Melrose Abbey

We stayed overnight for a birthday party a couple of weekends ago in the little town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders. I lived in the area many years ago for 16 months for my first proper job after University, but as a callow and shallow young man obsessed with hill running and finding, and then keeping, a girlfriend, I never really got to know the area properly. Shame really, as it is a wonderful area, steeped in history and natural wonders, not least of which is the mighty River Tweed which flows through Melrose. And not far from the Tweed lies the ancient Melrose Abbey. we were up early after the party and, on a beautiful sunny Sunday morning, took the opportunity to be among the first visitors of the day to the Abbey.

Managed and maintained from further degradation by Historic Scotland, the Abbey remains one of the most impressive mediaeval religious buildings in Scotland, one of several mediaeval Abbeys in the eastern Borders area. I don't intend to provide a full commentary on the place (you can find that yourselves online or, better, by visiting the Abbey in person, which I heartily recommend) and I'm sure my blogging chum Al has either done it already over at his blog crivens jings and help ma boab (which I also heartily recommend) or, if not, would do a much better job than me anyway. So, all I wanted to do was share a couple of panoramic views taken on a fabulously sunny morning and stitched together on my Dell net book using MS Live Picture Gallery's simple photo stitching tool. I'm quite pleased with these, especially the second one, considering that I took them on my phone's camera.

PS Click on the photos for a better, expanded look.