh - Tales of walks along the Borders Abbeys Way
It was Easter Sunday and 25 of us arrived at Kelso Abbey to walk back to Jedburgh. In the 12th century the Abbey was built by Tironesian monks who had relocated from Selkirk. Most of it was destroyed in 1545.
We crossed Old Kelso Bridge and walked along the Tweed, then over the Teviot bridge and on to the site of Roxburgh castle. Once it was part of an important town in Scotland with a Royal Mint. Now ruins can be seen on a mound above the river. Here we saw tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies, a group of toads and a few brown hares in a field. The first cuckoo flowers were out alongside lesser celandine, few flowered leek,and wild garlic.
We continued along the Teviot, crossing a small boardwalk bridge built on the first working day this year. Terry Tweedie and Matthew Moseley, our access maintenance team, constructed this when the ground was hard with frost. It provides an easy crossing over a burn.
Roxburgh Viaduct provided a backdrop to our lunch-break and we continued past Sunlaws Caves with gooseander, oystercatcher and swans on the river and reed bunting in the willow nearby.
Soon we reached the old railway branch line from Jedburgh to Roxburgh. From 1856 to 1964 trains used this line and we looked at old pictures of them as we stood by the site of the old station at Kirkbank. Later we stopped at Jedfoot station for an afternoon tea break.
The railway was 150 years old but the old Roman road we then joined, Dere Street, was 2,000 years old. It was the only climb on our fairly low level walk. Along Mount Ulston we enjoyed views across to Peniel Heugh and the Eildons. Lambs and horses provided interest in the fields as we descended on a quiet road to Jedburgh and the last section of our walk along the Jed Water in the town. A beautiful riverside walk, level tarmac and easy walking for all gave us views of the tall sandstone cliffs on the opposite bank. On the Jed we saw mallard, heron, grey wagtail and a swallow.
The end of the walk brought us a view of Jedburgh Abbey, the starting point for our next section of the Way.
This was one of 6 Ranger-led walks on the newly completed Borders Abbeys Way. For details of other walks, look up the Outdoor Diary website or contact the Ranger Service on 01835 830281. A leaflet describing the walking route is also available.
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