Getting Here

Easy exploration

To find The Collingwood Arms, you can use our handy Google Map.

The Collingwood is situated upon a historic stage coaching point, and it retains good transport links to this day.

The A697 is a scenic, but free flowing, road that follows the many contours of Northumberland before reaching Cornhill and The Collingwood. The drive itself is one of the many highlights that guests often comment on, and the same rule applies if they arrive from the North.

We are only the proverbial hop and skip away from the A1, around 11 miles, which makes access to the stunning coastline simple and straightforward.

While Northumberland is one of the only counties in England to boast the honour of no motorways, the traffic often moves well and there is space aplenty to explore and discover this “– secret kingdom” of your own accord.

The nearest airports are Edinburgh and Newcastle, both roughly an hour and a quarter away. There is an East Coast mainline stop in Berwick upon Tweed, where we can organise a transfer for you, and much like the journey by car, the train ride is one of Britain’s iconic routes.

We also have a number of sight seeing trails – one of our favourites is listed here below:

Sir Walter Scott Trail

Round trip of approximately 60 miles

• Follow the B6350 along the south bank of the River Tweed to Kelso. The road crosses the Border into Scotland just beyond Carham village.
• Leave Kelso Market Square on the A6089 (sign-posted Edinburgh), past the entrance to Floors Castle, seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Scott described Floors as “a palace fit for Titania”.
• Keep the perimeter wall of Floor Castle on your left, then turn left onto the B6397 (sign-posted St. Boswells). About 2.5 miles along this road, turn left onto the B6404 (signed St. Boswells).
• Drive 2 miles further and look for the sign to the right to Smailholm Tower. You will see the tower on the hillside to your right. Follow the road through Sandyknowe Farm to the Historic Scotland car park. Smailholm Tower was once a stronghold of the Pringles, then the Scott family. It stands in a romantic setting beside a tiny loch. From its battlements there are spectacular views across the countryside. The tower contains models depicting scenee from Scott’s “Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border”. Many of the old stories he recorded in his “Minstrelsy” he learned during his visits to his aunt and grandfather at Sandyknowe Farm.
• Return to the B6404 and turn right. About 3 miles further on, turn right (B6358 signed Scott’s View) through Clintmains.
• About a mile beyond Clintmains there is a sharp right turn up the hill (sign-posted Wallace Monument and Scott’s View). At this point you can choose to make the short detour ahead to visit the peaceful ruins of Dryburgh Abbey, where Sir Walter Scott lies buried, then return to this junction and follow the signs to Scott’s View.
• Beyond the Wallace Monument car park the road continues up the hill past Bemersyde. This was the home of Earl Haig, the Commander on the Western Front in World War One.
• Just beyond Bemersyde bear left and continue to Scott’s View. The panorama across the Tweed Valley to the triple peaks of the Eildons was indeed Sir Walter’s favourite view. It is said that on the day of his funeral in 1832, the horses pulling his hearse stopped automatically at this spot as they took his coffin to be buried at Dryburgh.
• From Scott’s View continue ahead on the B6358, then bear left (signed Tweed Cycleway). Follow signs to Gattonside, passing under the impressive Leaderfoot Viaduct, built in 1865 to carry the Berwickshire Railway to Duns.
• At Gattonside turn left and follow signs to Melrose, a pretty town with a beautiful ruined Cistercian abbey.
• Leave Melrose on the A6091 (signed Galashiels). At the roundabout, about 2 miles out of Melros , turn left and follow signs to Abbotsford. Sir Walter Scott built his country mansion at Abbotsford.
• After leaving Abbotsford, continue a further 2 miles to join the A7.
• Turn left and follow signs into Selkirk. Sir Walter was Sheriff of Selkirkshire from 1799 to 1832. His old Courthouse in the Market Place contains an exhibition and audio presentation about his life and work there.
• Leave Selkirk and follow the A699 (signed Kelso).
• Cross the A68 at St. Boswells and continue ahead on the A699 towards Kelso. About 3 miles further on, to the right beyond Maxton, there is a farm where you can pick your own strawberries and other soft fruits during the season.
• Continue on the A699, past the mound and scattered stones of Roxburgh Castle on the right. For many years, Roxburgh was held by the English. During a siege in 1460 King James II of Scotland was killed when the cannon he was firing against the castle walls exploded. Just beyond Roxburgh Castle, there is a view to the left across the Tweed to Floors Castle .
• Turn left and cross the John Rennie Bridge over the Tweed, then follow signs to Coldstream (A 698).
• At Coldstream, cross the Tweed back into England and return to the Collingwood Arms Hotel.