Book data

Borders Abbeys Way
Neil Mackay  
18 June 2017
UK price £12.99
70pp, 150 x 220mm, 205g
978-1-898481-78-2

Borders Abbeys Way

£12.99

Neil Mackay

In stock

"A splendid introduction to the history, legends and wildlife of the Borders” - Alan Massie, author

The Borders Abbeys Way is one of Scotland’s Great Trails, a fascinating circuit that takes in the historic ruined abbeys of Melrose, Dryburgh, Kelso and Jedburgh. Within its 67 miles (108 km) it includes also the charming towns of Hawick and Selkirk, and passes Abbotsford House, the historic home of Sir Walter Scott. Much of the terrain is easy-going, beside the Rivers Tweed and Teviot, and the hilly sections offer splendid views. The route is most easily reached by rail from Edinburgh to Tweedbank, near Melrose.

Features

This guidebook contains all you need to plan and enjoy the Borders Abbeys Way:

  • detailed description of the route walked clockwise from Melrose
  • background on the history of the Borders abbeys
  • summaries with distance, terrain and food/drink stops
  • twelve pages of detailed mapping of the route at 1:55,000
  • a 7-page section about habitats and wildlife, with superb images
  • information about public transport and travel
  • lavishly illustrated, with 105 colour photographs
  • rucksack-friendly format, printed on rainproof paper.
Look inside

Click on the thumbnails below to view sample pages from the book "Borders Abbeys Way" in standard PDF format.
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Contents
Planning (pp4-9))
Habitats and wildlife (pp20-26)
Hawick to Selkirk (pp53-61)
Gallery

Click thumbnail to enlarge.

Reviews

Reviewed by Scottish Mountaineer

The Borders Abbeys Way [has] … lots of interesting visits for those with a taste for the historical. This attractively package guide has maps, route info and points of interest. A good size for a rucksack and printed on rainproof paper.

SM Autumn 2017 page 82

Reviewed in Outdoor Focus magazine Autumn 2017

The new route is an easy, 67-mile circuit of the Borders, visiting the romantic 12th century ruined abbeys of Melrose, Dryburgh, Kelso and Jedburgh,and also taking in the historic towns of Hawick and Selkirk and Sir Walter Scott’s Gothic baronial mansion of Abbotsford House.

Roly Smith in Outdoor Focus, Autumn 2017, p12

Excerpt from the Foreword by Allan Massie

I would like to have had this book years ago … Aimed primarily at walkers, it gives them necessary and detailed information … but it offers more than that. It is also a guide to the social and cultural history of the Borderland, to the past as well as the present.

In short, it is a book to be read for pleasure, as well as use. Even those of us who think we know the Borders may be reminded of things we had forgotten … Newcomers to the Borders will find this book a splendid introduction to its history, legends and wildlife.

Allan Massie, CBE, author and journalist

Bonus content

GPX route file
Route updates
  • The Hawick flood protection scheme means that from April 2022, walkers heading to Jedburgh from Hawick should follow the diversion signs between the Teviotdale Leisure Centre path and continue above the recycling centre, descending to the riverside path near the Bucklands Burn
  • On page 50, bullet 5, final sentence would read better as: “Continue beside the wall until you reach the second gate, which is adjacent to a waymarker and an old stone stile”
  • The photo on page 51 lower was taken from Hornshole Bridge; it shows the footbridge that you reach just before it.
  • At the top of page 59 exit the golf course slightly uphill by the gate; the waymarker may be overgrown and the ladder stile may have been removed.

More info to help with your planning

Support services

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Recommended maps

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Links

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