The Scottish Borders

Gretna Green

This is the first village in Scotland after passing the English.Scottish border. it is very small and really quaint.

Historical for it's famous  runaway weddings!

In 1753 an act of parliament  allowed boys of 14 and girls of 12 to be married without their parents consent. ( lord Hardwickes marriage act ) In England anyone under the age of 21 needed consent of both parents.it wasn't long before "young" couples were travelling across the border to tie the knot.

In 1929 the law was changed to the age of 16 for both boys and girls but no parental approval was needed.In England the law was eventually changed to allow 16 year olds to be married but even today they still need parental consent.

The Old Blacksmith shop built around 1712 was the focal point for many of these young weddings and is still a very popular choice for many new weds today.

In the south of Scotland there is a little country town called Moffat situated between some of the most beautiful hills and landscape Dumfriesshire has to offer. There is only one high street and it's popularity is reflected in the fact that there are  at least six hotels alone on this short stretch.

This area around moffat offers lots of history as well as beauty and is well worth visiting when travelling through Scotland. There is also a very good golf course walking distance from the town centre.

The Grey mares Tail

This is an amazing waterfall situated on the road from moffat to Selkirk, the valley was scoured out by glaciers during the last ice age and the waterfall is found in a 300 feet drop which leads from a burn originating from loch Skene.

Nowadays there is a path cut out up the hillside making it possible to climb to the top and offers some of the most breathtaking photos for the keen photographer.

The whole area around these falls belongs to the National Trust for Scotland and is rich in wild flowers and animals for those interested.

Nearby to the greymares tail is St. mary's loch and is a very popular walking area. This area is quite well known for fossils and attracts many tourists from all over the world.

St Mary's Loch

The Southern Upland walkway passes Tibbie Shiels Inn at the southwest end of the loch before following the shore to Dryhope Bridge on the A708 Moffat to Selkirk Road.

It is possible to drive from St marys loch past the talla reservoir to tweedsmuir . This road will take you past the famous Devils beeftub back down into Moffat.

The Devils Beeftub

The tub is a 150m (500ft) deep hollow just North of the town of Moffat on the road to Edinburgh. it is in fact a hollow which meets four different hill ranges called, The Great hill, Peate Knowe,Annanhead and Ericstane hills. The highest point is 465 m / 1527ft and this makes for a very spectacular sight when standing on the main road side and looking down.

In the 13th century there were Border reivers ( raiders) who stole livestock for a living and as Moffat is situated quite close to the English borders history tells that the raiders stole from the English and hid the sheep deep in the tub where it was very difficult to spot them.

Each summer there are hill runs arranged which provide excellent but exhausting competitions for many enthusiastic runners.

The Moffat gala which is held in July each year attracts several hundred runners to run the 15 km run through the streets and farms of Moffat, which then leads them over and through the beeftub up onto the 701 from Edinburgh back down into Moffat.

It is not unusual to see the mountain rescue ambulance half way up the tub just in case!

I tried and survived this run last year and really want to give it a go again next summer.

The run is only 15km (arund 9.4 miles) and that sounds ok it is the part in the middle where you run/climb the tub that offers the challenge. The other side sounds easy as you run for about 5km downhill, what a relief i thought, but boy o boy that was tough on the thighs and knees.

Well that was just a little insight into a few of the many interesting places in the border region.Although there are many more interesting stops i will stop here.

Thank you for reading.