Exploring the Scottish Borders with Forth Sevens Caterham Hire
If you've been following my Instagram account at @edienthusiast, you are probably aware that Mr Enthusiast is a massive petrolhead - he took me on a few exciting daytrips recently which involved him driving some fun cars. (This sounds like he's turning me into a petrolhead too, doesn't it?)
Two of the trips featured the iconic Caterham Seven. It's a super-lightweight sports car based on the design of the historic Lotus Seven, which has its history dating back to 1957. When I first saw the image of the car, I was wondering whether I'm going to like the drive or perhaps will be screaming all the way while Mr Enthusiast is having fun. But my worries slipped away immediately once I sat in the car and he started the engine. In fact, I loved the experience!
Hiring a Caterham in Scotland
We hired a British racing green and yellow Caterham Seven Roadsport from Forth Sevens in Gorebridge. Sandy of Forth Sevens has an excellent value weekday lunchtime hire deal - the £105 package includes 4 hours of hire and 75 miles allowance, with any further miles subject to a small excess milage charge. Sandy knows the best routes in the area very well and even had some printed itineraries for us. What an excellent idea - with the provided detailed map and guidance we had no issues finding our way.
Four Lochs
The short version of the 'Four Lochs' route is suitable for lunchtime hires, including a pit stop for food. We picked this route for our very first Forth Sevens Caterham hire and loved the scenic drive around St Mary's Loch and Talla Reservoir. We stopped for lunch at one of our favourite cafes of the Scottish Borders: No.1 Peebles Road in the cute town of Innerleithen, highly recommend a visit if you have not been.
The Borders Spectacles/Monocle
For our second hire the route of 'The Borders Spectacles' was created by Mr Enthusiast, and named after its spectacles shape by Sandy of Forth Sevens. Key stops along the route included: Gorebridge (Forth Sevens HQ) - Peebles - Abbotsford - Thirlestane Castle - Innerleithen - Gorebridge (Forth Sevens HQ). In the end we chose to complete only half of the route up to Abbotsford, hence 'The Borders Monocle' name. We will certainly be back soon to complete the other half of the route.
While Abbottsford was a great lunch stop, we arrived at peak lunch time which slowed things down. As we already knew we would not be able to cover the full 'Borders Spectacles', we spent some extra time exploring the stunnig gardens and the home of Sir Walter Scott.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions expressed on this blog are honest and purely my own. We paid for our car hires and this post is not sponsored by Forth Sevens. Special thanks to Vanessa at Abbotsford for hosting us and arranging our complimentary visitor passes for the day.
All photos by The Edinburgh Enthusiast (C)
