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Polmood
Polmood is a small settlement in southern Scotland near Tweedsmuir in the Scottish Borders, in the valley of the River Tweed. Polmood was for many centuries the centre of the Hunter family in the lowlands and the earliest record was a charter dated 1057 to Norman Hunter of Polmood. It was once a Peel tower, part of a chain of beacons running down the Tweed Valley. At the end of the nineteenth century the temporary Talla Railway was built close to Polmont to deliver building materials during the construction of the Talla Reservoir. The estate was acquired by Mitchell Mitchell-Thomson, an Edinburgh businessman and politician who took his baronetcy title from the Peeblesshire estate of Polmood which he had acquired before 1916. Polmood is commemorated in "The Piper of Polmood" a piece based on old Scottish folk-tunes by Victor Babin.
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859 m
1.2 km
Crook Inn
The Crook Inn is an inn in the Scottish Borders, near the village of Tweedsmuir on the A701 road between Broughton and Moffat. It is one of many claimants to be the oldest inn in Scotland. It was licensed in 1604. Robert Burns wrote "Willie Wastle's Wife" there. It has served as a coaching inn, a Post Office and source of employment. In the early 20th century a halt was built on the Talla Railway to serve it. The inn attracted much passing trade from the labourers who were building the Talla Reservoir, which the railway was built to serve.
The hotel was refurbished in 1936 in the then-current Art Deco style, and retains many of the features installed at that time. It has also, over the years, become a place of pilgrimage for members of the Porteous family, visiting the site of nearby Hawkshaw, their former ancestral home on the hills above Tweeddale and the Fruid Reservoir. A reunion of Porteous family members was traditionally held at the inn every five years, attracting visitors from all over the world.
The proposals to convert the historic inn into apartments met with much local opposition and the plans were rejected by the councillors of Tweeddale West in March 2008. Following refusal the present owner lodged an appeal with the Department for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA), a department of the Scottish Government.
On 2 February 2009, following an appeal hearing on 18 November 2008, a decision notice was issued by the DPEA which finally dismissed the appeal. This meant that planning permission was not granted for the change of use of the historic Crook Inn to residential accommodation, giving scope for the inn to reopen once again if it could be purchased.
In January 2013, after a lengthy campaign by the Tweedsmuir community to secure ownership of the Crook Inn in order to reinvigorate it, the Tweedsmuir Community Company raised the asking price of £160,000 and bought the property. The Tweedsmuir Community Company obtained a Development Grant from Big Lottery in 2014 to redesign and renovate the historic Crook Inn, with designs undertaken by WTArchitecture, Edinburgh. The plans obtained planning permission in 2015. The rest of the land at the site was purchased in 2015 with grants from the Scottish Land Fund, SSE Clyde Border and the Infinis Glenkerie Community Funds. Grants are being sought to create a multi-faceted Crook Inn Community Hub to serve the Upper Tweed community and tourism.
Since then nothing has happened and the building continues to deteriorate. It is listed on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland.
2.2 km
Stanhope, Peeblesshire
Stanhope is a small settlement in the Scottish Borders region. It is situated in the parish of Drumelzier in Peeblesshire, in the valley of the River Tweed.
The Murray family acquired and established a Barony at Stanhope in 1634 as part of an estate that extended into Tweedsmuir. The settlement consists of a cluster of buildings by Stanhope Burn. It was the property of Sir David Murray, nephew of John Murray of Broughton who was active in the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. As a result of his participation the Murray estates at Broughton, Stobo and Stanhope were confiscated (as were those other Jacobite sympathisers) and in 1761 it was still in the hands of creditors. Stanhope and Stobo were sold by order of the Court of Session by deed in 1767 to a James Montgomery. Many properties on the Stanhope estate were tenanted by members of the Tweedie family with whom the Murrays had at various times fought or intermarried.
4.2 km
Mossfennan
Mossfennan is a small settlement in southern Scotland near Drumelzier in the Scottish Borders, in the valley of the River Tweed.
Mossfennan is a wooded area part of the parish of Glenholm. There was once a peel tower at Mossfennan. Also near Mossfennan are the remains of a Bronze Age burial cairn. When the Talla Railway was built there was a spectacular overhead sheep crossing at Mossfennan which consisted of six concrete piers and a long ramps at right angles to the railway track.
Mossfennan appears in literature being referenced in an old Scottish ballad.
'The King rode round the Merecleuch Head,
Wi' spotted hounds and spaniels three,
Then lichted doun at Mossfennan Yett,
A little below the Logan Lee.'
John Veitch also describes the locality in The Hart of Mossfennan