Adventures in Scotland

We look forward to sharing with you some of our favourite circular walks in Scotland as we explore the beautiful countryside around our new home. Our descriptions will include photos, wildlife to look out for, maps and an indication of the terrain and difficulty of the routes.

We moved back to Scotland in 2021, to the lovely village of Killearn in Stirlingshire, where we were lucky enough to live on Carbeth Estate for 10 months.Sam has been writing about the wildlife on the Estate on the Carbeth Home Farm blog.

We formerly lived in the Scottish Borders, so when the right house turned up we moved back to Coldstream in autumn 2021. We hope our advetures in these two areas will inspire you to go outdoors and appreciate Scotland.

Sam with Billy at the end of the race

Abbotsford Trail Race – Race review

By Sam | August 29, 2022

We have had a bit of a break from races as the Earlston Black Hill race in July nearly finished us off and the recent hot weather hasn’t been conducive to running. However, a perusal of the weather forecast a couple of weeks back gave me a certain amount of…

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Waterloo Monument, Nisbet, Scottish Borders

Waterloo Monument Nisbet circular route

By Sam | August 4, 2022

The Waterloo Monument, Nisbet is a very prominent feature of the countryside between Jedburgh and Kelso. This circular walk is a little gem and another one that features in the Scottish Borders 40 Favourite Walks book. We did a slight change by starting from Woodside Garden Centre, following a bacon…

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Herbaceous Border at Floors Castle

Floors Castle Garden

By Sam | July 29, 2022

Wandering round a garden on a sunny afternoon might not quite meet the criteria of “outdoor adventure”, but Floors Castle Garden has such a wow factor that I really had to write about it. Family Trip The walled garden at Floors Castle was a regular favourite during the 1990s when…

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Looking out to sea on the guided walk at St Abbs

St Abb’s Head in June – Guided Walk

By Sam | June 29, 2022

I was back at St Abbs Head in June to lead a second walk on behalf of the Berwickshire Marine Reserve. This time we met with 8 people for the walk including the two new summer Rangers from BMR. We took pretty much the same route as we did in…

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Coldstream rhododendrons

Hirsel Circular Route, Coldstream

By Sam | May 29, 2022

We have lived in Coldstream in the Scottish Borders now for 7 months and this is the first time I have written up a walk from the town. There are two reasons for this: Both Scottish Borders Council and The Hirsel Estate have some very well waymarked and published walks,…

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View of St Abb's

Guided Walk St Abb’s Head

By Sam | May 13, 2022

We were delighted to be able to lead a guided walk at St Abb’s Head on 11th May as part of the Berwickshire Marine Reserve’s volunteer series of events. Alex from BMR joined us to explain about the reserve, which was very welcome. The aim was that this would be…

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View of the Cheviot

Stunning Walk in the Cheviots

By Sam | April 25, 2022

It was a sunny and (relatively) warm Easter Monday when we set out on this walk in the Cheviots, exploring the Scottish side of the range. Whilst the OS map of the English side is riddled with rights of way, these indications of routes stop once you get to the…

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Wallace Statue

Wallace Statue and St Boswells Circular

By Sam | April 11, 2022

The 10th April is our wedding anniversary so what better way to celebrate this auspicious occasion than enjoying good weather in the Scottish Borders with some friends. We chose a St Boswells circular route, taking in some local landmarks and getting us back in time for lunch at Mainstreet Trading.…

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View of Kelso from viewpoint

Kelso Circular Route

By Sam | March 4, 2022

Views, Viaducts and a Famous Junction. A lovely late winter morning saw us setting off for a trail run with a friend on this Kelso circular route. Once again we had seen the route in the “Borders 40 best walks” book, however we did it in the reverse direction. Due…

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photo of Greenlaw circular walk route

Greenlaw Circular Walk

By Sam | February 6, 2022

Blackadder and a hillfort This splendid Greenlaw circular walk is the first walk we have done from Robbie Porteous’ “Scottish Borders 40 favourite walks” book – a very welcome Christmas gift from my sister. Of course, in true Sam and Peter style we didn’t follow the exact route as described,…

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