River walk to Neidpath Castle

After the road bridge, the next bridge up-river is a little bit beyond Neidpath Castle which you can see in the distance here. It is the old railway bridge that crossed Tweed and proceeded through a long tunnel to one of the two railway stations that existed in Peebles. I always think it was a shame that railway passengers were deprived of the view of the castle from the opposite bank.

It is a beautiful walk out to the castle, first along a riverside pathway, past the swimming pool, and the point where Cuddy meets Tweed, just above the cauld (weir). On past Hay Lodge and the small hospital into the tree'd park - which is where you can see the snow in the distance. From the park the path then becomes a woodland walk along a rougher track more or less beside the river all the way, past the Dookits, where it was once popular to swim and dive, and on till the path leaves the trees behind and opens onto meadow land. Eventually, to reach the castle itself you must scramble up the steep rocky outcrop on which the castle stands. It's well worth the effort.

In the foreground, the line across the river is the cauld or weir, built to control the flow of water into the mill lade or stream in the days when a mill existed by the river at this point. The woollen mill was destroyed by fire in the 1960s but in due course the site was used for a new swimming pool.

Another day, in the summer I will take you on the walk, and we'll return along the opposite bank, having crossed the old railway bridge. We won't be going through the old tunnel, you may be glad to know.