Drochil Castle

Drochil Castle

This is an impressive ruin mostly hidden behind trees, it is apparently sometimes used by the local sheep.

"The castle, consisting of four storeys and a garret, was as much a palace as a castle, as James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, Regent of Scotland, intended to retire here from worldly business. The castle is of exceptional interest because of its design as a "double-tenement" with a wide central corridor running through the building from end to end on every storey. This opens up suites of apartments off it on either side. The castle has a round tower, 25 feet (7.6 m) in diameter, attached to each of two diagonally opposite corners. Each tower has two gunloops, preventing enemies from approaching the walls." (from wikipedia)

Drochil is unusual because unlike most castles where you walk into a main hall/courtyard, here you walk along a corridor and have rooms off to either side. On the ground floor, which I believe was the basement, you can still enter all these rooms.

Caution - there are signs around Drochil Castle warning "Danger - keep out"

Gunknowe Loch

Gunknowe Loch (AKA Tweedbank Pond)

Took a quick spin round Tweedbank Pond, calling it a Loch makes it seem far more impressive than it is, but I mean there's birds to look at and... yup... Train station nearby, a local shop, Herges bar/restaurant with big windows so you can sit and watch the birds and wee fountain from and it's just a short walk over to Abbotsford (the home of Sir Walter Scott).

"There is a small wooded island in the loch, which provides a home for ducks and swans, the latter began breeding on the loch in 1992. Fishing was banned on the loch ten years later to protect birdlife from being killed by discarded fishing line" (from scottish-places.info)

Newark Castle

Newark Castle

Although technically in Bowhill, Newark Castle is outwith the grounds so is free to get to! It is also locked though so you can't get inside it, there are windows you can look in through (if you have a torch) but there's not much to see inside.

"In 1645 one hundred followers of the Marquis of Montrose, mostly women, captured after the Battle of Philiphaugh, were shot, stabbed, slashed or bludgeoned to death by Covenanters in the barmkin of Newark. The victims were buried near the castle, and in 1810 large quantities of bones and skulls were dug up at the field known as Slain Mens Lea.

It is said that ghostly cries and screams of anguish can sometimes by heard here. Other prisoners, again mostly women and children, were taken to the market place in Selkirk, and there later also shot. The mercy shown by men of God!" (from thecastlesofscotland.co.uk)