Wind
Based on readings taken at 1000ft (305m), the prevailing wind pattern governing the Border hills and the Southern Uplands is from the southwest – winds blowing from between south and west are at least twice as frequent as from any other point on the compass. Wind speeds for 85 per cent of the year are between 1½ and 18½mph, plus 5 per cent below 1mph (graded as calm). Records show that sustained wind speeds never exceed 46mph, although occasional gusts may do so. April to October are the calmest months to walk the Border hills, with January to March being the coldest and most windy. During the winter months the uplands can be sterilised by cold northeasters that ride in from the Arctic or the continental steppes on the edge of high pressure systems.
Precipitation
With the prevailing wind pattern from the southwest, and influenced by its journey over the Atlantic Ocean, it is the west of the area that receives most rain. The western bastion of the Tweedsmuir Hills has an average annual fall of 89in on Lochcraig Head, 85in on Hart Fell, 83in on Gameshope Loch and 82in on Garelet Dod. The eastern Cheviots (including the Cheviot plateau) by comparison only attract 45in, with the lower western tops receiving on average 36in, emphasising how dry this area is when compared with the annual deluges of 125in occurring in the more ‘fashionable’ areas of the Western Highlands and the English Lakes. At the lower levels in Tweeddale and Teviotdale and on the Merse of Berwickshire the annual rainfall ranges from a mere 26in to 30in. (To convert inches to centimetres multiply by 2.540.)
With showers in mind the peaks and troughs for walking in the Borders are as follows.
The incidence of summer thunderstorms and hail showers in Scotland as a whole, and the Borders in particular, is low, much less frequent than in parts of England. In Edinburgh such phenomena appear on average 7 times a year, in areas of England on average 15 to 20 times a year.
Snow in winter very rarely impedes the walker, even at heights in excess of 2000ft (610m). Any coverings that occur invariably enhance the scene and provide just that little extra challenge.
Evidence from the weather patterns cited above, i.e. from records compiled over the last 20 years, would suggest that the month of June provides the Border walker with the brightest and driest days, the best walking temperatures, little or no wind, good visibility and, of course, long days and short nights. June is closely followed by April, May and July, with only a small reduction in either temperature or hours of sunshine, or an acceptable increase in precipitation. All in all, a very pleasant climate in which to walk.
Heatherhope Valley from Philip Shank (Walk 13)
Flora and Fauna
Upper Heaths and Moors
This type of terrain dominates the Cheviots, Ettrick Forest and the Tweedsmuir Hills, where the dry heaths on the steep upper slopes change gradually into peat bogs on the flatter summits and plateaux. Such heathland contains heather (ling), cotton grass (Scotsman’s heids), and cross-leaved heath, all of which grow happily on the wet and acidic peat. Bilberry (blaeberry) and bell heather prosper on the drier slopes, while on well-drained summit ridges cloudberry, crowberry and dwarf cornal grow, and on the highest hills the rare alpine foxtail may occasionally be found. Grasses that thrive on the Border hills are mainly mat grass (which turns vast areas of the upper Cheviots white in late summer) and wavy hair grass, while in areas of water percolation tussocks of purple moor grass (molinia) make walking difficult. In poor visibility the varying vegetation at higher levels acts as a guide, giving indications of altitude, and warnings of wet and potentially dangerous conditions underfoot.
Sixteen types of bird utilise this habitat to hunt, feed, nest and breed. This area remains one of the last strongholds for species such as the peregrine falcon (in the crags), the merlin (hunts over the heather), the hen harrier, dunlin and golden plover. On the higher craggy hills and gullies, such as Blackhope Glen and the Hen Hole, ravens may be found, although in small numbers, whereas carrion crows (the moorland scavenger) are much more common. Few if any animals and reptiles inhabit the summits and the tops, though summer visits may be made by the fox, the blue mountain hare (with its distinctive white coat in winter), and feral goats. Domestic sheep are to be found at all levels in the Border hills.
Lower Slopes, Ridges, Cols and Open Moorland
These are blanketed by bent grass, fescues and bracken (becoming a great threat) and, growing in the less acidic soils, patches of red fescue. Colour is provided by blaeberry, catspaw, wild thyme, heath bedstraw, rockrose (food for the rare northern brown argus butterfly, Walk 17) and the yellow mountain pansy. Any wet and badly drained areas are clearly indicated by an abundance of rushes and sedge – home to snipe, lizards, slowworms and frogs (newts prefer the lower rocks and burnsides). The shy adder, although venomous, is not classed as a highly poisonous snake and can occasionally be seem in the Cheviots basking on a warm rock before slithering off to hide in the bracken.
Sounds that are music to the hill walker’s ear are provided by two fascinating moorland birds. The distinctive curlew (whaup), with its curved beak and plaintive cry, together with the clown of the fells, the peewit (green plover), are both evident in satisfying numbers. Another interesting inhabitant of the heather moors is the short-eared owl, which sleeps at night and hunts for voles during the day.
With the encroachment of fast-growing pines, larch and spruce, the deer population has greatly increased in recent years, as has the number of stoats, weasels, feral mink and, thankfully, woodpeckers.
Lochs and Coastline
Three natural lochs, St Mary’s Loch, Loch of the Lowes and Loch Skeen, together with the reservoirs of Talla and Megget, are stocked with trout and inhabited by seabirds. The many burns provide a regular diet for the stately heron and fine sport for anglers, and are home to the ring ouzel and the cheeky little dipper. Three lochans on the northern edge of the Cheviot range also act as staging posts for huge numbers of migratory birds and wintering wildfowl, such as greylag and pinkfooted geese.
The cliffs of St Abb’s Head are home to thousands of fulmers, common gulls, razorbills, kittiwakes, shags and puffins, and the clifftops support a carpet of interesting plants. Further and more specific details can be obtained from the information boards displayed on the walks and from local tourist information centres.
History – Time Charts
| Physical | |
| BC | Significant Events Affecting the Area |
| 500,000,000 | Silurian Era: A huge earth movement joined the land masses bearing Scotland and England. |
| 400,000,000 | Devonian Era: Red sandstone and Cheviot lava. |
| 350,000,000 | Carboniferous Era: Calciferous sandstones as found in the Merse of Berwickshire; volcanoes, e.g. the Eildon Hills. |
| 12,000–10,000 | Retreat of the ice sheets. |
| 9000 | Invasion by trees and shrubs, moss and lichen, and other open-ground vegetation. Tundra conditions. |
| 7000 | Significant rise of the North Sea, with the land bridge to the continent severed, forming raised beaches. |
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6000
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