Corehead is about four and a half miles north of Moffat town centre, at the ground level entrance to the Devil’s Beef Tub. Here lived William Wallace’s sister, who was married to Thom Halliday, the Laird of Corehead. And here, in 1297, The Wallace reputedly gathered men from the Ettrick Forest and the Border Families, […]

We arrived in Berwickshire, in the wide valley of the River Tweed and its tributary the Whiteadder, for our stay in Allanton. All around were huge combines, tractors and trailers cutting, winnowing, baling and carrying off barley and specialist wheat. This is a land of big estates and large farms. The population is much sparser […]

Discover the joy of walking the Scottish Borders with Tamsin Grainger, exploring the beautiful landscape which we enjoy beside the Tweed. The article describes a scenic and accessible walk starting with a train journey from Edinburgh to Tweedbank, followed by a short, picturesque riverside walk to Melrose. The route is framed as a gentle “pilgrimage,” […]

It is a forest glade. A beam of light pours down into the canyon like a giant spotlight illuminating the children’s performance of swimming and spraying each other with water. Their giggling voices intensified by the echo bouncing from its 360 sides which are decorated in living, textured green wallpaper. I’m distracted as the children […]

A new baby, lockdown, a journey. The drive, from the borderlands of Northumberland to the Pentland hills. Beside me the obligatory hand gel and face masks, meagre defence against this rampant virus. Covid. The radio chatters, talking of the R number rising, scary statistics of deaths and rates of infections. The world will close down […]

My Great, Great grandfather John Brown, was the “Dominie” in Tweedsmuir for 41 years until 1895 when he died. His grave is in Tweedsmuir kirkyard. He was born in Peebles, in Kerfield in 1825, where his father was assistant gardener, the oldest of 10 children. He was possibly the teacher at Stobo before Tweedsmuir, but […]