It announces the imminent arrival of the junction which, if followed correctly, will send me off the motorway, towards the A7 and home – with the sign claiming this is the historic route to Edinburgh or a similar message (I forget the exact words). But that, in essence, is what it promises.

Having found the A7 junction, the uninitiated visitor sets off, maybe wondering quite where the England-Scotland border will be.

It would not be surprising to learn that some drivers are still wondering when they get to Langholm, as the vital crossing point is not that easy to spot.

Last week I had the chance to check out our border in a little more detail.

I had been asked to cover the progress of a couple of Derbyshire lads who were doing the Land's End to John o'Groats number on a couple of old tractors. Calling themselves the Tractor Trekkers, complete with caravan and spares trailer, they were heading north at a rate of about 100 miles a day – not bad going in old tractor terms.

As is my habit, I got to the border where they were to be met by fellow vintage enthusiasts from the Canonbie area – and I have to tell you what I found really was a bit of a let-down.

Situated on a sharp bend where the traffic is fast, the road not all that wide and subject to heavy lorries during the day, this was not a place to linger. The nearest one might get to a place where the border could be appreciated is a lay-by 50 yards on the north side, host to a vandalised sign saying 'Welcome to Scotland', another for Dumfries and Galloway Council, with a tourist information board that was faded to the point of illegible and falling to pieces.

Another aspect of the lay-by suggested that armies of fans returning home from English events make a point of copiously relieving themselves of English beer on the grass as it had ammonia levels fit to make the eyes water.

We got the tractor blokes welcomed to Scotland, serenaded with bagpipes and after a few minutes sent on their way – and as they chugged away to their night stop in Canonbie, I wondered why such an important aspect of Scotland was allowed to continue as an ugly, untidy, stinking eyesore at a time when tourism is hyped as one of our most lucrative industries and the economic saviour of the nation.

In short, the England-Scotland border on the A7 is a total disgrace and it is high time something was done to clean it up, offering more of a welcome to visitors to Scotland and at least trying to make us look less like a bunch of losers.

That site is so appalling nobody will even operate a snack bar within five miles of it!

From a more favourable position a few miles up the road, Scottish Borders Council might feel a little bit smug and think of it as not its problem – but I, for one, could not blame any visitor to this country for deciding to give the whole Border area a miss and head straight for Edinburgh or the Highlands.