The unexpected discovery of a 150-year-old painting of Dryburgh Suspension Bridge and the River Tweed offers an insight into the Scottish Borders landmark shortly after it was built in the 1870s. A British Geological Survey (BGS) geologist discovered the Victorian watercolour of the River Tweed on the reverse side of a geological field map. It […]

We crossed the pass in looping bends and followed the road as it twisted down through broad-shouldered, sheep-grazed hills into Tweeddale. Tweed’s Well, the source of the Tweed, was simply marked by a road sign pointing seemingly nowhere but honouring a drip-fed spring pushing its pile of coins to the surface, and not much more […]

After visiting my daughter and her family between Christmas and New Year I was travelling home through the Tweed valley between Coldstream and Kelso. Late afternoon and a clear sky. Amid the seasonal hurly burly this view was, in every sense, a breath of fresh air.

Garden cultivation in Scotland began in the 15th century, mainly among monasteries, royalty, and the wealthy. Early gardens were practical, growing herbs and food, and influenced by European styles. For example, Traquair House, Scotland’s oldest inhabited home by the River Tweed, features historic orchards and parkland. The 18th Century saw a surge in the creation […]

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 […]

In 1964 the Inspector and Chemist of the Tweed River Purification Board issued one of his regular reports, with details about water abstractions and pollution incidents. Examples include: • There were many complaints about the dumping of soot and a letter was sent to all chimney sweeps in the Borders about proper disposal arrangements. • […]