Raised in Kelso the river Tweed was always close, whether swimming in the Cobbie Pool, dismissive of stories of danger and drowning or trout fishing, usually unsuccessfully on the Teviot. Work took me away from the Tweed for most of my working life, only to return to Birgham on retirement. By this time I had […]

Golden Eagles have always been a proud element in Scottish wildlife. People will tell you that a glimpse of an eagle soaring high over mountains and lochs is a memory to be treasured for a lifetime. However, despite the overall increase in eagle numbers throughout much of Scotland, this growth has not been seen in […]

My Mum, sister, and I moved to Cornhill-on-Tweed in the 1970s, where my Mum taught at Cornhill First School for many years. My sister and I spent hours playing in the stream at the bottom of the field behind our house, which ran through the old mill and into the Tweed. We stayed away from […]

I walk the Tweed regularly with my border collies between the Tweed Bridge at Manor and the Barns estate. Have done so for the last 30+ years. So many happy times spent there walking in all seasons watching the spring birds arrive, seeing kingfishers and otters and other wildlife. I especially love the arrival of […]

From the earliest Neolithic settlers to modern-day artisans, sheep farming has shaped the region’s economy, culture, and landscape. Powered by the river, and later wind and steam, early mills transformed local wool into high-quality textiles sold across the globe. The hardy Border Cheviot sheep, bred in the uplands of Ettrick, Yarrow, and the Cheviot Hills, […]

It was a chilly but gloriously sunny day in January 2022 when I first visited Paxton House, beside the River Tweed near Berwick. Storm Arwen had roared through the region in November, flattening swathes of woodland and damaging properties, including taking a bite out of our roof in North Northumberland. Paxton’s beautiful gardens and grounds […]