John Buchan Story

Museum

Explorer Tom

The John Buchan Story waits on Peebles High Street with enough adventure in one room to make you check whether your coat contains a secret map. Buchan wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps, but this volunteer-run museum has the cheek to insist that one famous thriller is only the beginning of the tale. Its displays explore a novelist, historian, journalist and public servant whose last post was Governor General of Canada. Buchan's family spent holidays with relatives around Peebles, and the Borders landscape fed his affection for this countryside and its people. The museum also gives space to his sister Anna, who wrote as O. Douglas. Between them, the siblings provide two quite different invitations to look again at the town and the hills beyond it. Inside, cabinets hold objects and stories connected with Buchan's writing and wider life. The museum even advertises a piece of the original '39th Step', an item practically begging you to ask which step, whose foot and whether anyone counted properly. Give the volunteers time to explain what you are seeing; they staff the museum themselves and know why the apparent puzzle is worth opening. The archives can be accessed by arrangement outside ordinary opening times. Find the museum in the Chambers Institution on High Street, Peebles. For its 2026 season, it lists free admission from 1 April to 31 October: Monday 10am–4pm, Tuesday to Saturday 10am–1pm. Groups can ask about visits outside these hours. The ground-floor entrance has a small step, with a ramp available on request. Check the current notice before setting off, then step back onto the High Street and see whether the next turn looks suspiciously like the start of chapter two.

This does not grant access. Check current paths, opening conditions and ownership before entering.