The Eildon Hills – Sunday 23rd April

The Eildon Hills – Sunday 23rd April

We made good use of the current settled weather on the last weekend in April to climb the Eildon Hills – three main hills that rise above the town of Melrose with its attractive ruined abbey.

The hills are not very high by Scottish standards barely reaching 1300 ft (400m), but they are prominent and dominate the surrounding countryside.  The southernmost peak was fortified in the bronze age and you can still see the excavations of the bank and ditch defences.

Out walk started at the new railway station at Tweedbank on the newly opened borders railway.  This connects Galashiels to Edinburgh in under an hour’s journey. 

We walked along the River Tweed to Melrose and after examining the abbey proceeded up the Eildons, first climbing the higher Mid Hill for a lunch stop.  We descended the hill by the steep south side on scree, then some of us climbed the ‘fouth’ Eildon Hill known as Little Hill – this is the eroded stump of a volcanic vent, and then on to Wester Hill.  From here our route skirted Mid Hill and onto the final steep pull up to the cairn on North Hill.

A steep descent back to the River Tweed and a walk back to the station at Tweedbank on very dry paths.  Thanks to Noel and Adam for organising and leading the walk.

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