Borderloop4 – Melrose

Leave Melrose and head towards Dryburgh Abbey take the B6356 past Clint Mains and on to the B6404 and then on to the B6397.

Floors Castle, home of the Duke of Roxburghe, can be visited before arriving in Kelso by the A6089. A wander around Kelso’s shops and the Abbey can break the journey before leaving Kelso on the B6352 towards Town Yetholm and Kirk Yetholm. Then head west and south on the B6401 skirting Morebattle and on to Camptown. A detour can be made to Jedburgh if time allows. Take care crossing the A68 and head towards Chesters and on to Bonchester Bridge. Join the B6399 and head north towards Hawick where you can take a break. Leave Hawick head north towards Melrose on the B6359 passing through Lilliesleaf and Bowden.

A trip to Melrose would not be complete without a visit to Abbotsford House, former home of Sir Walter Scott. Melrose also has one of the famous Borders’ Abbeys and also the Harmony Garden and the Priorwood Garden for those with green fingers. It is a good starting point if you want to venture into the triple-peaked Eildon Hills for a walk with a wonderful view. Not far from Melrose you can also view Dryburgh Abbey and on the outskirts of Kelso you can visit Floors Castle, the splendid ancestral home of the Duke of Roxburgh. Another of the four Borders’ Abbeys can be found in the town of Kelso. If you want to visit the fourth abbey, then you might want to detour off this route and go to Jedburgh where you will also find Mary, Queen of Scots’ Visitor Centre and the Jedburgh Castle Jail and Museum. In Hawick, home to the knitwear industry, you can pop into the Heart of Hawick or the Hawick Museum before heading back toward Melrose.

Undulating roads following field boundaries in and out of Kelso, and then larger climbs and descents between the Cheviots and Melrose.