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The weather turned cold towards the end of my visit to Edinburgh, but there was still time to fit in one more trip to the hills.
Again I was limited to bus routes, so headed out for the second time in a week on the 51 Borders Buses service, getting off by Leaderfoot Bridge on the way to St Boswell's.
Just along from the main road is the old road bridge and the very impressive viaduct that used to take the Berwickshire Railway over the Tweed. Passenger traffic closed along that line in 1948 after torrential rain washed away parts of the trackbed and compromised the safety of the viaduct.
- Old railway viaduct over the Tweed at Leaderfoot
A short way beyond that is the site of the Roman camp of Trimontium, an outpost of the Empire which lasted little more than 100 years before the Romans got tired of being beaten up by the locals and headed back south. One saucer shaped field is the site of a small ampitheatre and information boards along the way explain some of the history.
- Monument marking the site of the Roman Camp at Trimontium
The road heads over to Newstead before a path turns off at the Melrose end of the village, joining the Walkhighlands circular route. There's a well-maintained path most of the way up Eildon Hill North and more Roman remains at the top and the first really great views of the day.
- Path leading out of Newstead village towards the Eildon Hills
- Looking back towards Black Hill
- Top of Eildon Hill North
- Eildon Mid Hill from Eildon North Hill
From there it's a simple down, then up the path to Eildon Mid Hill, a couple of icy, rocky bits making it more interesting not far short of the summit.
The summit is a great spot for viewing the Border countryside, although it looked very murky over towards England and The Cheviot. The wind was getting up and snow flurries blew in and out so we didn't stay too long, leaving our teabreak for a more sheltered spot just below the summit.
- Heading towards the top
- Eildon Mid Hill summit
- Zoomed to chilly looking Rubers Law, near Hawick
Then it was back to the col and the well-made path back to the the staircase that dropped us down to Melrose where we caught a bus to Galashiels and the choice of bus or train back to Edinburgh.
- Back to the col
- Stairway to Melrose
