In the 1200s, the Tweedies of Drumelzier went off to fight in the Crusades. When one of the Tweedy men came back, he discovered his wife had mysteriously fallen pregnant while he was away. She told him, ‘The devil came out of the Tweed’! The Spirit of the Tweed. A great story! Different versions of […]

There are different ways of enjoying the waters in Merlindale, according to these locals. Boating on the field – when our grandson was little and the river flooded the fields here, we would put him in the rubber dinghy to paddle around on the floodwaters because we knew it was safe! My favourite swimming spot […]

In June 2026, the Albert Watson Memorial Hut, a bike bothy at Tweedsmuir, needed a new roof. The hut was built in 1947 for a Glasgow cycling club and is still used with permission by cyclists wanting overnight accommodation. The cost of the roof repairs was about £3,000, and I estimated I could get 60 […]

Icebergs on the Tweed During the hard winter of 2010 I was driving into Kelso and was astonished to see little icebergs floating down the river! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but I think the council was clearing the snow from the roads upriver and tipping it into the Tweed. An unexpected arrival […]

Hay Lodge Park, Peebles. Wild Writers Festival, Eastgate January 2026. It was sleeting but I’d paid for my guided wild swim at the Dookits, so I was determined to do it! Ingrid was so reassuring and the whole experience was magical – especially when two deer jumped in just nearby and swam across the river. […]

My partner is involved in the Borders Forest Trust, so we decided to go for a walk at Carrifran near Moffat. They said there was a chance we might see golden eagles. At that moment, I looked up and there were TWO golden eagles circling overhead! Carrifran Woodland. [I love] Walking and skinny dipping in […]