Photos and the City

Author: Ursula Schmitz

Floors Castle

Kelso

Kelso is a market town in the Scottish Borders about 20 miles from Galashiels or an around 50 minutes bus trip through stunning countryside. Kelso lies on the confluence of the river Tweed and Teviot and is known for its large French-style market square, the largest market square in Scotland.

In the 12th century, Kelso Abbey was founded and the town grew alongside with the arrival of the monks.

Standing on the opposite bank of the River Tweed from the now-vanished royal burgh of Roxburgh, Kelso and its sister hamlet of Wester Kelso were linked to the burgh by a ferry at Wester Kelso. A small hamlet existed before the completion of the abbey in 1128 but the settlement started to flourish with the arrival of the monks. (Wikipedia)

The Abbey controlled the life in Kelso, at one point there was even a beer-tax in favour of the parish. After the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, the power and the wealth of the Abbey declined.

The Kerr family of Cessford took over the barony and many of the abbey’s properties around the town. By the 17th century, they virtually owned Kelso. (Wikipedia)

Sir Walter Scott went to grammar school in Kelso and called “it is the most beautiful if not the most romantic village in Scotland”.

Floors Castle

I walked the Cobby Riverside Walk from Kelso Town Center to Floors Castle, it´s about 2 miles and a lovely walk. Floors Castle is the largest inhabited castle in Scotland and is home to the 10^th Duke of Roxburghe. But it´s more a big country house than a castle, situated within the two rivers, built in 1721 by William Adam, for the 1^st Duke of Roxburghe. Before that, there was probably a tower house on the grounds. Opposite Floors Castle are the ruins of Roxburgh Castle, which was destroyed by the Scots in 1460.

The family of the current Duke of Roxburghe still lives in Floors Castle and opened some of the rooms for the public. It´s a beautiful walk through the park and the Victorian walled gardens, but I was a little bit disappointed by the inside. There are just a small handful of rooms able to visit and then you´re in the shop.

But as said the park and gardens are stunning and well worth a visit. Like Abbotsford House Floors Castle is part of the Historic Houses and it would be smart to become a member when you want to visit more than one.

12/11/2019
Melrose

Melrose Abbey

A Scottish Border Bus (my ride for the next week) brought me from Abbotsford House to Melrose and it was just a short walk to Melrose Abbey, one of the jewels in the Scottish Borders.

Founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks it was the chief house of the order until the Reformation. Today the monastery is partly ruined and under the care of the Historic Environment Scotland. Last year I used their Explorer Pass for visiting lots of places but this year I upgraded to the membership. It´s really worth it and gives you free entry to 70 places in Scotland! The others are either private (Historic Houses) or under the care of the National Trust for Scotland, I´ll be getting that membership next year.

The Cistercians were drawn to this fertile spot beside the River Tweed by its close associations with St Aidan and St Cuthbert. The monks came from Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire, the Cistercians’ great northern English missionary base.

Monastic life continued at Melrose for the next 450 years. The last monk, John Watson, died around 1590. The crumbling abbey church was used as a parish church until a new kirk was built nearby in 1810.

(Historic Enviroment Scotland)

Even so, just a small part of the abbey survived it´s been one of the most beautiful ones I´ve seen so far. And it´s fun to look out for the famous gargoyle of the pipe playing pig.

It is believed that Robert the Bruce loved the abbey so much, that his heart was buried here. Today marked by a memorable stone saying “The heart of a brave man was buried here”.

The monastery contained several houses and plots of land, the Commander’s house is a museum today and has a beautiful view of the abbey.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Sir Walter Scott was appointed Sheriff-Depute of Roxburghshire. In 1822, with the financial assistance of the Duke of Buccleuch, Sir Walter supervised the extensive repair work that was to preserve the ruins. In 1918 the Duke gave the ruins to the state. (Wikipedia)

Scott also described the abbey in a few of his poems.

Harmony garden

Just a short walk from Melrose Abbey lies the Harmony Garden, a peaceful and stunning garden cared for by the National Trust for Scotland.

The garden offers beautiful views of the abbey and the Eildon Hills…

As its name suggests, at Harmony Garden nature is perfectly in tune. Step out of normal life and into somewhere more colourful, relaxing and balanced.

Manicured lawns, scented borders and fruit and vegetable beds spread out from a beautifully proportioned Georgian manor house – available as holiday accommodation. (nts.org.uk)

Priorwood garden

Another beautiful and very calming garden lies on the other side of the abbey: Priorwood Garden, a former house garden of a manor house and a communal garden during WWII.

Priorwood garden has three different sections, a woodland area, a garden dedicated to dried flowers and the orchard.

With wonderfully framed views across to the abbey, the orchard cultivates many historical apple varieties, as well as plums, pears, damsons and greengages. (nts.org.uk)

There were plans to transform the garden into a big parking space for visitors but luckily the National Trust for Scotland was able to buy and conserve it.

MELROSE

After visiting the abbey, the gardens and having a walk along River Tweed it´s time for a little break in one of the tea rooms or cafés in Melrose. There is a wide variety of lovely little shops along the main road and also lots of places for a cup of tea or coffee.

05/11/2019
Abbotsford House

Welcome to Scotland! From Newcastle, I travelled by train to Edinburgh and from there to Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, my home for the next week. Just a short walk from Galashiels is Abbotsford House, the home of Sir Walter Scott.

It was a lovely, slightly wet, walk along the River Tweed until I reached Abbotsford, situated above the Tweed, nestled in between the hills, Sir Walter Scott loved to roam around, and overlooking the stunning landscape

Sir Walter Scott is a beloved Scottish writer if you´ve ever been to Edinburgh you can´t miss his monument next to Princes Street Gardens, the second biggest monument for a writer worldwide.

Born in 1771 in the Old Town of Edinburgh he spent a lot of his childhood with his grandparents in the Scottish Borders, in Sandyknowe near Smailholm Tower, the former family home.

After finishing his education in Edinburgh Scott became a lawyer. But he was always fascinated by the oral traditions of the Scottish Borders. He collected stories and wrote them down. At the age of 25, he started to write professionally by translation works from German.

On on Christmas Eve 1797, Scott married Charlotte Charpentier and the newlyweds settled in Edinburgh and had five children together.

In 1796, Scott’s friend James Ballantyne founded a printing press in Kelso, in the Scottish Borders. Through Ballantyne, Scott was able to publish his first work, including “Glenfinlas” and “The Eve of St. John”, and his poetry then began to bring him to public attention. In 1805, The Lay of the Last Minstrel captured wide public imagination, and his career as a writer was established in spectacular fashion. (Wikipedia)

Scott’s first novel “Waverly”, a tale of the Jacobite rising of 1745, was published anonymously in 1814.

When Scott was a boy, he sometimes travelled with his father from Selkirk to Melrose, where some of his novels are set. At a certain spot, the old gentleman would stop the carriage and take his son to a stone on the site of the Battle of Melrose (1526). (Wikipedia)

In 1811 Walter Scott bought Cartley Hole Farm on the south bank of the River Tweed and built a family cottage in 1812 which he named “Abbotsford”. Abbotsford House was built in a series of extensions and the farmhouse cottage became a romantic fairy palace.

Scott was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style of architecture, therefore Abbotsford is festooned with turrets and stepped gabling. Through windows enriched with the insignia of heraldry the sun shone on suits of armour, trophies of the chase, a library of more than 9,000 volumes, fine furniture, and still finer pictures. Panelling of oak and cedar and carved ceilings relieved by coats of arms in their correct colours added to the beauty of the house. (Wikipedia)

Scott used many sculptured stones from ruined castles and abbeys of Scotland and even collected Roman and medieval stones and statutes.

The house was opened to the public after Scott’s death in 1833 but continued to be occupied by Scott’s descendants until 2004. Electricity was only installed in 1962.

Today Abbotsford House is one of the main tourists’ attractions in the Scottish Borders and you can even stay there, probably not sleeping in Scott´s bed but nearby!

29/10/2019