Walking towards Newtown from the Leaderfoot Bridge

First Bridge on walk towards Melrose

Second bridge

Having realised we could not walk over the bridge we turned our attention towards going South. There is a pleasant walk under trees along the railway, passing two bridges. But the the track is closed by a huge log I suspect put there by the local farmer who has also attempted to close the road access under the bruidsge by putting a large oil drum filled with coal. I guess its because just beyond that the road to Melrose from the A68 cuts the old railway, see map.
We had to take to the road and come back to the Leaderfoot via the A68 a busy road. There is no reason for the blockage unless its the road so I will try from the other end and see why its blocked.

The Leaderfoot Story

The lovely viaduct at Leaderfoot from the old bridge

The barrier to stop you crossing

I went for a walk with my sons to see if it was possible to walk over the lovely viaduct at Leaderfoot. Unfortunately as you can see from the pictures its blocked by a gate. Now I find this to be wrong. The bridge would be a wonderful walk with stunning views and photo opportunity from that height. Its this cotton wool story, the government is determined to cover us in so much cotton wool we can't move at all. I am sure the cry was "oh someone might fall", yes well they might fall from from anywhere mightn't they and they might run out in front of a car, you cannot porotect people only warn them.
Anyway it was a nice day and the Tweed was looking lovely.
The other problem is that without the bridge there is no easy access to the tracks on the other side as the bridge runs into bush.

Leaderfoot Railway Bridge

All over the Scottish Borders there are miles of old railway tracks. Some of them like this stunning bridge at Leaderfoot on the A68 are world class views and incredible industrial archeology. This is not unique, there are a lot of bridges and viaducts, tunnels and walks, with views to knock your socks off.
This web site is devoted to exploring the railway tracks, documenting the history of these unique places, and giving detailed guides on the walks, with maps and directions. Not all are so easy to find or so well sign posted as this splendid example of 19th Century bridge building. This bridge crosses the Tweed, the most important river in the Borders. It crosses it at the point the Leader a smaller river joins the flow of the Tweed, hence the name Leaderfoot. The Leader runs through Earlston, famous for Thomas the Rhymer whose predictions have proved more accurate than those of Nostradamus. Thomas as legend has it fell in love with an Elvish Princess and was taken beneath the Eildon Hills for seven years. When he came back he was put under a spell, and could only talk in rhymes of the wonders he saw.
Well there is no spell on this web site and we intend to tell all.