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The MacDiarmid Memorial.
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With the majority
of Scotland's population and international airports only a few hours
drive way, more and more people are discovering what the locals
already know, that this is a remarkable area to explore, where the
profound links between the cultural and natural heritage can be
experienced.
Walkers love
the feeling of remoteness up on the hills and the open vistas from
the tops. A great variety of short and long distance routes have
been created for walking, mountain biking, cycling and riding and
a number have exciting contemporary art installations dramatically
placed in the landscape.
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Cycle rotes are increasing
with the opportunity for
off road routes.
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The challenging
Southern Uplands Way is Scotland's official "coast to coast"
long distance route. St Cuthbert's Way takes walkers from Melrose
to Lindisfarne in Northumberland and the Pennine Way ends in Kirk
Yetholm, south of Kelso. There are numerous well-known walks over
the hills, especially to the highest peaks, as well as lower level
tourist routes like the Border Abbeys Way, and the Berwickshire
Coast Walk. Local path networks have been created around towns and
small villages like St Johns Town of Dalry, Moffat, Ettrick, Langholm
and Peebles, with 'Walking Weeks' becoming popular regular features.
National Cycle
Routes, such as Glasgow to Carlisle and Gretna to Newton Stewart,
are growing in numbers, as are off-road tracks and adrenaline-charged
down hill routes for mountain bikers.
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The Buccleuch Ride, one of a
growing number of linked
routes that allow riders to
explore the countryside
away from busy roads.
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Opportunities
to see the countryside from horseback are growing too, with off-road
and multi-use routes. The Buccleuch Ride and Tweed Trails offer
short and long distance rides on lanes, old drove trails and forestry
tracks. Some Bed and Breakfasts will even provide accommodation
for riders and their horses!
There's a long
tradition of shooting, wildfowling and angling. Grouse shooting
takes place in many of the hills, including the Lammermuir, Moorfoot
and Langholm Hills. Wooded policies and farmland surrounding large
estate houses host pheasant shoots while wildfowling takes place
around the Solway Firth. Deer stalking is undertaken in woodlands
and forests.
The Tweed is
undoubtedly one of the finest salmon rivers in the world, commanding
high prices for rods on its famous 'beats' but is only one of a
number of good salmon rivers. An alternative way to get close to
salmon is to visit salmon migration viewing stations, such as on
the River Ettrick. Up in the hills, smaller tributaries, lochs and
reservoirs offer excellent brown trout fishing.
There are endless
opportunities to have fun getting wet, with sailing and windsurfing
on coastal waters and inland lochs, canoeing on rivers, sea kayaking
and excellent diving and surfing on the east coast. St Abbs and
Eyemouth Marine Reserve was Britain's first voluntary marine reserve
in the UK and is the most popular dive site on the east coast of
the UK.
Wildlife
tourism is growing rapidly. Birdwatching is very popular, particularly
at reserves on the west coast peninsulas, the Solway Firth and the
Firth of Forth. There are boat trips to the Bass Rock in the Firth
of Forth. St Abbs, on the North Sea, is one of the most visited
seabird colonies in Scotland.
"What
would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet:
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet."
Gerard Manley Hopkins, Inversnaid
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