The Borders - The Rough Guide to Scotland - page 113

GETTING AROUND AND INFORMATION THE BORDERS

By bus and train The only train line in the Borders
runs along the east coast between Edinburgh and
Berwick-upon-Tweed without stopping in the Borders,
and travelling around by bus can take some planning.
However, there is a good network of bus routes linking

the key towns and smaller villages - pick up timetables
from the local tourist offices.
Tourist information W scot-borders.co.uk. For a bus
network map see W firstgroup.com.

2

Eyemouth and around
he history of EYEMOUTH , the only settlement of any size on the Borders' coastline, is
forever tied up with the sea. Its long, slender harbour remains very much the focus of
activity, its waters packed with deep-sea and inshore fleets and its quay strewn with
tatters of old net, discarded fish and fish crates.

Eyemouth Maritime Centre
Harbour Rd • April-Nov daily:10am-5pm • £3.95 • T 0845 859 1006, W worldofboats.org/emc
Housed in a unique waterside structure designed to look like an eighteenth-century
frigate, the Eyemouth Maritime Centre displays an outstanding array of old sailing craft
and cannons as well as putting on nautical exhibitions. It's currently showing
smuggling related scenes including a smugglers' cave and landing beach mock-ups
complete with duty-free wares.

Eyemouth Museum
Auld Kirk, Manse Rd • Easter-Oct Tues-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun noon-4pm • £3.50 T 01890 751701, W eyemouthmuseum.org
Documenting the life and times of this small fishing community, the Eyemouth
Museum focuses in particular on the 1881 disaster when a freak storm took the lives
of 189 men, including 129 from Eyemouth, a tragedy of extraordinary proportions
for a place of this size. A 15ft tapestry commemorating the event hangs in the
museum along with old social and industrial memorabilia relating to farming and
fishing. he museum doubles as a tourist information centre .

St Abb's Head
4 miles northwest of Eyemouth; from just outside the village of St Abbs, take the only single track north and continue to the end of the
road • Reserve always open • Parking £2; NTS
Perhaps not suited for those without a head for heights, St Abb's Head rises 300ft out
of the sea, its sheer cliffs providing a nesting place for great numbers of kittiwakes,
guillemots, razorbills and other sea birds. Either side of the small valley you'll see
different coloured rock marking a geological divide: grey sedimentary to the west
and red volcanic to the east distinctly separate the two. From the car park, an easily
followed, mile-long walking trail ends at the Stevensons' lighthouse, but you only

RUGBY SEVENS
With a surprisingly long lineage, seven-a-side rugby was initially conceived by a pair of
Melrose butchers in 1883 as a fundraiser for their local club and quickly became a regional
obsession. Nowadays, all the main Borders towns (and a few beyond) take on a kind of
carnival atmosphere as they take turns to host one of ten all-day tournaments between
April and May, with twelve teams competing for the Kings of the Sevens crown. See
W kingsofthesevens.net.