Southern Scotland Revisited
Published on 18th June 2006 
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesThe last two weekends have seen me revisit southern Scotland. This weekend saw me venture among the Southern uplands. My base was Lockerbie (of Pan Am 103 fame) but my walking took me in and around Moffat. One of my rambles was a circular route involving the Southern Upland Way. When I was returning to Moffat by road, a friendly motorist offered a lift to Moffat and I took him up on the offer (not something that I'd normally do for obvious reasons...).
That gave me more time for exploring, and I got a glimpse of the Devil's Beef Tub to boot. Later, I also got to Lochmaben, four miles from Lockerbie. All this got done yesterday but, though pleasant, the day was largely cloudy, and the sun came out just as I had to leave Moffat for Lockerbie (sod's law, really): a later bus would have been perfect. The threat of rain today brought me home on the first southbound train of the day. Nevertheless, the scenery was wonderful, and a return is very tempting.
Last weekend, I planned to savour the hills around Wooler in Northumberland, only for accommodation availability in Berwick-upon-Tweed to change my plans, though it was still useful for a Friday night arrival. Next day, I took myself off to Galashiels by bus and dropped off part of my load at the Abbotsford Arms Hotel (Abbotsford was the name of Sir Walter Scott's home in the area) before using another bus to head for a ramble from Peebles to Innerleithen by way of an old drovers' road and the Southern Upland Way. Unlike yesterday, the sun was very much out, and it would have been quite hot if a useful, if strong, breeze hadn't blown up. Sunday saw me take a short stroll around Galashiels before heading home, starting with a bus journey to Berwick-upon-Tweed and continuing by train from there.
Travel Arrangements
Return train journey between Macclesfield and Lockerbie; return bus journey between Lockerbie and Moffat. Bus journey from Lochmaben back to Lockerbie.
Return train journey between Macclesfield and Berwick-upon-Tweed. On bus route 67 from there to Galashiels via Coldstream, and bus route 60 via Duns to get me back to Berwick-upon-Tweed from there. Onward travel from Galashiels to Peebles on bus service 62, followed by another on the same route from Innerleithen to Galashiels.
