Tour
the riches of Lothian region
Castles
and great houses, old fishing ports and lovely villages,
sandy beaches and a string of golf courses punctuate the
coastline bordering Lothian and Borders. This fertile corner
of Scotland is rich in agricultural land, with cultivated
acres running up the slopes of the gentle, green Lammermuir
Hills where sheep graze and skylarks soar.
Abbey
St Bathans
Village
in secluded valley of Whiteadder Water, with remains of
12th-century Cistercian priory built into parish church.
Craft centre and gallery. Riverside and woodland walks;
salmon fishing, trout farm and deer. Traces of hill-forts,
huts and a Pictish broch.
Aberlady
Neatly
restored 17th to 19th-century rubblestone houses line main
street. Parish church has 15th-century square tower and
pyramidal spire: on pavement outside is a 'loupin-on-stane'
mounting stone used by farmers' wives to get on horses.
Main road leads to Aberlady Bay, expanse of salt marsh,
dunes and creeks.
Ayton
Castle
This
flamboyant house of red sandstone, in Scottish Baronial
style, was built 1846 for governor of Bank of Scotland by
James Gillespie Graham. In churchyard are ruins of a pre-Reformation
kirk.
Barns
Ness
Wildlife
preserve, geology trail and limekilns along 21/2 miles of
coastline where limestone is quarried for local cement works.
Berwick-upon-Tweed
England's
northernmost town, with elegant Georgian streets and square
dominated by spire of 18th-century town hail. Two mile walk
leads round top of Elizabethan walls encircling town. Georgian
barracks contain exhibition of British infantry's history.
Three bridges span River Tweed: 15-arch Jacobean stone bridge,
Robert Stephenson's 1847 railway bridge and A1 road bridge
of 1928.
Coldingham
Remains
of priory restored 11)98 on site of earlier building. Splendid
arch rises among scattered gravestones and masonry. Priory
choir embodied in parish church.
Cove
Aptly
named village with Cornish flavour. Steep track carved out
of rock leads down cliffs to harbour where fishing boats
shelter.
Dirleton
Cottages
and houses from 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and 12th-century
church line three sides of wide green. On fourth side are
ruins of 13th-century castle built on outcrop of rock with
drum towers, kitchen, chapel and ruins of Great Hall. Gardens
with 17th-century bowling green.
Drem
The
Chesters Iron Age fort with multiple ramparts and ditches.
Situated unusually in low-lying land beneath a steep scarp.
Dunbar
Red-sandstone
tower and scattered ruins of 11th-century castle overlook
fishing harbour with cobbled quays, restored ware-houses
and coastguard station. Mary, Queen of Scots was brought
to the castle in 1567 by Earl Bothwell. Lauderdale House,
part-extended by Robert Adam, at end of High Street, while
at No 126 is a museum dedicated to the conservationist John
Muir, who was born there in 1838.
Duns
Narrow
streets straggle below Dons Law, 700ft. Statue to philosopher
John Dons Scotus. born here about 1265. Jim Clark Memorial
Room contains trophies of racing driver born at Dons who
was twice world champion and died in 1968 racing accident.
Earn's
Heugh
Iron
Age hill-forts on cliff near St Abb's Head. Banks, ditches
and foundations of circular huts.
East
Fortune
Museum
of Flight on airfield houses Vulcan bomber, 1930 Dc Havilland
Puss Moth and Piper Comanche flown by Sheila Scott, holder
of 94 world records in 1970s. Photographs of airship t{34
which made first double crossing of Atlantic from here in
1919.
Edin's
Hall
Substantial
remains of Iron Age tower or broch built within ram-parts
of earlier fort on shoulder of Cockburn Law.
Eyemouth
Cobbled
streets, alleys and busy fishing harbour. Georgian Gunsgreen
House has secret passages once used by smugglers. Museum
relates history of East Coast fishing; tapestry records
23 boats and 129 men lost in 1881 gale.
Garvald
Tucked
away in valley beside Papana Water. On church wall are jougs,
iron collars used on miscreants. Above village is Nunraw,
16th-century tower house built into 19th-century mansion.
Gifford
Laid
out by the 2nd Marquis of Tweeddale early in 18th century:
1708 church in wide main street. Avenue of limes to Yester
House, built 1745 by Robert Adam.
Gullane
Resort
with three golf links, including Muirfield course. Exhibition
shows game's development since 15th century.
Haddington
Gracious town of wide streets, dating from 11OOs. Town
House of 1748; 15th-century church. I tome of reformer John
Knox. Carlyle's House, named after Thomas Carlyle, has fine
facade. Restored rooms of Jane Welsh, who became his wife,
in house nearby.
Hailes
Castle
13th-century
ruins above River Tyne include tower, dungeons and chapel.
Innerwick
Village
with 15OOs farm buildings, Georgian manse, 1700s Gothic
church. Ruins of castle destroyed during English invasion
1547.
John
Muir Country Park
Expanse
of coastal countryside, including 8 miles of sand and salt
marsh, named after Dunbar-born conservationist who was father
of U.S. National Parks movement.
John
Wood Collection
Remarkable
photographs from Victorian and Edwardian days on display
in garage at Coldingham. Taken by John Wood, whose glass-plate
negatives were discovered in 1983, 69 years after his death,
restored and printed.
Lammermuir
Hills
Softly
contoured heather and gorse-clad hills run east to west
across Lothian. Road climbs through beech woods, past Iron
Age hill-fort of White Castle, into rounded summits and
deep valleys. Whiteadder reservoir lies in bowl of wooded
slopes.
Lennoxlove
Mansion
set in woodland looking towards the Lammermuir Hills. Named
after Frances Stewart, 17th-century Duchess of Lennox, model
for Britannia on coinage. Good rooms, one lined with 17th-century
damask. Dutch, Italian and English paintings, porcelain
and furniture. Duchess's work-box, inlaid with mother-of-pearl,
was gift from Charles II. Mansion is now family home of
Dukes of Hamilton. Anteroom has death mask of Mary, Queen
of Scots.
Longniddry
Mining
village for 500 years until 1920s. Golf links and rocky
shore. Gosford House, seat of Earl of Wemyss.
Manderston
House
Edwardian
country house built 1901. Marble staircase with silver handrail,
ballroom hung with embossed velvet and curtains embroidered
in gold and silver. Louis XVI-style furniture. Stables have
arched roof, teak stalls and marble floor. Dairy has fountain
designed by Italian and French craftsmen to resemble Roman
cloister. Garden is entered through gilded gateway that
blazes in setting sun. Rare rhododendrons and azaleas.
North
Berwick
Narrow
streets lead down to tiny harbour flanked by fine beaches,
with ruined 12th-century Auld Kirk by harbour wall, Safe
anchorage for yachts and fishing boats, bathing often dangerous.
Golf courses surround village below 613ft volcanic pyramid
of North Berwick Law, crowned by watchtower from the Napoleonic
Wars and arch of whale jawbones. Tough climb to top with
impressive views. Boat trips to islands of Fidra and 350ft
Bass Rock.
Oldhamstocks
Village
of neat cottages on eastern edge of the Lammermuir Hills,
overlooking valley of Dunglass Burn. Village green with
mercat cross and 18th-century water pump. Parish church.
Pease
Bay
Sandy
cove with red cliffs at foot of steep Pease Dean: to north-west,
Dunglass Burn tumbles through a gorge spanned by three bridges.
One is 130ft high, built 1786.
Preston
Mill
Restored
1600s water-driven mill with wheel 13ft across. Nearby 16th-century
Phantassie Doocot (dovecote) has circular walls with sloping,
horseshoe-shaped roof.
St
Abb's Head
Spectacular
cliff scenery; birds resting on precipitous lava cliffs.
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