Last year I wrote a short blog about my favourite Winter Walks in the Tweed Valley. Well, here is the sequel! This time I have cast my net a little wider across The Borders to give you some great ideas for six fine walks on short days. I will give you the lowdown on the chosen walks, appropriate links as well as some recommendations for somewhere to warm up afterwards, and a couple of insights for each one. Winter walking is one of the pleasures of the season, so get yourself wrapped up and enjoy some of the best The Borders has to offer!

The great @rickiesolo24hr on a wintery hike. A reluctant, but first rate, model and good pal.

The John Buchan Way

This linear path from Broughton to Peebles gives a good taste of what walking in The Borders is all about - open moor, farmland, small woodlands and river valleys. The walk is named after the author and diplomat John Buchan, who loved Peeblesshire and described it better than anyone in his wonderful novels - you can practically smell the heather and hear the curlews in his Scottish novels. My suggestion is to start early, and start at Broughton. You can get the Border Buses 91 from Peebles at 08:00 every day and it’ll get you to Broughton 25 scenic minutes later. You’ll be rewarded by a winter sunrise, and if you get a day like I did last year then you’ll have no cause to regret an early start! A wee word of caution - it’s a 14 mile walk to do the whole thing, within the capability of the fit walker, but be mindful of daylight hours. An option might be to break the walk into two which can be done by again using the 91 bus, getting a ride back into Peebles from Stobo. To find out more about the walk, check out Walk Highlands.

Post Walk Recommendations

I am tempted to say I recommend a lie down, as it is quite a tough walk, however if you are in need of a wee pick me up when you get to Peebles then I can recommend Cotlman’s. It’s a wee touch of class. If you can haul yourself along the High Street then the Eastgate Theatre does a nice cuppa, as well as a superb calendar of events, and The Green Tree Hotel is famous for the sort of portions you deserve after a 14 mile walk.

Insights

2023 marked the 20th anniversary of the John Buchan Way.

When Buchan became a Lord he took the name Tweedsmuir as a mark of his affection for upper Tweeddale.

Broughton Place

A 1930’s house on the John Buchan Way, with the look of a Scottish Castle. I am sure Buchan himself approved.

Kirkhope Tower and Ettrickbridge

Ettrickbridge is a lovely wee village and is the ‘capital’ of sparsely populated Ettrick Valley. There are two circular walks you can do from the village, my personal favourite takes you out to the restored Kirkhope Tower (not open to the public) and is a great way to spend a couple of hours. Leaving from the village, you cut across open hillside before arriving at the Tower and following a minor road back. If you are feeling very energetic then you could also take on the second, longer walk around Helmburn Hill. The tricky part about that is you would need to walk past the pub to start walk two. Either way, both walks are good fun and a great way to spend a bit of time in a lovely part of the world. Here are links to both walks Kirkhope Tower Circuit and Helmburn Hill Circuit, taken from the Ettrick and Yarrow development website.

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Ettrickbridge is home to the fabulous Cross Keys Inn. The Inn was reopened in 2023 under the ownership of Vicki and Rory Steel, and reflects their love for the South of Scotland. Locally sourced food, Borders brewed beer, great community spirit. In short, it’s everything a village pub should be. A must visit, here is the website and keep an eye on Facebook for winter opening hours.

Insights

The village of Ettrickbridge used to be named Kirkhope until the bridge itself was built in the late 1700’s. It then became Ettrickbridge End, before finally Ettrickbridge. The name Kirkhope survives in the Church and Primary School.

The Cross Keys Inn won best Bar or Pub in the South of Scotland at the 2023 Scottish Thistle Awards, the first time the South of Scotland has had it’s own dedicated Thistle Awards.

Ettrickbridge

Photo © Richard Webb (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Dryburgh Abbey & St. Boswells

Of all the four Border Abbeys, I have chosen Dryburgh as most suitable for a winter walk. All four are open all year round but unlike the other three there are currently no restrictions to access at Dryburgh due to masonry inspections. So you can pay a modest entry fee (or get in for free this winter on the first Sunday of the month) and have a good wander round this romantic ruin, which I reckon is at its best in the off season when the peace and tranquillity of the location can be truly appreciated. Walk Highlands again has an excellent route you can follow, with an optional excursion to the Wallace Statue. I am on record as not being the biggest fan of the sculptor's work on this statue, but it’s well worth a look and must stand as one of the most curious bits of artwork in the region. The Walk Highlands route could also be extended by looping up the Tweed to Mertoun Bridge and back to St. Boswells using the Borders Abbeys Way and St. Cuthbert’s Way respectively, should you wish to make this a full winters days walk.

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St. Boswell’s is home to a very fine Inn, The Buccleuch Arms. It’s very much heart of the field sports and fishing scene that The Borders is well known for (it was created by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch as a hunting lodge), and as a result you can expect the best of game, beef and venison. If this isn’t your cup of tea, then you can get a very nice cup of tea at The Mainstreet Trading Company, which is also arguably the finest bookshop in The Borders.

Insights

Dryburgh Abbey was established in the year 1150 and remained a place of worship for around 400 years, until the Scottish reformation.

Many of the lime trees in the avenue leading into St. Boswells have plaques on them, commemorating historic events in the villages history.

Winter Walking in style!

Lee Pen, Innerleithen

The Reservoir & Walkerburn

A great walk from Innerleithen, one that I have done hundreds of times over the years and still enjoy. Leaving from the town centre, you cross Cuddy Bridge and pass the Pirn Hill iron age fort before following forest roads and tracks to the saddle between Kirnie Law and Priesthope where the incongruous site of the concrete reservoir will baffle first timers. Following the track round the hill, you have a choice of returning to Innerleithen via the steep slopes of Pirn Craig or extending the walk to Walkerburn by following the forest road east towards Walkerburn via the ruin of Priesthope. Either is fine, and the quality of the day and fitness of the group will make it an easy decision. The latter route can be found in walk eight of this great booklet, available to download from Scottish Borders Council website.

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Where to start! Caberston Farm café is great for those doing the full walk via Walkerburn. If you are heading back to Innerleithen then you could treat yourself to a Pie from Pie Innerleithen, or a coffee and cake from one of the many coffee shops we have. You won’t go hungry or thirsty in Innerleithen.

Insights

The Kirnie Law reservoir was built in 1920. For more information on it’s construction and current status, please have a read of this blog.

Cuddy Bridge dates back to 1701, and was once part of the main road up the Tweed Valley to Peebles.

Yours truly enjoying a winter hike to the reservoir. Must have been a while ago, as that beard is long gone!

St. Mary’s Loch

Since officially opening in 2015 this walk has proved very popular and adds another attraction to St. Mary’s - surely the finest Loch in The Borders. As befits a circular walk, it can be started anywhere but most people will start at the car park by The Loch of The Lowes. The route is 11km and will take most walkers about 3.5 hours - just perfect for a short, winters day. If you follow the Walk Highlands route you can add a wee bit on by visiting Dryhope Tower and St. Mary’s Kirkyard. I would recommend these diversions, which will add an hour or so to your walk. If you want to know more about St.Mary’s then please have a read of this blog - one of the earliest I wrote as ‘Tweed Valley Blogger’.

Post Walk Recommendations

Not much in the way of winter facilities at St. Mary’s, a day to bring a flask! Further down Yarrow is The Gordon Arms, which offers an impressive seasonal menu in a historic setting. If you fancy some pub grub then Moffat, Selkirk or Innerleithen are your nearest options.

Fun Fact

St. Mary’s Loch is a natural loch, but on this walk you will notice a small dam at the northern end. This is part of Selkirk’s flood defence programme.

The Southern Upland Way was officially launched at St. Mary’s Loch on 27 April 1984. Michael Ancram, then a Cabinet Minister in Margaret Thatcher’s Government, did the ribbon cutting. A plaque to commemorate this is on the side of the Tibbie Shiels Inn (not open to the public).

Roxburgh Castle & The Teviot

The final walk I have chosen for this set of 6 wintery wanders starts from Kelso, a great town which I called home for a while a few years back. This is a walk I did several times when I stayed there and it has a wee bit of everything. You can find another excellent route description on Walk Highlands and it starts you off in the centre of town, giving you a chance to take in the ruined Abbey before crossing Rennie’s Bridge with its views of the Junction Pool and Floors Castle. Once safely across the Tweed you pass the grounds of the vast Borders Events Centre before crossing your second river of the day. The real fun starts when you are on the riverside path snaking alongside the Teviot Water - this is a great place for wildlife spotting and you will soon notice the sparse ruins of Roxburgh Castle high on your right. It’s hard to believe it now but this was once a key stronghold for Scottish Kings, and was fiercely fought over. It’s one of my favourite stops on The Borderlands Tour, so if you want to know more about it’s incredible story then get booked up!

Eventually the path will take you to another crossing of The Teviot, you can either follow The Borders Abbeys Way to a footbridge or, if you are more adventurous, take the Walk Highlands suggestion and cross the old railway viaduct. Either way you will end up on the old railway back to town. A top tip is to be prepared for mud on the final section - as is often the way in old railway cuttings, it’s pretty damp and boggy.

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In Kelso’s unusual, elegant almost Flemish style Square you’ll find lots of great shops and bars, as well as regular farmers markets and the fantastic River Tweed Salmon Fishing Museum. Hume’s Outfitters is the place to go if you want to look like a native and 20Storey is a great wee bookshop. For dinner, I love The Cobbles, quaintly located just off the square and a super pub where you might stumble upon some live, traditional music as well as local beer. The Cross Keys Hotel is where we had our wedding so always has a soft spot for me. In short, you can fill a day quite easily in Kelso before you even get to rugby and racing!

Insights

The deep pool where the Teviot and Tweed meet is known as Junction Pool and is regarded as the crème de la crème of Salmon fishing spots.

In Roxburgh Street (outside the Co-Op), you can see the outline of a horseshoe on one of the cobbles. This is reputedly where Charles ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ Stuarts horse lost a shoe on his way out of town in 1745.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these suggestions. As with any walking blog, I must point out that walking comes with risks and anyone doing these walks does so at their own risk. I’m providing these suggestions free and in good faith, and would always strongly recommend having a map and compass when out on a walk - and knowing how to use them. If you are unsure of your navigation, then get in touch - I can point you in the right direction for a refresher. You can get maps for the area from my local hiking shop Out and About in Peebles, any of our local bookshops or The Hub in Innerleithen.