Bob Law: walking in the Scottish Borders – Peebles.

An easy, but beautiful, walk near Peebles

The+Rolling+Beauty+of+the+Southern+Uplands

The border town of Peebles is already a firm destination for day trippers from the central belt with its high street of local shops, riverside strolls along the grassy banks of the Tweed, and rolling country landscapes. Just over an hour’s drive from Glasgow, less from Edinburgh, the scenery on the journey down is stunning in itself but a circular walk over Cademuir Hill, 407 metres, then following minor roads past Cademuir Farm,Kirkton Manor, Barns, then the river bank of the Tweed under Neidpath Castle on the return to Peebles is a delight.

There’s a convenient car park on the south bank of the River Tweed in Peebles, ideal for exploring the town or as a start point for this walk or a shorter stroll along the river to Neidpath Castle. The castle is not open to the public but it’s an imposing sight – standing on its rocky shelf high above the River Tweed. It can be reached by a flat, and easy to follow, trail. It has been used in films and TV because of its dramatic location. It’s also available for weddings.

The Circular Walk around Peebles

For the longer walk you will need the OS Landranger Map Sheet 73 or equivalent GPS or Smartphone technology. It is a simple walk over one small hill then along the River Tweed in a circle back to Peebles – part of it covers the Peebles’ section of the John Buchan Way, a 22km/13 mile one way trail from Peebles to Broughton.

The scenery is spectacular – the inspiration for Richard Hanney’s journey in The 39 Steps.Good map link here.The circular horseshoe I’m describing is shorter at around 10km and should prove easy for most walkers. Allow 3 to 5 hours on a good day as, given the surroundings, it’s not a walk to rush

Bob Law

[gallery_bank source_type=”gallery” id=”133″ layout_type=”blog_style_layout” alignment=”left” blog_image_width=”300″ sort_images_by=”sort_order” order_images_by=”sort_asc” lightbox_type=”foo_box_free_edition” page_navigation=”disable” gallery_title=”hide” gallery_description=”hide” thumbnail_title=”hide” thumbnail_description=”hide” filters=”disable” lazy_load=”disable” search_box=”disable” order_by=”disable” animation_effects=”bounce” special_effects=”grayscale”]

[/gallery_bank]

[gallery_bank source_type=”gallery” id=”132″ layout_type=”blog_style_layout” alignment=”left” blog_image_width=”300″ sort_images_by=”sort_order” order_images_by=”sort_asc” lightbox_type=”foo_box_free_edition” page_navigation=”disable” gallery_title=”hide” gallery_description=”hide” thumbnail_title=”hide” thumbnail_description=”hide” filters=”disable” lazy_load=”disable” search_box=”disable” order_by=”disable” animation_effects=”bounce” special_effects=”grayscale”][/gallery_bank]