First on our list was Dryburgh Abbey, much of which was was built in the twelfth century. It is a very pretty abbey and sits in a secluded loop of the river Tweed near the village of St Boswells. The ruins are impressive, they are spread out in a landscape that in places is almost garden like. The site is dotted with trees and bushes that help to set off the beauty of the rugged brickwork.
There was only one problem with this little bit of heaven that we'd chosen to visit on that day, and that was the horrible noise. Workmen were attacking one of the buildings with all the power tools that they had at their disposal and a few more they must've hired for the day. My wife and I seem to be very unlucky in this respect because we attract restoration men and noisy workers where ever we go. Quite often when we visit a building it will be covered in scaffolding, or if we visiting a secluded garden, the day we choose to go will be the day the borders get strimmed by a moron using something powered by a two stroke motorcycle engine. Luckily we had seen quite a bit of Dryburg Abbey before the noise started and were able to take in a walk down to the river Tweed to distance ourselves from the very unholy racket.
Eventually, we'd had enough of the noise and carried onto the next Abbey on our list at Jedburgh. Unlike Dryburg, Jedburg Abbey is set in the town so we wouldn't be enjoying any peace here either. However, we did have a pleasant walk around what is an attractive town and enjoyed going into the gift shops and finding a bite to eat. The street parking was handy and the atmosphere relaxing. Below is a photo of the Abbey and you can see that the setting is distinctly different to the one taken above of Dryburg.
It was by now mid afternoon so we decided to return to our caravan in Peebles via a circular route that would take us through Hawick which sits on the banks of the Teviot. To break up the journey, we stopped off at a small wollen mill, which was stuffed to the rafters with all the stuff you always find in every wollen mill you will ever visit. Never-the-less, my wife was tempted by a green wollen scarf that she bought for me and it still comes out every winter.
After driving through Hawick, which is only spoilt by being spliced for it whole length by the busy A7, we turned right onto the B711. This looked like it would be a quiet road flanked by beautiful countryside. As it happens we were right on both counts. The road was even quieter than a lot of the back roads we'd driven in the highlands. This road had a real feeling of remoteness about it. Other vehicles were rare and houses almost non existent. The countryside however,was terrific, and we were treated to an ever changing slide show of forests, valleys and rivers.
The journey through this wilderness back to Peebles covered about 40 miles and at times it seemed to be taking so long that we were convinced that we were lost, but we were on the right road. There only was one road, and it might have been long and winding, but it was one I'm pleased to have travelled.
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