The border between England and Scotland stretches just over 80 miles, from next to the River Tweed in the East to The Solway Firth in the West. This series of images focuses on the social, political and historical events that have been a product of the humanly constructed border projected onto an unwitting landscape. Railton’s photographs examine the traces left by human intervention on the land, the constant shifting and re-drawing of the border, and the shadows and scars that are left on the landscape by human tussles. 

There is a handful of signs along the route indicating whether you’re in Scotland or England, without which you would not be sure. The Scottish Land Reform Act 2003 gives everyone rights of access over land throughout Scotland, meaning that the majority of this project was completed legally on the Scottish side, thanks to what is commonly called the Right to Roam. 

Following the border through the landscape, Railton's project The Thistle and the Rose interrogates the artificial construct of a border and its cultural implications and ramifications. It also examines, as the name suggests, the relationship and long history between these two countries. The border is an invisible line, and it’s only when you speak to someone or pick up a newspaper that you become aware of which country you’re in; the landscape itself does not distinguish. ­­­