Lord Dowding is probably Moffat’s most famous son as, during the Second World War, he led RAF Fighter Command in its defeat of the Luftwaffe, saving the UK from a Nazi invasion. Wartime prime minister Winston Churchill dubbed him the ‘architect of deliverance’. Dowding was born in Moffat at St Ninian’s Preparatory School. He was […]

The Devil’s Beef Tub is a dramatic, 150 metre deep, hollow, about 5 miles north of Moffat on the A701. It is formed by four hills: Great Hill, Peat Knowe, Annanhead Hill and Ericstane Hill, and is one of the two main sources of the River Annan. The Beef Tub was used by the Border […]

When you’re in Well Street, in Moffat, don’t forget to pay your respects to King Robert the Bruce. Robert I, born in 1274, was King of Scots from 1306. He led Scotland against England during the First War of Scottish Independence and successfully fought for Scotland to be an independent kingdom. The statue above Well […]

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,” […]