Another walk – Cockburnspath and Cove, Scottish Borders / Berwickshire part 2

Posted on 1 April 2019 by Katrina

To get down to the right hand side of the beach at Cove you have to walk through this tunnel. It was constructed years ago and goes through the cliffs. It was no mean feat to build it and it’s very dark inside, you just have to aim for the light at the end of it and watch out for the potholes.

At the beginning it’s shored up with brick but I think most of it inside is just rough rock face, but as it’s so dark in there I don’t know for sure.

To get over to the beach on the other side you have to go back through the tunnel. These cottages are all that’s left of what had once been a thriving fishing community, all of the other cottages have been swept away by the sea.

Thecottages are only used to store fishing gear.

The houses below are bit more modern and set back from the seashore. I still wouldn’t fancy being in them during a storm though.

Looking closer you can see that the cliffs are well upholstered with gorse bushes, they fairly brighten the place and seem to be in bloom most of the year – just don’t fall into it!

A train unexpectedly shot across a field. It’s many many years since I had toddlers walking beside me but whenever I see a train I still have an urge to point it out to them!

We walked back to Cockburnspath by a different route and came across this rather grand ram. When we first spotted him he was having a fine time attacking the hessian sacking wit his huge horns but he stopped to scrutinise us. Obviously we were more interesting, or just a welcome distraction. He was probably bored but seemed too aggresive to have any company in the field with him.

Just beyond the ram’s field are these farm buildings, very neglected and seemingly unused. Whenever I see places like this I just itch to put them to rights. I hate that farmers just let old buildings fall down.

We walked along farmland paths

and then along the field margins.

And back to Cockburnspath for a well earned coffee.

Another walk – Cockburnspath and Cove, Scottish Borders / Berwickshire

Posted on 31 March 2019 by Katrina

We had arranged to go and visit our friend Eric last Monday and luckily it turned out to be a beautiful day for it. But then it always seems to be a blue sky sparkling sort of a day around Cove and Cockburnspath in Berwickshire whenever we go there. Why not join me on my walk there?

The lands of Cockburnspath were part of the dowry given by James IV of Scotland to Margaret Tudor (daughter of Henry VII of England) on their marriage in 1503, it’s a lovely place but so off the beaten track that few people seem to know about the place. Our visits always include a walk down to the coast to the teeny wee historic harbour of Cove. This time we went the scenic way along narrow lanes, avoiding the main road. This flowering currant was putting on a good show beside one rather remote cottage.

The lane becomes a narrow footpath, as you can see the daffodils are out.

It isn’t long before you catch a glimpse of the coast in the distance across some fields.

I was relieved to see that the tide wasn’t too far in.

Uther the red and white setter was in a hurry to get down there, but I lagged behind him, Jack and Eric, taking my time to get some photos.

It certainly felt like spring had sprung, but Uther didn’t brave the sea, in fact he never does. He just loves the sights and smells, and enjoys digging up crabs to crunch now and again. I suspect those crabs must be dead but they don’t seem to cause him any harm.

I’ll continue with our journey tomorrow. I hope you’re up for it, it’s just a pity that you can’t catch the fresh coastal air.

Meanwhile you can see more of my older photos here.

Melrose Abbey – part 2

Posted on 2 December 2018 by Katrina

I took a lot of photos when we visited Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders, so I thought I might as well do another post about it.
This finial is on the roof, you have to trek up a lot of stairs to get this photo.

The grave markers below are really part of the inner walls, I suppose it was only very wealthy people who could afford to be buried there and if any other members of the family want to be laid to rest there then the paving slabs beneath can be lifted to slot them in.

A lot of the stonework has been eroded by the weather but you can still get an idea of the original decoration.

The abbey must have been split up into different chapels in parts as there are several of these piscinae (wee alcoves) which were where the water was kept for the priests to wash their hands.

The photo below is from the highest point of the roof.

It’s definitely not for people who suffer from vertigo!

I find that I get dizzier if I’m on the ground looking up though. Hundreds of years ago some religious fanatics climbed this building to knock hell out of the carved images of saints which they objected to, it looks like some of them more or less survived, maybe those ones were just too difficult to reach.

In its heyday this abbey must have been a vast complex, far more of it is just ruins in outline, presumably the stones were carried away for house building at some point.

If you happen to be in the Melrose area it’s a good idea to fit in a visit to Sir Walter Scott’s home – Abbotsford, which is not far from here.

As you can see we were very lucky with the weather, it was the last warm day of what has been a great summmer or should I say autumn as these photos were taken towards the end of October.

Melrose Abbey, Scottish Border

Posted on 20 November 2018 by Katrina

On the same day that we visited Abbotsford we managed to squeeze in a visit to the nearby town of Melrose, mainly to have a look at Melrose Abbey. As you can see – it’s another ruin.

It was King David I who in 1136 asked Cistercian monks to found an abbey in Melrose.

Between Jack and myself we took loads of photos of the abbey and its surroundings.

One of the information boards told us to look out for the carving of a pig playing the bagpipes, and we found it, we had to hike up 72 steep and narrow steps of a spiral staircase to reach the very top of the abbey, and from there you can look down on the pig. Whoever designed the place had a sense of humour anyway.

As this abbey is situated in the Scottish Borders it got more than its fair share of attention from English invaders, including Edward II’s army and later Richard II’s army. Then Henry VIII had a go at it; given all that – it’s surprising there’s anything left of it at all!

Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford – again

Posted on 13 November 2018 by Katrina

Time for a few more photos of Sir Walter Scott’s old home – Abbotsford, in the Scottish Borders. Below is a photo of his dining room and it’s quite different from how it looked when Scott was alive. Originally the walls and ceiling were varnished a dark brown wood colour so it must have felt a bit like being in a big wooden box.

After Scott died his daughter-in-law had the walls and ceiling painted cream but you can see that a wee bit of the paint has been scraped off the ceiling mouldings so that you can see what it should have been like.

If you’ve read Scott’s books you’ll know that he was keen on writing about knights and chivalry, in fact he started a whole fashion for books like that and he was also keen on collecting armour and weapons too as you can see from his armoury below.

Scott was keen to have his house built using authentic bits of old buildings, in fact it sounds like he became a bit of a plunderer and he thought nothing of ripping out panelling from old buildings such as the Palace at Dunfermline. His excuse was that he was saving them from ruin, but I suspect that he hastened the ruin by what he was doing to the buildings. Dunfermline Palace is certainly a ruin now.

I’m not sure where the fireplace below came from but the tiles are Dutch.

The chandelier below is in the drawing-room and to the left of it you can see a painting of Sir Walter with one of his dogs.

More of the drawing-room.

One of its doorways is flanked by two huge harps and the wall covering is Chinese silk, very grand.

But just a stone’s throw from all that grandeur is the dogs’ cemetery, in a wooded area to the side of the house, no doubt it was a favourite area for walks. Next time I’ll show you some photos of the gardens.

Abbotsford – the library

Posted on 4 November 2018 by Katrina

Back to Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford, the ceilings are all very ornate, and each one very different. The photos above are of the ceiling in his library, the second photo is of the ceiling above the window alcove in the photo below, in reality it isn’t as dark as it looks in the photo.

The books are all held prisoner behind grating which I can understand as I’m sure some people would haul them out by the spine if they were loose on the shelves.

Below is a view from a library window, it’s at the back of the house and the River Tweed can be seen, but not in this photo.

The library is behind one of those windows as this is a view of the back of the house.

Below is a view of the front of the house. Abbotsford is quite different from how it looked in Scott’s day, mainly because his son added a large extension to the left of the front door. The downstairs rooms have been left untouched but you can’t go upstairs in Abbotsford, mainly because there’s nothing original to see from Scott’s days there. Scott descendants lived in the house until fairly recently and to them I suppose it was just home.

I still have loads more photos of Abbotsford. I’ll get around to them sometime.

Cove, Scottish Borders

Posted on 27 September 2018 by Katrina

One day last month we went to visit Eric and his family and that always means a lovely walk to the wee harbour at nearby Cove. The water was so tranquil, but there were no scuba divers around.

The cottages are still standing despite no doubt being pounded by storms at times, these are the only ones left of what was once quite a large fishing community.

This wee harbour is almost like a secret, you really need to know someone who knows the place as you have to walk through a dark tunnel which was created by digging through a hillside. It’s still quite easy to imagine how it must have been when it was home to lots of families though. If you’re interested you can read more about the history of Cove here.

Queen Mary’s House Jedburgh, Scottish Borders

Posted on 5 December 2017 by Katrina

One day last month we decided to visit a couple of towns that we hadn’t been to before – Jedburgh and Melrose in the Scottish Border country. They’re situated just a few miles from each other and both have the ruins of large abbeys. They’re quite small and sleepy towns nowadays but in the past they were important.

But this post is about a house that neither of us had even heard of before – Mary, Queen of Scots House in Jedburgh. It’s owned by the town council now I think and we saw a signpost pointing to it as we parked the car. As you can see from the photo below it was being painted while we were there. There’s a bit more of its history here.

This house has had a bit of a chequered past and there even seems to be a bit of a dispute as to whether Mary did actually live in it although I don’t see why not as she seems to have been just about everywhere else!

The house is unusual because it has a left hand spiral staircase, it seems that it was probably designed originally for the Kerr family as they were a famously left-handed Border reiver clan and coincidentally feature heavily in Dorothy Dunnett’s third Lymond book The Disorderly Knights – which I’ve just finished reading.

Annoyingly I can’t find any photos of the inside of the house, I’m sure I took some but they’re hiding at the moment. You can see a few images of it here.

I was quite impressed with the house, not particularly because of its possible Mary Stuart connections, but just because it’s an interesting really old place with panelling, a tapestry and various other exhibits.

When we were there it was quite busy with tourists, in common with just about everywhere this year, it must have something to do with the weak pound I suppose – or the Outlander effect maybe. Amazingly there is no entrance fee and I think they are missing a trick as they don’t even have a donations box although you can put a coin in a machine to register whether you would have been a Mary Stuart supporter – or not. Always a tricky one that!

Cockburnspath/Cove, Scottish Borders

Posted on 15 October 2017 by Katrina

One day ten weeks or so ago (how time flies!) we went to Cockburnspath to visit Eric and his family. it was the last week of Freya’s school holidays. It’s a very historic area, being very close to the border with England, battles were fought nearby. When King James IV married Margaret Tudor in 1503 he presented the land around here to her as a wedding gift.

Our visit usually includes a walk to the beach at nearby Cove, a settlement that was once a fishing village with quite a lot of houses and families living there, but due to the ravages of the North Sea most of the houses have been swept away, there are only around three left that are inhabited.

Uther found a ball on the beach and he thought it was a great game to poke it over the edge of the quayside and watch it drop into the harbour, Eric wasn’t so enthralled with the game. Luckily he had his wellies on! The bystanders were very amused.

The North Sea has worn some lovely patterns into the rocks.

Although we’ve been there numerous times we had never witnessed the place when the tide was out, it looks so different. It meant there was far more territory for Uther the red and white setter to investigate, and I must admit that I was happy to follow in his pawsteps. Mooching around on a beach is one of my favourite pastimes, why anyone would want to lie down on a beach is a mystery to me.

The low tide had brought a couple of cockle/whelk gatherers out – rather them than me, apart from not liking seafood – there’s a nuclear power station lurking in the background!

Freya, Jack and Eric were happy to sit and chat while I risked broken ankles scrabbling around amongst the rocks.

These old houses are incredibly picturesque and part of me thinks it would be exciting to have the North Sea battering off your walls, but the fact that all the other houses have been torn down by the sea makes me see sense. This one is now only used to store fishing gear nowadays.

Uther is the only dog that I’ve ever known that doesn’t like to go into water, whisper it but – maybe he was a cat in another life!

Auldgirth and Belted Galloways

Posted on 3 September 2016 by Katrina

Last week we were at Low Kirkbride Farm near Auldgirth in Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Border country. It’s a very remote part of Scotland, very nice to visit but I don’t think I would want to live in such a far-flung rural place. I’m not one for the bright lights but I do like to feel that I can easily get to a big metropolis easily when the fancy strikes me.

Peggy has a thing about cows, and Belted Galloways in particular which is why she chose to rent a teeny cottage in this area for a few days, as the farmer here seems to be one of the very few who still breed ‘Belties’. They’re very placid and we were assured that we could walk through the fields containing them and their calves with no worries at all – and we survived! I wouldn’t have chanced going too close to them though and we gave the field where the bull lived a very wide berth.

As you can see from the photo above Peggy was keen to get up close to this unusual Beltie which is a sort of honey colour with a cream belt rather than the more ususal white and black ones. That cow was having a rest from being pregnant or nurturing a calf for a few months before that beast of a bull got near her again. I suppose you could say she was having a bit of a holiday too, but she was missing her calf as it had just been taken to a neighbouring farm.

We had a bit of a discussion as to whether these birds were geese or ducks – that proves we aren’t much use at this farming malarkey. Whatever they were they were very comical and if they are geese then they were also very well behaved. The white geese that I remember from my childhood that guarded the whisky barrels whilst the whisky inside them matured for several years were violent maniacs that you certainly didn’t want to mess with. The same kind that guarded ancient Rome I suppose.

Poor things, they were a couple of very disgruntled ladies and they lost interest in us when they realised we didn’t have their calves. They’ll be pregnant again soonish though – it’s a hard life being a cow you know. Belted Galloways were in danger of dying out until recent times and I think there are still only about 1500 of them in the UK but their numbers have been slowly increasing which is a good thing as it would be a shame to see the end of these quiet and distinctive animals.

Pining for the West

Meanderings about recipes, books, craft and more

Tag Archives: Scottish Borders