The Kelso Monster (and the Monster’s tail)

The Kelso Monster (and the Monster’s tail)

Tourist Attractions:

 Kelso Abbey, Floors Castle, Jedburgh Jail, Mary Queen of Scots Museum, the source of the Tweed, Jim Clark Room.
Start & Finish: Kelso
Approximate Distance: 210Miles
Route Overview:
A mixture of the two other Kelso based loops, this is a fairly longs days driving. In fact, if you are going to run the big loop over a day there won’t be a huge amount of time for sightseeing, just lunch and a couple of breaks. This book is about driving, however, and that is exactly what the Monster is about.
Starting with the run alongside the Tweed, on the sweeping A699, the route then crosses to the B6399, a fast and sometimes narrow road heading south to meet the B6357 in Liddesdale. After a blast on the B6357, the route then crosses from Langholm to Lockerbie on the B7068, another (life is hard) good road. The B723, which happens to be even better, heads for Borland, where a left onto unmarked roads take the route onwards to Moffat. As I mentioned previously, it’s worth taking the excellent B723 all the way to Eskdalemuir, doing a u-turn and returning to the route, south of Boreland. After some unmarked roads to Moffat it is of course the Devils Beef Tub, an epic drive north before the slightly more congested A72. At Innerleithen the B709 takes on Leithen Water, and is good, if a little narrow in places, all the way to Heriot. The Lammermuir Hills are the last destination of the day, which means a final thirty miles over their sinuous tarmac. Remember to take a look behind you at some spectacular scenery as you climb into the hills. From Duns it’s a wind-down back to Kelso on some more relaxing roads.

The Monster’s Tail
If the above is not enough, then towards the end of the Journey is a great detour up and down the best road in the area. At the end of the B6355 (In Preston) turn left instead of right and take a run over the A6112 to Grantshouse. At Grantshouse, turn around and retrace the road back onto the original route into Duns.

Route Directions:

From	Kelso					Follow	signposts to	A699 Selkirk
		after	10	miles on the	A699	Cross the Intersection	following signposts to	Selkirk (over the A68)
		after	9	miles on the	A699	Turn Left	signpost	A7 Hawick
At	Hawick	after	11	miles on the	A7	Follow	signposts to	The Drumlanrig's Tower visitors centre.
At	The Drumlanrig's Tower visitors centre.	after	1	Mile on the	A7	Turn Right	signpost	B6399 Newcastleton (the turning is right in front of the visitors centre)
At the	B6357	after	18	miles on the	B6399	Turn Right	signpost	B6357 Newcastleton
		after	10	miles on the	B6357	Turn Right	signpost	B6318 Langholm
At the	A7	after	3	miles on the	B6318	Turn Right	signpost	A7 Langholm
In	Langholm	after	2	miles on the	A7	Turn Left	signpost	B7068 Lockerbie
At	Lockerbie	after	17.5	miles on the	B7068	Follow	signposts to	A74(M) North, Moffat
In	Lockerbie	after	0.7	miles on the	B7076/B723	Turn Right	signpost	B723 Boreland/Eskdalemuir
		after	7	miles on the	B723	Turn Left	signpost	Moffat
		for	9	miles on the	Unmarked Road	Follow	signposts to	Moffat
At	Moffat					Follow	signposts to	A701 Peebles
		after	23	miles on the	A701	Turn Right	signpost	B712 Stobo
At the	A72	after	7.5	miles on the	B712	Turn Right	signpost	A72 Peebles
In	Peebles	after	3	miles on the	A72	Continue	following signposts to	A72 Innerleithen
In	Innerleithen	after	7	miles on the	A72	Turn Left	signpost	B709 Colquhar
		after	10	miles on the	B709	Turn Right	signpost	B709 Heriot
At the	A7	after	4	miles on the	B709	Turn Right	signpost	A7 Galashiels
		after	2	miles on the	A7	Turn Left	signpost	B6368 Gilston
At the	A68	after	5	miles on the	B6368	Turn Left	signpost	A68 Edinburgh
		after	0.5	miles on the	A68	Turn Right	signpost	B6368 Humbie, Gifford
		after	7	miles on the	B6368	Turn Right	signpost	B6355 Gifford
At	Gifford	after	2	miles on the	B6355	Continue	following signposts to	B6355 Danskine, Cranshaws, or Ellemford
At the	A6112 (Preston)	after	21	miles on the	B6355	Turn Right	signpost	A6112 Duns
In	Duns	after	3	miles on the	A6112	Turn Right	signpost	A6105 Greenlaw
In	Greenlaw	after	7	miles on the	A6105	Turn Right	signpost	A697 Edinburgh
In	Greenlaw	after	0.5	miles on the	A697	Turn Left	signpost	A6105 Gordon, Earlston
		after	1	Mile on the	A6105	Turn Left	signpost	B6364 Stichill, Kelso
At the	A6089	after	7	miles on the	B6364	Turn Left	signpost	A6089 Kelso
End at	Kelso	after	1	Mile on the	A6089
	The Monsters Tail
At the	A6112 Preston	after	21	miles on the	B6355	Turn Left	signpost	A6112 Grantshouse
At	Grantshouse	after	6	miles on the	A6112	Turn Around	signpost	A6112 Duns
In	Duns	after	9	miles on the	A6112	Turn Right	signpost	A6105 Greenlaw

List of Recomended Drives:
The Northumberland Coast and the Cheviot Valleys
The Tweed, the Moorfoot Hills, and the Lammermuir Hills
The Tweed and the Cheviots
The Kelso Monster (and the Monster’s tail)
The East Roman and Kielder Loop
The West Roman and Kielder Water Loop
The Extended Roman and Kielder Loop
Index of all roads tested
Complete Road Index
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