Wilton Park in Hawick and a New Cafe

After our long cold walk last week we headed to Wilton Park in Hawick today for a walk through the park and along the Teviot. The idea was to visit the new cafe for a coffee at the end of our walk but it was the official opening of it and the new bridge called the McLaren Bridge after the famous Bill McLaren

This is Martin's Bridge over the Teviot at the south end of the town

The Slitrig from the bridge at the end of Hawick High Street

Tom with the statue of James Wilson the founder of The Economist magazine. Tom was actually visiting the Border Brides shop just in case he ever decides to get married. He tells made he is still looking. 

Another pedestrian bridge over the river Teviot. Hawick has as many bridges as Langholm has and maybe even slightly more as I counted 14 on a map.

The new cafe which was officially opened today

Wilton Museum in the centre of the park and well worth a visit.

Heading East to Wilton Park Hawick

When planning a nice easy walk to suite Tom we originally thought Eskdalemuir from the Hub to Samye Ling and back but the weather forecast was terrible so we headed east to Hawick and a walk round Wilton Park. It stayed dry although it was very dull and when we got back to Langholm it was still raining so we made a good choice. The park has benefitted recently from a massive injection of money and it really is a nice place to spend an afternoon and have a walk. It will be much better when the new cafe is open.

The new bandstand is a great place to enjoy music during the summer months if the weather is decent

Wilton Museum and some great exhibitions on Hawick's two famous motor cyclists Guthrie and Hislop

The river Teviot with autumn colours beginning to show

The new bridge to the park with the Cafe still empty but hopefully will be open soon. 

Calaburn and Drinkstone Hill at the Second Attempt

In January 2016 we attempted this walk but after many discussions on the route we managed to go in the wrong direction. Peter was most annoyed over this and a week after he and Elizabeth explored the walk again to see where we went wrong. We therefore decided today to have another go at it and Peter was confident we would be fine. The walk is shown as 6.5 miles but we measured it today and it was about 9 miles. The above photo is at the Museum in Wilton Park at the start of our walk.

A scarecrow in a field of Barley

There are loads of wild flowers on the road sides

The Eildons at Melrose often show up in our Border walks and today was no exception

This was a very boggy part of the walk

A bleak landscape but plenty of wildlife about including several Deer and the constant song of the Skylark

The highest point on the walk at Drinkstone Hill

A great view of a field of Barley

It was at this signpost at the mid part of the walk where we went wrong 18 months ago

About 6 miles into the walk Niall had problems with his boot but Tom came to the rescue with a ball of tangled string in his rucksack

On the last stretch of the walk we met this Border Collie and Peter threw its ball for it and from then on he continually brought the ball back to throw it again

Niall's repaired boot.

A Day in Hawick is not a day Wasted

They say in Hawick that a day out of Hawick is a day wasted so we decided to spend a day in Hawick to see if that was true. It was dry and reasonably mild so we headed out from The Teviotdale Leisure Centre along the old Waverley railway line to the outlying hamlets of Hornshole, Ormiston and Cavers, a distance of 7.5 miles.  

This is Mansfield Park the home of Hawick RFC 

An old bridge on the Waverley Line. If the extend the new line from Edinburgh any further we think it might just come as far as Hawick but it is very unlikely it will come as far as Langholm 

Half a mile after this photo Tom realised his walking stick was back at the bridge. 

The line has become very much waterlogged and unsuitable for walking 

John tells us the hills are at Minto and are shaped like a woman's breasts. I could not possibly comment.  

This bridge over the River Teviot is called Hornshole Bridge where a famous battle was fought in 1514

The monument commemorating the Battle of Hornshole in 1514

The seat has an inscription on it "Bright Eyed Daughters" but what it means I have no idea. 

This is Cavers Church and it has a weekly service unlike many rural churches 

In the grounds of Cavers Church there is a statue to William Leggat. Born in 1716, the son of a Blacksmith he worked as a servant for the Douglas family of Cavers House where Lady Cavers had a soft spot for him. In return he ran messages and fetched vegetables. Legend has it that he was stabbed to death with a carving knife by the cook, enraged when he brought the wrong vegetables.
It was an excellent walk and we finished up in a small cafe on Hawick High St called the Pickled Orange where we had excellent soup and sandwiches at a reasonable price. 

The Hawick Hut

This weeks Wednesday walk was an exploratory walk in Hawick to look at a route for David's Birthday walk on 30th November. The walk is from the booklet "Walking in the Land of the Reivers" by I.W.Landles and A.G. Brydon. This is walk no 11 Hawick Common and Goldielands Tower and follows the route of the Hawick Cornet and his followers.

The photograph above is the famous Hawick "HUT" where on three occasions in early June in this unprepossessing wooden building a young man elected annually to lead the celebration, is entertained with songs and toasts by the men of Hawick. In the words of Ian landles "It sits here for fifty yin weeks neglected and sorry for itsel then it embarks on its yince a year week o glorious pulsatin life when it hez come ti encapsulate a' Hawick's hopes and dreams for it becomes the verra pulse o Hawick patriotism, the soul o Hawick song and story, the hub o Hawick's history and heritage" 

 The Ca'Knowe

This is a stone cairn marking the spot where the Burgess Roll was called at the annual checking of the marches of Hawick Common.

Hawick Moor (The Mair)

It's proper name is St. Leonard's Park and it is the location for the huge communal picnic on Common Riding Friday and Saturday and has been used for the Common Riding horse racing since 1856.