Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders (often referred to locally as "The Borders" or "The Borderland") is one of 35
local government unitary council areas of
Scotland. It borders onto
Dumfries and Galloway in the west,
South Lanarkshire and
West Lothian in the north west,
City of Edinburgh,
East Lothian,
Midlothian to the north, and the counties of
Northumberland and
Cumbria in
England to the south. The administrative centre of the area is
Newtown St. Boswells. It covers all of the former
counties of
Berwickshire,
Peeblesshire,
Roxburghshire and
Selkirkshire as well as part of
Midlothian.
The area was created in 1975 as a two-tier
region with the
districts of
Berwickshire,
Ettrick and Lauderdale,
Roxburgh, and
Tweeddale within it. In 1996 the region became a
unitary authority area and the districts were wound up. The region was created with the name
Borders. The name
Scottish Borders dates from 1996 and the creation of the modern council area.
Geographically the region is hilly in the south, west and north, with the
River Tweed flowing west to east through the region. The east of the region is primarily flat sometimes with isolated small groups of hills. The Tweed and its tributaries drain the entire region with the river flowing into the
North Sea at
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and forming the border with England for the last twenty miles or so of its length.
The administrative region was formed from four traditional burghs
Peeblesshire,
Roxburghshire,
Selkirkshire and
Berwickshire but historically, the term
Borders has a wider meaning, referring to all of the burghs adjoining the English border, also including
Dumfriesshire and
Kirkcudbrightshire - as well as
Northumberland,
Cumberland and
Westmorland in England.
Roxburghshire and Berwickshire historically bore the brunt of the conflicts with England, both during declared wars such as the
Wars of Scottish Independence, and armed raids which took place in the times of the
Border Reivers. Thus, across the region are to be seen the ruins of many castles, abbeys and even towns.
The people of the Scottish Borders are very proud of their heritage and often speak of themselves as
"Borderers", before they would say that they are
Scots or
British.
It also should be noted that even though there is a
Gaelic name for the region, it has never been spoken in the area, and the traditional language of the area is
Scots and its dialects.
The region has no railway stations. Although the area was well connected to the
Victorian railway system, the branch lines that supplied it were closed in the decades following the
Second World War. A bill has been passed by the
Scottish Parliament to extend the
Waverley Line, which would be a commuter service from
Edinburgh to
Stow,
Galashiels and
Tweedbank. Today, the
East Coast Main Line is the only railway which runs through the region, with
Edinburgh Waverley,
Berwick-upon-Tweed and
Carstairs Junction being the nearest stations.
The region also has no commercial airports - the nearest are
Edinburgh and
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, both of which are international airports.
The main roads to and from the region are:
* The
A1, which runs along the east coast from
London to
Edinburgh; passing near
Eyemouth.
* The
A7 which runs north to south from
Edinburgh to
Carlisle and the
M6; passing through
Galashiels,
Selkirk and
Hawick.
* The
A68 running from
Darlington to
Edinburgh; passing through
Jedburgh,
Newtown St. Boswells,
Earlston and
Lauder.
* The
A72, which runs east to west from Galashiels to
Biggar; passing through
Innerleithen and
Peebles*
Abbey St. Bathans,
Ashkirk*
Broughton,
Burnmouth*
Cockburnspath,
Coldingham,
Coldstream*
Denholm,
Dryburgh,
Duns *
Earlston,
Eddelston,
Ettrick,
Ettrick Bridge,
Eyemouth*
Galashiels,
Greenlaw*
Hawick*
Innerleithen*
Jedburgh*
Kelso,
Kirk Yetholm*
Lauder,
Longformacus*
Melrose*
Newcastleton Newtown St. Boswells*
Peebles*
Roxburgh*
Selkirk,
St. Abbs,
Stow*
Teviothead,
Town Yetholm,
Traquair *
Walkerburn,
West Linton*
Abbotsford House*
Bowhill House*
Cheviot Hills*
Dawyck Botanic Gardens*
Dryburgh Abbey -
Historic Scotland*
Duns Castle*
Edin's Hall Broch*
Ettrick Forest*
Eyemouth Museum*
Floors Castle*
Glentress Forest -
Forest Enterprise*
Greenknowe Tower*
Harmony Garden -
National Trust for Scotland*
Hawkshaw - ancestral home of the
Porteous family*
Hermitage Castle -
Historic Scotland*
Jedburgh Abbey -
Historic Scotland*
Kelso Abbey*
Lammermuir*
Lauderdale, Scotland*
Manderston*
Megget Reservoir*
Mellerstain House*
Melrose Abbey -
Historic Scotland*
Monteviot House*
Neidpath Castle*
Nisbet, Berwickshire*
Paxton House*
Pennine Way -
National Trails*
Priorwood Garden -
National Trust for Scotland*
Robet Smail's Printing Works -
National Trust for Scotland*
Smailholm Tower -
Historic Scotland*
Southern Upland Way -
National Trails*
St. Abbs Head*
St. Mary's Loch*
St. Ronans Wells*
Teviotdale*
Thirlestane Castle*
Traquair House *
Trimontium *
Waterloo Monument*
Wedderburn Castle*
Scottish Lowlands*
Borders' Dialect
