This was a 7 mile walk commencing at the car park of Bowhill the Selkirk home of the Duke of Buccleuch. When we started the temperature was reading -5c and it had only warmed up by 3 degrees by the time we finished the walk just over 3 hours later. This was a superb walk with stunning views looking over the Eildon Hills towards Melrose. The first part of the walk was through the forest and then it opened up onto a Grouse Moor and the calls of the many Grouse could be heard all the time we were walking.
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| The first 2 miles of the walk were all uphill and we eventually reached a height of about 1300ft. We were glad of a short rest at this point. |
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| The Eildon Hills in the background looking much like the Paps of Jura with the sea of mist in the valleys |
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| A line of Grouse Buts on the side of the walk. One can just imagine during the Grouse shooting season the Duke bringing his shooting party up this hill as it must be superb shooting. There were loads of Grouse flying about and the ones you could not see were certainly calling to each other. |
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| Tom has a go from one of the buts. |
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| The ruins of Newark Castle or Tower in the grounds of Bowhill Estate. This was built in 1423 and belonged to the Douglas family, though it was later gifted to the Scott's |
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| Bowhill House with all the windows shuttered as it is closed for the season |