Darnick and Tweedbank

This route from Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott, takes in the settlements of Darnick and Tweedbank including Gunknowe Loch.

You will pass the Waverley Hotel which was the earliest mass concrete building in Scotland, completed in 1871.

1. From the car park follow the path signed for Abbotsford and the visitor centre. Just before the visitor centre, turn left and follow the Borders Abbeys Way (BAW) uphill, after approximately 50 metres cross the main road with care and continue uphill on the minor road.

2. At the road junction go straight ahead following the road as it climbs a little before descending past Kaeside, Sunnyside and Broomilees Farms.

3. At Darnick Community Woodlands turn right (signed Ley Road).

4. At the bottom of the hill turn left onto Smiths Road and continue straight ahead. Darnick is a traditional Scottish village with winding streets and narrow lanes.

5. Cross the main road with care and head for a pair of metal gates to the left of the driveway to the Waverley Castle Hotel. The hotel was completed in 1871 and is one of the earliest mass concrete buildings in Scotland. Follow the tarmac track, then go straight ahead on a grassy track with a house on the right and through a gate at the end of the track. This area is known as Skirmish Field and was the site, in 1526, of a battle between King James V’s supporters and many of the renowned Border families.

6. (Alternatively if the ground is wet, cross the road and turn left and follow the pavement round to the right at the next road junction to point 7).

7. Turn left and follow the riverbank path, now the Southern Upland Way (SUW), which eventually meets a road.

8. Cross the road with care and follow the SUW along a tarmac path and past a modern office building. At the road junction, turn left, then right, then left again at the sign for Tweedbank Industrial Estate.

9. At the crossroads carry on straight ahead keeping to the roadside pavement which then narrows to a lane with sport pitches on the left.

10. Turn right and cross the road. At the bottom of the hill bear left then turn left before the underpass and continue up to the road.

11. Cross the road, turn left then immediately right and follow the path along the side of Gunknowe Loch. The loch has a resident population of swans, geese and ducks. At the end of the loch pick up the roadside pavement again. At the roundabout cross the road with care and go straight ahead through a gate and up the slope back to the start point.