Hawick
Contents |
Hawick
Introduction | Travelling| Peebles | Biggar | Tweed Valley | Melrose | Selkirk | Jedburgh | Hawick | Kelso | Coldstream | Duns | Eyemouth | St Abbs Head | Berwick upon Tweed
===Introduction to Hawick=== code: +44 (0)1450 Population: 15,700
Fourteen miles southwest of Jedburgh and 12 miles south of Selkirk is Hawick (pronounced 'Hoyk'), the largest town in the Borders and centre of the region's knitwear and hosiery industry for over 200 years. Hawick is not a place noted for its great beauty, but it does attract lots of visitors who come to shop at its many factory outlets where you can buy all the classic brand names in knitwear. A list of knitwear suppliers is available at the TIC .
Ins and outs
There are hourly buses to and from Jedburgh (35 mins) and Galashiels (40 mins), and regular daily buses to and from Selkirk (20 mins), Edinburgh (2 hrs) and Carlisle (1 hr 15 mins). There's also a service to Melrose (40 mins), but it may be quicker to go to Galashiels and change there.
The Tourist Information Centre is in Drumlanrig Tower on the High St, Tel 372547. Easter-May and Oct Mon-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1200-1700; Jun and Sep Mon-Sat 1000-1730, Sun 1200-1730; Jul and Aug Mon-Sat 1000-1800, Sun 1200-1800. Hours may vary.
In the same building as the TIC is a museum, which outlines the tower's role in Anglo-Scottish wars from the 16th century. Info: Same opening hours as the tourist office. £2.50, £1.50 concession. In Wilton Lodge Park is the Hawick Museum and Scott Art Gallery, which has an interesting collection of mostly 19th-century textile exhibits. Info: Oct-Mar Mon-Fri 1300-1600, Sat closed, Sun 1400-1600; Apr-Sep Mon-Fri 1000-1200 and 1300-1645, Sat, Sun 1400-1645. Free. Tel 373457.
Sleeping and eating
A mile from town, on the A698 to Kelso, is the Mansfield House Hotel, Tel 373988, Mansfield House A traditional mansion house hotel offering good food (lunch cheap; dinner mid-range).
Also good is Kirklands Hotel, West Stewart Pl, Tel 372263.
There are plenty of cheaper B&B alternatives, including Oakwood House, Buccleuch Rd, Tel 372814. Eating options are pretty much confined to the hotel bars and restaurants.
South of Hawick
The A7 runs southwest from Hawick through the dramatic scenery of Teviotdale to the tiny village of Teviothead, where it then exchanges the valley of the River Teviot for the Ewes Water. The Ewes then meets the River Esk at Langholm, in Dumfries and Galloway. The A7 continues its route south, to meet the A74(M) just north of Carlisle.
A much more beautiful route south is to take the A698 northeast out of Hawick, then turn off on to the A6088 which heads southeast. Just beyond the tiny village of Bonchester Bridge, take the B6357 which leads you into lovely Liddesdale. The B6357 follows the course of the Liddel Water all the way south to the village of Canonbie, where it meets the A7. A few miles north of Newcastleton, the B6357 meets the B6399 which runs north back to Hawick. Four miles north of the junction is the turning to Hermitage Castle, one of the great Border strongholds. The oldest part of the castle dates from the 13th century and it was in the hands of the Earls of Douglas until 1492, when it passed to the Earls of Bothwell. The fourth Earl of Bothwell, James Hepburn, was the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, following the murder of her second husband, Darnley, and is thought to have been behind the plot to murder him. It was to Hermitage that Mary made her famous ride to visit her future husband who had been injured in a border raid. Mary's marriage to Bothwell in 1566 was ill-advised and only succeeded in uniting their enemies; and led ultimately to her imprisonment in Lochleven Castle.
Bothwell meanwhile fled to Norway, where he was captured and later died a prisoner himself, in 1578. Hermitage became largely irrelevant following the Union of Crowns in 1603 and fell into disrepair. Much of what you see today dates from the 19th century when the Duke of Buccluech ordered its repair. The vast and eerie ruin is said to be haunted, which is not surprising given its grisly past. One owner, William Douglas, starved his prisoners to death in the ghoulish dungeons, which can still be seen. Info: Apr-Sep daily 0930-1830. £2, £1.50 concession. There is no public transport service from Hawick. Tel 01387-376222 (HS).
There are a couple of places to stay in the village of Newcastleton, 5€ miles south of Hermitage. The Liddlesdale Hotel, Tel/Fax 01387-375255, also serves local specialities such as pheasant and salmon; and there's the very pleasant Borders Honey Farm, Tel/Fax 01387-376737, 3 miles north of Newcastleton on the B6357.