This unusual event was Hugh’s present to me for my 70th birthday. He has always been too kind.
Abbey View
4 The Square
Kelso
TD5 7HQ
Tuesday 19th August 2025
Got up as usual at 6.35. Dull with one or two very light drizzle showers. Hugh and Natalie left for Kelso before 10.00.
I cut the grass by lunchtime. The LED bulb for the ZSB arrived so I fitted it and it works. Anne went to Blythswood.
We had lunch and then headed south in Anne’s old blue Fusion. I drove to near Carrbridge and then Anne took over and drove to near Pitlochry. We had a picnic and I took over driving once again. We went on to South Queensferry where we went to MacDonald’s for our tea. I do love MacDonald’s. South Queensferry has radically changed from a lovely town by the Forth to a place with horrid new high-rise buildings. Anne described it as having being converted into Craiglang!
The problems started then. I got into the wrong lane twice and had to recover with the Satnav’s help. That added a few extra miles. Then there was a breakdown on the Edinburgh City Bypass and it took an hour to get round the city. It was lovely once we were driving on the quieter roads down to the Borders! It started to drizzle as we got near Kelso but it went off at Kelso. Hugh met us at the car park by the abbey and we got to the house.
It is a lovely house. We just chatted for the evening.
We did 229 miles from home to here by the Satnav.
Wednesday 20th August 2025
Up 7.30. Started cloudy but ended bright. Quite cold.
Showered and had breakfast before Hugh and Natalie got up. Watched YouTube videos till after morning snack.
We went out and around the town to get our bearings. We had a look at shops and then went for a walk down the Tweed. The abbey was worth seeing but access is denied at present due to unstable masonry. We went to the Knowes for lunch and then came back to the flat and rested.
After afternoon snack we walked to Floors Castle gates and then did a loop round the town. Natalie rescued us using her phone to get us back to the house.
We had another rest and then went to Sultans of Kelso for an Indian for tea. It was the nicest Indian I’ve had in a long time. I had a Chicken Bhuna with Pilau Rice. I am proud of myself as I even managed to eat the whole Nan Bread. A nice restful evening.
That is our house set back from the town square and just a short distance from it.
The square.
Kelso Abbey.
The River Tweed.
Our afternoon walk. This is the North Parish Church.
Entrance to Floors Castle. The gates were locked.
Thursday 21st August 2025
Up 7.30. Mostly cloudy but a lot less wind so it felt warmer. Showered and had breakfast. Hugh joined us.
I spent the morning doing a puzzle of the Colosseum that was in the house. It was only 500 pieces but very difficult. Anne helped me.
After lunch I drove the four of us to Galashiels. We parked at Home Bargains and had a wander round the shops. We then came out to the retail park and the women had an hour shopping. I had a snooze in the car and ate a nougat bar and drank some Irn Bru. From the car park we went on a lovely walk that took us to the top of the golf course. It looked out over the town to Gala Hill.
We went to MacDonald’s for tea.
We went home via Melrose and the abbey. The ladies had an ice cream. Came back to Kelso and had a nice evening doing the puzzle.
Looking over to Galashiels.
Melrose Abbey
Friday 22nd August 2025
Up 7.45. Overcast and fairly mild. Showered and had breakfast. Spent the morning doing the puzzle of the Colosseum. Finished it but aggravatingly there were three pieces missing. I had spent ages hunting for them!
After lunch we walked to Roxburgh Castle along the Teviot. It was a beautiful walk but on the way back I took us on a “short cut” which led to a locked gate and we had to walk all the way back to Teviot Bridge. Hugh gave us his many interesting opinions about this error and explained how he would use it as an illustration in his sermons.
We came back to the house and rested as Hugh and I had quite an evening ahead. At 5.15 we went out to get tea. We tried Salt ‘n Fire but they had no room so we went to the Cross Keys Hotel just across the square. The meal was lovely and the waitress very helpful. I had fish and chips but just drank water. I was limiting my fluid intake for the evening. Hugh wasn’t and had a pint of Coke!
The Teviot River.
Roxburgh Castle.
The Tweed. The Teviot and the Tweed merge at Kelso.
The locked gate!
Kelso Abbey and the war memorial.
Beluga Lagoon – Live at Floors Castle
Hugh and I left the house about 6.30 and walked up to Floors Castle which took about 30 minutes.
Hugh was fascinated by the roadies setting up and sound checking. He said he finds it almost as interesting as the concert.
The place was mobbed and drink was flowing too freely.
The concert started at 8.10 and was utterly fantastic. Beluga Lagoon performed a lot from “Tombs o’ the Fairies”, their most recent album. They also did my four favourites – “Margo & Barry”, “Isla”, “The Glen” and finished their encore with “Neverland”. It finished about 10.10. It was amazing how dark it got. We had to use our phone’s torches to light our way back but there were hundreds of people walking down to Kelso. Two had fallen a bit worse of the wear.
We reached the house about 11.40. I loved this time with Hugh and it was so kind of him. I drank a little coffee as I needed to be re-hydrated, ate a biscuit and went to bed at a rather late hour.
What a venue and backdrop Floors Castle is.
The light has all gone now.
Matt Black kindly upload a lot of the songs from the evening to YouTube. Here is a playlist.
Saturday 23rd August 2025
I took some photos of and from the house before leaving. It was a lovely place.
We were that near to the abbey.
The front room looked out onto the square. It was market day.
Up at 6.45. Another dry and overcast day. Showered, packed and tidied. Hugh and Natalie left before us. We left at around 8.00 and headed north. The SatNav took us into Edinburgh by Maybury Road and Queensferry Road for some strange reason. We didn’t stop till Perth where we went to ASDA for diesel. We bought a few gifts and used their loo. We had something to eat sitting in the car in the car park and then headed on northwards up the A9. We stopped north of Aviemore for a picnic lunch in the car and then arrived home at 1.30. I did all the driving.
That was one of life’s great experiences.