Selkirk to Melrose - Tales of walks along the Borders Abbeys Way
Selkirk Square was where our walk started. We left the statue of Sir Walter Scott and his former courtroom behind us. We stopped for a look at the "Kirk o the Forest", the old ruin of Selkirk Parish Church. As we continued up Kirk Wynd we passed a sculpture in a wall. A souter of olden days at his trade. It was a dreich Sunday but the first swifts of summer screamed and flew above our heads.
At Selkirk Common the leaves were out on the birch, rowan and hawthorn. Around the trees, blaeberry, gorse and dog violet were in flower by the heather. In the grassy meadow we saw mountain pansy with its yellow flowers. An uncommon plant except here. It was chosen as the plant for Selkirkshire by members of the Botanical Society for the British Isles. There were seventeen of us and we all got a seat in the shelter, on the hill, all of us glad of a few minutes out of the rain showers. At Buxton we joined an old track and passed the site of the old fever hospital.
In around 1113 King David 1 granted land in the Selkirk area to monks from Tiron in Normandy, so that they might build an abbey. The abbey was short lived and was relocated to Kelso in around 1128. Selkirk Abbey may have been in the vicinity of Lindean Church, just off the Borders Abbeys Way.
On the road we walked past the tall Lindean transmitter and walked through the wood at Half Crown corner. Across Whitelaw kips and Faldonside moor we passed cattle including a belted galloway bull.
A double line of large beech trees, lined the track as we approached Cauldshiels Loch. We had eaten our lunch finding whatever shelter we could. Now though the rain had stopped. Mike Baker, my colleague had his binoculars out. In the far corner of the loch, was a great crested grebe. This bird has an unusual courtship display, but if any of our group was keen to see this then we would have to return another day. Without binoculars there was nothing to be seen.
We passed a small group who were enjoying spending their day fishing on the loch. As we descended along the track we could see Meigle Hill, Langlee, Gattonside and the Black Hill of Earlston. At the back of the group Mike had seen a roe deer at Abbotsmoss, ahead of us. However by the time we had walked up there it had gone. We looked across at the Eildons. By then the sun was out and most of us had packed our waterproofs into our bags and were wearing teeshirts. We passed by Abbotsford House, and walked under the road bridge. Winding along the riverside at Tweedbank brought us to the Redbridge Viaduct. At this point quite a few people in the group found it intriuging to get their bearings, The bridge was the old railway bridge and above us, was the Southern Upland Way. Across the river was Langlee, and nearby Galafoot and a short distance behind us through the trees was Tweedbank.
At Lowood an Orange tip butterfly was flying, and a sandpiper flew across the water opposite Ellwyn Glen. After Lowood Bridge we could see a heron crouched close to the water, fishing. People were on the path on both sides of the river here, family walks, dog walkers and visitors exploring. We were near Skirmish Hill, the site of the last clan battle to be fought in the Borders in 1526. The buds of a few oak and ash trees were just coming into leaf, the last trees of the year to do so.
The last stage of our journey for the day took us past Melrose cauld, built to divert water along the lade to the Abbey mill. We passed Gattonside Chain bridge. Outside Priory Farm we could not resist stopping to watch young rabbits scampering around in the field. Over the first four days of our walks we had walked from Kelso Abbey to Melrose Abbey via Jedburgh, Hawick and Selkirk. We have two stages of our journey left to bring us back to Kelso via Dryburgh.
Our Ranger led walks continue throughout the year. For details contact us on 01835 830281 or look up the Outdoor Diary.
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