Melrose Abbey was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I, and became Scotland’s most important monastic house until the Reformation. The abbey’s east end was completed in 1146, and over the next fifty years its soaring Gothic architecture took shape in the form of a St John’s Cross. Though […]

FULLY BOOKED Join the Uncovering the Tweed geophysical survey team for an introduction to resistivity survey at the recently identified Fairnilee moated enclosure. Meet for an introduction to the survey technique, then take part in data collection from 10am to 1pm. Access: There is parking on site and participants should come prepared to walk over a […]

I recently read a book which talked of places that exist beyond any map, and it got me thinking. If you look at a map of the River Tweed, you’ll see how to travel from one point to the next, but it doesn’t tell you that up on the high street was a shop run […]

My first memory of the Scottish Borders was seeing a hedgehog in the garden of the house we first lived, near the Old Peel Hospital on the banks of the River Tweed. My mum woke me up to see it and we put out a dish of milk. I remember drinking elderflower cordial for the […]

In 2004 I was employed by an arts in education initiative running projects with students to encourage storytelling through filmmaking and photography. Canoes and Cameras is part of an early project with year 6 pupils from Ashington schools. Their first time in canoes and first time using a video camera. You can watch our experience […]

The house and estate of Makerstoun was home of the Makdougall family for many years. In 1860, following the death of Sir Thomas Brisbane, it was inherited by Maria Scott Makdougall, a spinster, 76 years of age. Miss Makdougall was a staunch teetotaler who now found herself in possession of one of the finest wine […]