Melrose To Leaderfoot

Our walk from Melrose along the south bank of the Tweed took us over this bridge, which does not appear to cross anything except a fragile riverbank. In the far distance on the left, across the river, is a glimpse of our destination, the Leaderfoot Viaduct. The railway line once carried the Berwickshire Branch of the North British Railway but closed in 1965.

Veering away from the river the path took us through Newstead and past the site of Trimontium, a Roman fort dating from 80AD, lying close to Dere Street (which ran between York and Edinburgh) where it crossed the Tweed. Nothing remains in view although numerous information panels explain the various archeological discoveries.

The extra photo collage shows (top, l) the position of the Roman amphitheatre with the three bridges, (top, r) a view of the trackway on the viaduct - it is not possible to cross, (bottom, l) a view from the track of the C18 Drygrange Old Bridge and the modern road bridge, (bottom, r) the viaduct from the Old Bridge.

The clear, bright day brought out several peacock butterflies, buzzards rose on thermals, celandines opened their yellow stars and a patch of white violets bloomed close to the river path (extra 2). 

There being no continuous footpath back to Melrose along the northern side of the river we returned using part of the Borders Abbeys Way from Newstead and enjoyed a late lunch in Alex Dalgetty's Tea Room.