Scotland 2019 5: Dryburgh and Melrose

After a drenching in Abbotsford's gardens, we dried out in the shop and then headed towards Dryburgh.  The abbey was closed, unfortunately, so we headed for the William Wallace statue on the hill above the town.  Very impressive it looked too in the afternoon sun.  It's difficult to do justice to the sheer enormity of the statue in a photograph, so the third image contains a (diminutive) Harriet for scale.

The statue is made from the local red sandstone, but somehow I think it's more imposing in infra-red than it is in colour.

A view back from the statue towards Galashiels, showing the Eildon hills.

Final stop for the day was Melrose, and we went for a walk by the river before having a bite to eat.  There we found a suspension bridge which was "wobbly" long before its Millennium counterpart was ever invented.  No more than eight people are allowed on the bridge at any one time, and crossing is not recommended in a gale!

 

 
The final two shots are of Melrose Abbey in the lovely evening light.  The grounds were locked, unfortunately, but the ruins seemed to glow in the setting sun.