Explore The Borders

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Scottish Borders

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.

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.

Hawick the perfect choice to revive Borders whisky tradition

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In a town built on solid and stirring traditions, the Hawick community jumped at the chance to stick a new feather in its Scottish Borders bonnet.

Internationally renowned for the manufacture of high quality textiles, Hawick is now at the heart of restoring a Borders tradition that turns the clock back over 180 years.

It was in 1837 – ​the same year that Victoria was crowned queen and young Oliver Twist made his literary debut -​ that the region’s only distillery at Kelso closed down.

Now, we are delighted to say, whisky manufacturing is back – courtesy of The Three Stills Company – and the Borders Distillery is proving to be a class act.

Locals and visitors alike were able to follow the old Turnbull and Scott factory in Commercial Road into a superb distillery and visitor centre that quickly received the highest 5* accreditation from VisitScotland.

The building’s modern open plan aspects and all the trappings of a modern distillery have been sympathetically incorporated with original industrial features – a blend that has been very well received and matches anticipation of the distillery’s single malt whisky.

And the work caught the attention of judges in the Scottish Borders in the Borders Building Design Awards for 2018, where it was listed among the best.

The distillery building’s eye catching restoration, led by architects Gray Macpherson of Edinburgh, won the award in the Existing Buildings Commercial category.

Special importance was placed on incorporating original industrial features all the trappings of a modern distillery.

Celebrating success: John Fordyce and Annie Macpherson from Gray Macpherson with the Hawick distillery’s building design commendation

The firm worked closely with the team at The Three Stills Company to develop a modern open plan building.

Distilling started in March 2018, five years after the original idea first started to take shape with John Fordyce, George Tait, Tim Carton and Tony Roberts – a quartet with plenty of experience in the drinks, spirits, and manufacturing sectors.

They all shared a vision to bring distilling back to the Scottish Borders. At Hawick, they agreed, the chemistry was just right.

The Borders Distillery has access to water from the River Teviot for cooling purposes and from an on-site borehole that goes into the spirit. There’s also a ready supply of local barley, essential ingredients for future success.

Distillery tours have become very popular and they take place Monday to Saturday, every hour, on the hour from 10am to 4pm. They are organised for groups of up to 12 people and bespoke tours are available for whisky enthusiasts

The Borders Distillery set up with a core team with huge experience in producing whisky and they are now passing those skills down to a local workforce. The present one-shift operation will eventually graduate to 24-hour production with a workforce of around 18 people.

William Kerr’s Borders Gin is also available from the distillery shop. It is produced from scratch onsite using a small amount of the same new make spirit which is distilled for single malt whisky, making it stand out in an increasingly crowded gin market.

The malty, fruity new make spirit goes through further distillation in a specially commissioned Carter Head still where eleven botanicals combine with the redistilled new make to create a gin of remarkable flavour and quality.

For now, the stills are quietly and efficiently getting on with the main job in hand, working towards the next manufacturing milestone of May 2021 when the Borders Distillery will be able to call its maturing spirit Scotch Whisky for the first time.

The first casks were laid down on May 10, 2018 and the distillery is building six warehouses in Hawick where wood and spirit can slowly interact over time.

To celebrate the return of whisky distilling to the Borders for the first time since 1837, The Borders Distillery is making 1,837 casks containing 200 litres of spirit – potentially 300 bottles of whisky – available to the public for purchase.

And plenty have been taking up the offer, stamping their names on specially imported oak casks that will deliver an exclusive single cask whisky. The cost comes in at £1995.00 and includes storage and insurance for up to ten years. Duty and VAT will have to be paid upon bottling.

The Borders Distillery is a standout award winning visitor attraction and not to be missed. To find out more and book tours … ​www.thebordersdistillery.com