There are four main roads that travel north through the South of Scotland from England - the A1, A68, A7 and motorway M74. The trouble is, people are in so much of a hurry to get to Edinburgh, Glasgow or the Highlands, they do not stop. Well, speaking as someone who was born and brought up in Edinburgh, spent 25 years in the Highlands and is now living in the Borders, I am absolutely gob smacked as to why this is. The natural environment of the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway is so different from the Highlands - fertile green rolling hills, a much more diverse range of wild animals, flowers and birds and...more lived-in stately homes than in any other area of Scotland including Floors Castle, Abbotsford House, Paxton House, Mellerstain, Manderston and Bowhill House - why are they here? It is this fantastic environment, that is why. There is some excellent accommodation in the Borders but not enough of it offering products that the market wants with quality and at ... < more >