Melrose to Jedburgh

July 20, 2025

There are four ruined abbeys in the Borders, all constructed around the same time in the 1140’s by King David I of Scotland. He was trying to assert his authority over the Borders region, and prevent the incursion of the English. These massive abbeys were a way to show off his might. It also meant the Abbeys were the frequent subject of border raids.

Today we saw two abbeys (Melrose and Jedburgh) out of the four on the 4 Abbeys Cycleway - a cool cycle route set up to show the beauty of the Borders region. If we were to ride the entire loop (all 56 miles) we would also see the Kelso and Dryburgh Abbeys. (We saw some road bikers out and it would be a great day to do a day ride, it being Sunday and a lovely day!)

On our way out of Melrose we stopped to visit Melrose Abbey - the best preserved of the four. Much of the structure is fenced off due to the instability of the stonework. The Scottish authorities are madly evaluating the site to figure out how to shore it up - but there are many sites in a similar condition so I got the impression they were overwhelmed.

Melrose Abbey was constructed around 1146 and the town of Melrose grew up nearby. In 1536 it was burnt by Richard II of England in one of many border attacks, this one having to do with the Melrose Abbey’s recognition of the Pope in Avignon (remember my entry about Avignon, Item 17 of this journal, so long ago?) Weirdly enough, Richard paid to have the Abbey rebuilt. After the Protestant Reformation the Abbey was not allowed to continue to function but the monks were permitted to stay and live there until their deaths. The Abbey gradually fell into disuse.

I may have mentioned - or maybe not - that at Rosslyn Chapel there was an angel playing a bagpipe hidden in the stonework; here at Melrose Abbey there is a PIG playing a bagpipe.

And then Jill - hanging out with the pig…..

Besides the piper-playing pig, Melrose Abbey’s other claim to fame is that the heart of Robert the Bruce is buried there. (The rest of him is at Dunferline Abbey). Robert the Bruce is another Scottish hero; he was the King of Scotland between 1306 and 1329 and successfully fought the English at the First Scottish War of Independence.

After our tour we headed to Jedburgh. We only had a 35 km ride, but we were hoping to stop and do laundry on our way into town. The 4 Abbeys route was scenic, on small, lightly- trafficked roads.

Just as we were being lulled into mellowness due to the quietness of the route, we came to a little crossing. Fortunately, a small elevated bridge had been constructed allowing us to cross without wading through the stream.

Right afterwards though was some very stiff gravel up and down a hill - so that woke us up too.

We stopped in Ancrum (population 300) at the Ancrum pub for lunch. When we arrived it was quiet, but as we ate our smash burger more locals arrived for Sunday lunch. We haven’t had a chance to do a Sunday carvery lunch yet - a full meal of a roast in the middle of the day doesn’t usually match up with the need to do an afternoon ride - but I hope we get to the experience at some point in our British travels.

Remnants of our decent smash burger in Ancrum.

We pulled into Jedburgh and looked for the laundromat. This would be a bit trickier than usual since we couldn’t check into our B and B until 4 pm, so we went to the laundromat without being able to do the usual sorting out of our clothes in a hotel room. We had done our best to put a bag together that morning, which got stashed at the top of my pannier but I also wanted to wash my cycling kit, which I was wearing. The laundromat wasn't inside. Revolution Laundry is a chain of laundromats in the UK that get installed outside grocery stores and gas station parking lots. I don’t generally pick these as being a good option because there is nowhere to sit and hang out, but needs must…..Dave stood guard while I quickly stripped out of my kit and changed. (Sorry, or you're welcome, no candid shot of this quick change happening "en plein air"!) I took off for 45 minutes to check out the town while he hung out on a grassy bank, had a Fanta and made sure nobody stole our clothes!

While waiting for the laundry, these two guys cruised up on their scooters. The boys were scooter touring which is a thing in these parts, apparently.

Jedburgh is one of the larger Borders towns, which isn’t saying much (population 3860), and its claim to fame is two-fold: it has the (1) Jedburgh Abbey ruins and (2) the Mary Queen of Scot’s House.

Mary lived in a house in Jedburgh for one month in 1566 while she was administering a justice court there as part of her responsibilities as Queen.

The Jedburgh house in which Queen Mary lived for a month.

Jedburgh has restored the house and thrown in her story on some placards - presented in a very pro-Mary way - with a few artifacts. The house is quite pretty as are the gardens although the presentation was a little thin. After her time in Jedburgh, Mary became embroiled in a Civil war in Scotland and when her side lost she fled to England, hoping Elizabeth I (her first cousin, once removed) would help her. Elizabeth imprisoned her and eventually had her executed 19 years later. This is a super boiled down version of a very complicated story which I do not entirely understand, having to do with (1) who had the right to inherit the English throne (Mary was a contender); and (2) conflicts over religion (Mary was Catholic, Elizabeth was Protestant). It is on my list to read a biography of Mary, Queen of Scots to understand it better.

After wandering through the house I sat and enjoyed the gardens, and texted Dave to tell him where to meet me. He did so and while sitting in Mary’s garden he was able to report a successful laundry outing with no mishaps or burnt kit. We then made our way up a pretty stiff hill to Allerton House, our b and b.

We had the big Queen Mary room in the corner of the house overlooking the garden.

The owner, Nina, was Swedish and we had a fun conversation about our tour to Scandinavia two years ago. Dave did some fairly significant messing around with the tv unit getting the streaming to work, and we watched the somewhat boring last few holes of the British Open and then made our way down to the town for dinner via bike.

We ate at Capon Tree Restaurant, a highly regarded place right in town. It did a 22£ 3-course menu. We dislike fixed menus in general because it’s too much food for us, so we split the starter and dessert. Dave had skirt steak and I had a bowl of mussels and both were very good. Dessert was key lime pie, which felt odd to be eating in the Scottish countryside.

While eating we again pondered the high cuteness factor of Scottish dogs and wondered if the Borders had produced any notable dog breeds. We had seen a lot of border collies (with all those sheep). This made us google “border collies” and sure enough, these dogs were bred in the Anglo-Saxon Borders of Scotland!

As we were leaving we said hello to a puppy, Ralph, in the bar and later as we were unlocking our bikes the group with the puppy came over to visit. They were locals who worked in a local restaurant group. Cameron been a football (aka soccer) player and had played for a college in Michigan and a few other places. They were curious about our ride and how we were doing it.

Jacob, Cameron, Caitlin, Emma (with Liza, the baby to be) and Ralph, the puppy.

Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 2,871 km (1,783 miles)

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