Melrose

Melrose Abbey

As I mentioned in my Abbotsford post, the house provides a free volunteer lead shuttle from Tweedbank Railway Station to Abbotsford, but also from Abbotsford to Melrose Abbey. As it’s volunteer lead this isn’t always available (check Abbotsford’s website for details/contact info) but happily the shuttle was available on the day I visited and the driver offered to take me to the Abbey when I was done at the house (I was the only person using the shuttle that day). The drive didn’t take very long and you’re set down in a car park opposite the Abbey. The shuttle doesn’t take you back to the station but the driver pointed to a bus stop nearby and said that was where I could get the bus back to Tweedbank (it wasn’t – but more on that later!)

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Abbotsford: The Home of Sir Walter Scott

As I’d been to Edinburgh before a lot of my stay there was using the city as a base and going on day trips by train. The one I was most excited about and proved to be excellent was Abbotsford, the home author Walter Scott had built in 1811. I caught the train from Edinburgh Waverley Station to Tweedbank Station which took around one hour. One useful thing the house provides is free transport from the train station to the house. It’s volunteer lead so isn’t always available – you can find times and a phone number to see if it’s happening on the day you’re traveling on the house website – but the day I travelled it was waiting just outside the station, and I was the only passenger! If it isn’t there the house is a 20 minute walk away that is described on the house website, or you can get a local bus. There is also of course a car park at the house if you’re driving.

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Categories: Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Halloween Post: Witch Corner and the Halloween Trail at Abbotsford, Scotland

Abbotsford was the home of Sir Walter Scott, writer of such classics as Waverley and Ivanhoe. I’ll have much more to say about the house and gardens later, but in the grounds of the house they’ve created Witch Corner, an interactive story trail inspired by the writings and research of Scott who was particularly interested in Scottish folktales. In fact Witch Corner takes its name from Scott’s nickname for the section of his library that contains 250 rare books about witchcraft, folklore and superstition.

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Categories: Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland | Tags: , , , , , , | 7 Comments

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