Kelso
Kelso | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
| |||
County | |||
Roxburghshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Scottish Borders | |||
Places related to the A698 | |||
Places related to the A699 | |||
Kelso is a town on the River Tweed, where it meets the River Teviot, in Roxburghshire. It is home to one of the famed Borders Abbeys and also the Border Union Showground, and Kelso Racecourse, so it is a popular destination for visitors from all walks of life. The busy town centre is spread out around the Market Place, home to some very fine buildings, the whole town having profited in the past from the Abbeys influence. A short distance upstream on the Teviot is the small village of Roxburgh, once a busy market town and the county town of Roxburghshire. However, fortunes changed and Kelso became the dominant trade centre, although it was Jedburgh which took on the role of county town.
Kelso is the meeting place of 3 A roads, the A698, A699 and A6089. They meet at a crossroads to the east of the town centre, with only the A699 still passing through the centre, having entered the town on Kelso Bridge over the Tweed. The A699 has followed the Tweed downstream from St Boswells, and used to continue east, but this part of the route has been downgraded to be the B6461. The A698 has come northeast from Jedburgh and Hawick, and now follows the Kelso Bypass, along the line of an old railway, before crossing the Tweed on the new Hunters Bridge. It then continues to follow the Tweed to Coldstream, and ultimately to the coast at Berwick upon Tweed. The A6089 leaves Kelso to the north, crossing the hills to the A697 in Laudale. It is the most direct route north to Edinburgh.
The town is also a hub of B roads, with no less than seven routes radiating out across the surrounding countryside. Starting in the south west corner, the B6352 heads south east to Kirk Yetholm, and then over the English border, with the B6436 forking off just outside Kelso and running south to Morebattle. A little further out, the B6396 turns east and also crosses the border, to rejoin the B6352 which has taken a more circuitous route. The B6350 runs parallel to the bypass at first, then crosses it and continues east on the south bank of the Tweed to find the A698 once more near Coldstream.
North of the river, the B6461 takes the former line of the A699 from the town centre north east until it too (nearly) reaches the coast near Berwick upon Tweed. The B6364 forks off the A6089 on the edge of town and runs north to Greenlaw, whilst the B6397 heads north west, with other B roads branching off it to serve the area between St Boswells and Earlston.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
Jedburgh, Hawick | ||
Coldstream, Berwick | ||
St Boswells, Selkirk | ||
Gordon, Edinburgh (A68) | ||
Cornhill, Sprouston | ||
Yetholm | ||
Stichill, Greenlaw | ||
Wooler | ||
Smallholm, Earlston | ||
Morebattle | ||
Swinton, Berwick | former A699 | |
Jedburgh, Hawick | draft | |
Coldstream, Berwick | draft | |
Swinton, Berwick | ||
Swinton, Berwick |