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Cycling from Tweedbank (Scottish Borders) to Craster (Northumberland, England)

July 2, 2019 by Maria Fernandez

Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

Day 1 – Tuesday, 2 July: map & data

© OpenStreetMap contributors
Total distance: 43.7 mi
Total climbing: 648 m
Total time: 08:04:16
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44 miles cycle, 8h from 11.00 to 19.00 – average 5.4 mph, with breaks

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Our first July trip had a new destination: the coastal village of Craster, in Northumberland (England).

Off to Tweedbank

We took the usual train to Tweedbank, in The Scottish Borders. It was almost empty, so there was plenty of room for our bikes, four panniers, bar bags, and Simon’s brand new front panniers.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

10.04 – On the train to Tweedbank

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Click to see the photo gallery
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Melrose, which is just a couple of miles away from the station, was bathed in the morning sun.

While Simon drank his coffee, I took pictures of the Mercat Cross in the main square. In Scotland, mercat crosses date back several centuries, and indicate that a place was granted the right to hold a regular market or fair.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

11.31 – Mercat Cross in Market Square, Melrose

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From Melrose we headed for Newtown St Boswells and here, at Dryburgh, we crossed the river Tweed.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

12.08 – Bridge over the river Tweed at Dryburgh

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Throughout this trip, the river Tweed meandered never too far from us.

The weather forecast for today was mild with a light breeze and broken cloud. Everyone seemed happy.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

12.28 – Scottish cattle enjoying the sun

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We tootled along the narrow country lanes, meeting hardly any vehicles; just the occasional splendiferous set of wheels.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

13.07 – Another splendid toy for Maria’s collection

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Our next destination was Kelso, the seat of one of the four ruined abbeys in the Scottish Borders.

Arriving in Kelso

The other three ruined abbeys are in Dryburgh, Melrose and Jedburgh. They were all established by David I of Scotland in the 12th century.

By the time we arrived in Kelso (population: 5,639) we were ready for lunch. We grabbed this bench, and munched away while we admired the ruined abbey.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

13.51 – Lunch with a view of Kelso abbey

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At the other end of the park you can see this WWI memorial with an inscription that reads:

“To the glory of God & in honoured memory of the men of this town and district who fell in the Great War 1914-1919. Greater love hath no man than this.”

Thanks to those men (and presumably some women) we enjoy our personal freedom today, the only possession we can never afford to lose.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

14.12 – WWI memorial next to Kelso abbey

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We left sunny Kelso and cycled along a myriad country lanes avoiding the bigger roads. The world seemed empty, except for the occasional sheep, cattle, and a non-trivial amount of flies that visited us on and off.

– “At least they’re not midges”, remarked a wise guy we encountered.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

16.11 – Simon cycling towards Eccles

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One of the things that kept me entertained the most on this trip were the road signs. This one was a prophesy of great things to come.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

17.21 – Maria’s favourite road sign

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And we didn’t have to wait long.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

17.27 – When I’m big, I want one of those

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Then we came across this uninspiring gate and its pointy-tailed lion.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

17.46 – Can you spot the lion?

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Soon after that we crossed the river Tweed, which here is the border between Scotland and England.

Welcome to England

At the other end of the bridge, you’re greeted by this inconspicuous sign. You can almost hear it say:

– “Hello, it’s me, England. I’m down here. Hello? Can you see me?”

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

18.06 – Crossing over to England

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A few yards away, large and jazzy, Northumberland announces itself. In case you’re curious, this is how you say it: /nɔːrˈθʌmbərlənd/

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

18.08 – Peaceful Northumberland in the evening sun

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After taking those pictures, we were going to head off, but I couldn’t leave without a photo of the stunning bridge.

So I got off my bike, crossed the bridge on foot, and went down a path to get the best view of it. Here’s a photo of both Scotland and England.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

18.12 – View of England from Scotland

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Our B&B was just a few miles from the border.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

19.23 – Our awesome B&B

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It was a fantastic house with an elegant bedroom, beautiful bathroom, yummy breakfast, and a wonderfully chatty owner.

Day 2 – Wednesday, 3 July: map & data

© OpenStreetMap contributors
Total distance: 37.5 mi
Total climbing: 486 m
Total time: 07:22:48
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37 mile cycle, 7h20 from 10.20 to 17.40 – average 5.1 mph, with breaks

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On day 2 of our tour we had plenty of time to get to Craster, our destination.

Breakfast was a leisurely affair. The B&B owner kept us entertained with his stories, and before we left he showed us the self-catering cottage he was having built next to the house.

No doubt we’ll be back. I love chatty people.

Leaving the B&B

It was another beautiful summer’s day. The owner of the B&B had told us the country lanes would be empty, but we weren’t expecting to have them to ourselves. There was hardly a soul on the road.

And so, peacefully and happily, we arrived in Fenwick (population roughly 1,200).

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

10.20 – Simon on one of our dozens of country lanes

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Fenwick is one of the villages you go through when you walk the St Cuthbert’s Way.

St Cuthbert was a 7th century monk, bishop and hermit from the Borders who worked at Melrose Abbey, in the Scottish Borders, and died on Holy Island, on the Northumberland coast.

The St Cuthbert’s Way follows his footsteps and goes from Melrose to Holy Island, which is not too far from here, so this is the last stage of the 62.5 miles (100 km) route.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

11.23 – Sign for the St Cuthbert’s Way in Fenwick

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After a short break we headed for Belford, and soon another stupendous toy crossed our path.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

11.56 – Bikes, country lanes & farming toys. A wee paradise.

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Arriving in Belford

Belford (population 1,258) is a neat town with a magnificent church just off the main square.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

13.07 – Parish Church of St Mary in Belford

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As we were leaving Belford, I stopped to take a picture of this carriage, so reminiscent of the journeys described by Dickens in his novels.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

13.24 – Travelling back to Victorian times

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We were tootling along the narrow roads when we suddenly came across this curious construction.

At first we thought it was an old mill, but the sign on the gate says: “Its last use was as a pigeon dovecote. It may have been built for visual impact as it is too tall and narrow for an ideal dovecote.”

A dovecote, pronounced /ˈdʌvkəʊt/, is a small building for pigeons or similar birds to live in; and to provide a sustainable supply of meat, eggs and manure.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

13.51 – The Outchester Ducket

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Bamburgh & its castle

From here it was all downhill to Bamburgh, pronounced /ˈbæmbərə/, and its imposing castle.

Bamburgh castle dates back to the 11th century, and was the seat of the former Kings of Northumbria.

The village of Bamburgh has only 400 inhabitants, but the streets were bustling with tourists.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

14.32 – Bamburgh castle from Bamburgh town

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To avoid the crowds we cycled to the beach, then up a small hill, and parked next to a bench by the cliffs. By now we were both positively hungry.

From our commanding spot we could admire the magnificent castle and devour our lunch in peace.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

15.15 – View of Bamburgh castle & town from the coast

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We rarely come across level crossings in Scotland, but they’re everywhere in the flat Northumberland countryside. All day long you can hear the trains tooting, miles away.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

16.19 – Level crossing at Chathill station

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An unexpected kick

Towards the end of our journey we took this cycle path that runs parallel to the coast.

Suddenly, something extraordinary happened. I was pedalling along, without a care in the world, when to my surprise I see Simon’s bike trying to throw him off its saddle, like a mad horse.

I was mesmerised. In all the years we’ve been cycling together, I’d never seen Simon lose his balance.

– “What happened?”, I asked once he had tamed his bike and had his feet firmly on the ground.

Apparently, the cattle grid he’d just crossed had slightly sunk as he was on it and he’d got out in the nick of time.

I was still on the other side of the cattle grid, so cowardly I opened the gate next to it and went through it to avoid any surprises.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

17.24 – Simon & the treacherous cattle grid

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A few minutes later we cycled past this solitary remnant from the war.

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Cycling from the Scottish Borders to Northumberland, England - www.simonking.bike

17.26 – A witness to WWII

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Twenty minutes after that we arrived in Craster, the small coastal village where we were to stay for four nights with Simon’s family before our cycle back to Edinburgh.

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Other trips in the Scottish Borders

24 May, 2019: Cycling in the Scottish Borders: Galashiels, Lilliesleaf, Jedburgh, Denholm, Melrose & Tweedbank (Scotland).

27 May, 2018: Cycling in the Scottish Borders: Galashiels, Innerleithen, Ettrickbridge, Selkirk & Tweedbank (Scotland).

19 May, 2018: Walking from St Boswells to Tweedbank: St Cuthbert’s Way & Borders Abbeys Way (Scotland).

30 April, 2018: Walking the Borders Abbeys Way: from Tweedbank to Selkirk (Scotland).

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I took all the photos with the Panasonic.

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Our tour back to Edinburgh on this trip
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Filed Under: Blog, England, Scotland, Tour Tagged With: Cycling

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