Explore The Borders

Your gateway to the brilliant borderlands

David Pike

On your bike in the Scottish Borders!

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There’s never been a better time to take to the saddle and start exploring brilliant mountain biking experiences in the Scottish Borders.

The rallying call comes from mountain biking business, Ridelines, following the outstanding success of the UCI Championships, which showcased facilities at Glentress Forest in the Tweed Valley as part of the event’s national programme.

Innerleithen based Ridelines provides specialist tuition to help build confidence and raise skill levels for bikers. Director Allan Doyle believes the UCI spotlight that shone on Glentress and the Tweed Valley has the potential to make the location a “genuine bucket list destination” for mountain biking.

 “The UCI Cycling World Championships coming to the Tweed Valley represents a huge validation for what the community has built over the years. All World Championship disciplines took full advantage of the existing trails and shared them with an international audience. 

“Our hope is that the success of this event, the worldwide coverage, huge crowds, and phenomenal atmosphere of racing, will result in the Tweed Valley becoming a genuine bucket list destination. 

“Not just for existing mountain bikers, but also people who simply watched it on TV and thought, I’d like to try that. We’ll be ready to welcome them all and show them our amazing trails. Mountain biking isn’t just for downhill champions, it’s for everyone!”

Ridelines, which provides private mountain bike tuition, skills courses, kids sessions, guided bike rides and leadership awards, is playing a vital role in growing the sport of mountain biking in the local area and has recently been named as a finalist for the South of Scotland’s first Regional Thistle Awards.

The Scottish Thistle Awards celebrate the very best of the tourism and events industry, which is worth £11.5 billion to the Scottish economy.

The South of Scotland has also now joined a prestigious list of world-leading cycling destinations after being awarded a UCI Bike Region label. The label is held by 26 cities and regions across the globe and recognises a region’s commitment to both Elite cycling and cycling for all.

David Hope-Jones, Chief Executive of the South of Scotland Destination Alliance, said: “Events like the UCI World Championships and the Tour of Britain being staged here really put our region on the map as a magnificent cycling destination and we know cycle tourism has the potential to bring a massive boost to the South of Scotland’s communities and visitor economy.

Not only was the bicycle born in the South of Scotland thanks to Kirkpatrick Macmillan, but you can also perfect your cycling skills here too – then put them to use discovering some of the most stunning landscapes anywhere on the planet!”

Scottish Borders – made for the big occasion

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More than 8,000 cyclists from 120 countries arrived in Scotland to take part in the UCI World Championships – the biggest festival of cycling ever staged.

Events were held in locations throughout the country and high on the list was Glentress Forest and Tweed Valley, near Peebles.

Glentress is one of the famous 7stanes mountain bike trail centres with award-winning trails that attract riders from the UK and beyond.

Councillor Scott Hamilton, Scottish Borders Council’s Executive Member for Community and Business Development, said: “The Scottish Borders was proud to be a regional host of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.

“We hope the event will deliver long term benefits to the Scottish Borders and support the South of Scotland – the home of the bike – to become the country’s leading cycling destination.”

And another important Borders connection teamed up with UCI organisers to create a championship tartan.

The tartan, inspired by the rainbow stripes of the UCI jersey and the blue of the Scottish Saltire flag – was been designed and woven by world famous Selkirk based weavers, Lochcarron of Scotland, a founding member of The Scottish Tartans Authority.

Scottish mountain bike stars Charlie Aldridge and local cycling star Isla Short from Peebles, who took part in the Mountain Bike Cross-Country Olympic events, gave their approval at the launch of the new tartan at Traquair House.

“I am delighted that one of our local businesses created the official tartan for the world’s biggest ever cycling event, and one of the stand out global sporting events of 2023,” added Cllr Hamilton.

Glentress hosted the Mountain Bike Cross-Country and Mountain Bike Cross-Country Marathon as part of the UCI programme.

Coast2Coast challenge

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Experienced cyclists in search of an exhilarating new challenge have taken to the UK’s newest coast to coast cycle route with gusto.

The Kirkpatrick C2C, South of Scotland’s Coast to Coast has been named after Kirkpatrick Macmillan, the 19th century Dumfriesshire blacksmith who invented the first pedal-driven velocipede.

One of the longest coast to coast routes in the UK – it stretches almost 250 miles from Stranraer in the west to Eyemouth on Scotland’s southeast coast.

Developed by South of Scotland Destination Alliance (SSDA) the route the Kirkpatrick C2C promises an unforgettable journey through breath-taking landscapes with dramatic coastlines and beaches, rolling hills and shimmering lochs and history lying in wait at every turn.

Comprehensive information about and including itineraries, route maps, key landmarks and places to stay, eat, drink and visit along the Kirkpatrick C2C route will be published on a dedicated page on www.scotlandstartshere.com.

VisitScotland and Sustrans will also feature the full Kirkpatrick C2C, South of Scotland’s Coast to Coast route, itineraries and day trips on the Sustrans interactive cycling routes map at www.visitscotland.com/cyclingroutes.

The Kirkpatrick C2C is designed to inspire experienced riders in search of a new challenge and encourages them to tackle either the eight-day Explorer approach or the four-day Challenger approach.

The Explorer approach takes cyclists across the country in eight stages, with daily cycling distances varying from 21 miles (Newcastleton to Hawick) to 51 miles (Dumfries to Newcastleton).

Meanwhile, the Challenger version can be done over four days, starting with a 74-mile stretch from Stranraer to the charming artists’ town of Kirkcudbright and finishing with a 59-mile ride from Selkirk to Eyemouth.

The official GPX map also features a number of route spurs which riders can follow to explore even more of the South of Scotland, including starting the journey from the small coastal town of Portpatrick, stopping in Galashiels to visit the Great Tapestry of Scotland and taking in the attractive Berwickshire town of Duns.

The Kirkpatrick C2C is expected to prove a huge draw for the South of
Scotland when formally launched in early summer.

Initial projections suggest the new route could attract up to 175,000 new visitors to the region, with a direct spend of £13.7M per year.

SSDA Chief Executive, David Hope-Jones, (above) said: “In a terrific year for cycling in the South of Scotland, Home of the Bike and excitement is really building now right along the route of the Kirkpatrick C2C.

“It’s one of the longest and most exciting on-road routes in the UK. Whether it’s dramatic coastlines and beaches, the creative communities of Wigtown and Kirkcudbright, the romantic ruined abbeys of the towns Melrose and Kelso, Hawick’s historic mills or Eyemouth’s harbour town with its fascinating history of smuggling and skulduggery, this route has an endless wealth of things to discover and enjoy, as well as excellent places to stay, eat and drink,” he said.

Tweed Valley on right track

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Walkers, cyclists and horse riders are among the groups to benefit from the extension of the Tweed Valley Railway multi-use path.

The £500,000 project, delivered by a funding partnership of Transport Scotland, Scottish Borders Council (SBC) and Sustrans Scotland’s Places for Everyone programme, has seen the existing Peebles to Innerleithen route extended to Walkerburn.

And an exciting new venture by Tweeddale Youth Action – supported by GO e-Bike – provides local community access to electric bikes for personal use, and electric cargo bikes for the business community.

The Tweed Valley Railway multi-use path is already hugely popular but this extension improves an already excellent facility to allow local people and visitors to get active and enjoy the area in a safe environment.

Councillor Gordon Edgar, SBC’s Executive Member for Roads and Infrastructure, and SEStran chair, added: “I am delighted the Tweed Valley Railway multi-use path is now completed, and hope it encourages more people to jump on their bike or pull on their walking shoes and get active.”

Right at the heart of things

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The oldest part of town is aptly home to the flagship Heart of Hawick development.

It comprises the Heritage Hub, repository of ancient documents and records from the Borders, and a superb visitor centre that incorporates a bistro cafe, tourist information desk, a cinema and theatre.

It is also a popular choice for travelling exhibitions, as is the square outside for concerts, street theatre and local gatherings.

Formerly Elliott’s textile mill, the cafe features a glass floor through which visitors can view the original water wheel that once powered the machinery.

In these environmentally conscious times the wheel has been the subject of a study to see if it could be brought back to life provide power for the building.

Beautifully restored, many of the original mill features have been designed into the new facilities – but one aspect of its industrial past was not planned for.

Several people have reported seeing and sensing something paranormal on the top floor of the old mill – a presence confirmed by a local psychic and backed up by research that found that a local girl had died in an industrial accident there in the 1800’s.

At the neighbouring Heritage Hub, delving into the past attracts enquiries and visitors from all over the world. The electronic highway is particularly hot these days as more and more people piece together their family tree.

Travelling back in time has become something of a global obsession in recent years.

We are referring, of course, to the tens of thousands of people who have become descendant detectives hot on the trail for clues to piece together a family tree.

It’s a journey made easier of late thanks to the internet which has flung open doors to vast stores of information. And the electronic highway is particularly hot these days at the Heritage Hub in Hawick, a centre that acts as the guardian for Borders’ archives on just about everything you would want to know about the region’s past.

It holds all census records from 1841 (the first for which records survive) to 1901 for the four Border counties and, going further back, old parish records of christenings, marriages and burials.

The building is part of the admirable Heart of Hawick site, an award winning development built with the help of Heritage Lottery and European funding, and, appropriately, based in the oldest part of the town.

The Hub’s archive paints a fascinating and historical picture of life as it was in the Borders. Records of businesses and merchants, legal records, maps, school records, poor laws and police records sit alongside more ancient collections, much of which is stored in temperature controlled chambers.

Conservative estimates say that for every Scot resident in Scotland there are five more living abroad, an indication of the mass emigration that took place over the past 200 years or so.

Many booked a one-way passage to the brave new world that was the USA; young men like John ‘Black Jack’ Elliot, the son of William and Barbara (nee Scott) Elliot. Among the possessions he packed and took with him was a photograph album containing images of his family and cherished memories of the Border country he would never see again.

Some time ago the album came home.

It was in the possession of John’s great grandson, Bob Harris, a retired English and drama teacher now living in Rochester, New York State who was at the first stage of researching his family’s history.

He was directed to the Heritage Hub, that, wouldn’t you just know it, now occupies the site where Aitken’s photographic studio once stood. “When I inherited the photographic album I wanted to know more about the family and my Scottish roots and the Hub was a terrific source of help,” said Bob.

Stobs POW Camp

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Due to its extraordinary level of preservation Stobs Camp, approximately four miles south of Hawick in the Scottish Borders, is an internationally important First World War site.

It was an arena for Scotland’s preparation for war and the subsequent handling of First World War prisoners, both civilian and military.

Although Stobs’ military connections continued up until the early 1960s the focus of the Stobs Camp Project is the period prior to, and during, the First World War.

The ongoing community-focused project aims to better understand Stobs Camp and the role it played and to protect the camp for future generations.

Led by Archaeology Scotland the team works with many organisations, groups and individuals including Historic Environment Scotland, Hawick Archaeological Society, Hawick Callants Club, Borders Family History Society, and Scottish Borders Council Archaeological Services.

The project has surveyed the physical remains at Stobs and exploring the human stories of the soldiers who trained at the camp and the civilian and German prisoners who were interned there.

Volunteers from across the Scottish Borders, the UK, and Europe are helping to build a picture of what life was like at the camp by researching the archives, newspapers, regimental records and family histories.