Scottish Borders – Things to do Part 4. Jim Clark, Duns & Melrose
This is the final blog post in this short series of posts following our very enjoyable visit to the Scottish Borders and our stay in Kelso.
In Part 1 I mentioned about our superb visit to the National Museum of Flight and our trips to Kelso, Cove Harbour and Eyemouth. Part 2 covered Coldingham and St Abbs and the previous part, Part 3 was about our visit to Selkirk, Hawick and Jedburgh.
This final part mentions an absolutely brilliant museum visit, a stunning viaduct and a cold wander around the pretty Border two of Melrose.
Jim Clark Motor Museum
We sort of stumbled across this museum and we are so glad that we did. In a word it’s brilliant. Jim Clark was a Formula One racing driver from Duns in Scotland.
He won the World Championship in 1963 and 1965 and also drove sports cars and touring cars. In 1965 he won Indianapolis 500, which he won in 1965, and he will forever be associated with Lotus cars. The man was an absolute legend.
The thing is, when you find a niche, dedicated museum that is so well done as this, I don’t think it really matters whether you are a big fan of the subject or not. If the material is logical and well presented then it can draw you in – and that’s exactly what the Jim Clark Motorsport Museum did for us.
The museum is easy to find in the town of Duns. It’s a small museum but easy to spend a couple one to two hours there and whether or not you are a fan of motor racing I really don’t think you would be disappointed with a visit there. Finding out and knowing about Jim Clark is quite simply a thing worth doing.
Museum picture gallery
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The stunning Leaderfoot Viaduct
We had decided that we would head to the small town of Melrose, not for any particular reason other than to have a wander around.On the way there we had read about a disused railway viaduct called the Leaderfoot Viaduct (also known as the Drygrange Viaduct).
It was built over a 150 years ago in 1863 carried the Berwickshire Railway. It waka actually in use by freight trains until 1965. In 1986 the structure was given Grade A listed status before being restored by Historic Scotland.
It really is quite a stunning viaduct and if you are heading that way then I would say it’s well worth stopping (there’s a convenient car park and viewing point) for a look.
Viaduct picture gallery
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Chilly in Melrose
We pretty much rounded off our trip with a visit to the Border town of Melrose. The weather had turned pretty cold when we got there and to be honest we didn’t spend a great deal of time in the town.
It seemed lovely though and it’s certainly in a decent location, (about 30 or so miles east of Edinburgh) if you are planing a stay in the Scottish Borders. There more information here including something about the 12th century Ruined Abbey and a casket believed to contain the heart of Robert the Bruce!
Melrose picture gallery
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Last words
If you have never spent time in the Scottish Borders then I’d be pretty confident in saying you wouldn’t be bored and you wouldn’t be disappointed. There really is plenty to see and do. I’m not quite sure how many times we have travelled and stayed in Northumberland and the Scottish Borders but I am quite sure in saying that we have always enjoyed ourselves and we have always been glad that we went to that part of the UK.
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