I couldn’t do a series of blogs about summer ideas for The Borders and not give my home town some love! Innerleithen has become, dare I say it, a cool place to be - it’s always been cool to me but now we have a Scandi influenced Coffee and homeware shop, Scotland’s best female focused outdoors clothing business, Scotland’s first Indonesian street food and even a craft beer taproom - it’s a surprise I am not writing this on a typewriter, that’s how hip Innerleithen has become! We have stunning outdoor vibes all around us, great shops and foodie delights. Chuck in a big dollop of historical goodness, a welcoming and vibrant community and you’ve got a perfect spot for a day trip or night away. Let’s dive in to some of my highlights…

Coffee Capital! - No1, Haus, FINDRA, Loulabelles

Innerleithen has enough coffee shops to get you buzzing all day long! No1 Peebles Road is popular sport, particularly with cyclists, and has a menu of veggie food for breakfast and lunch. Coffee is supplied by Steampunk Roasters (North Berwick). Loulabelles is at the other end of the High Street (look out for the Robert Burns plaque on the building) and is a bit more spacious if you want to meet with a larger group. Owners Louise and Phil are renowned for home baking, tiffin being my choice. Two of the towns many fab, independent retailers also have excellent coffee shop facilities, meaning you can browse then relax with a coffee and a bit of cake. FINDRA is a larger space, being based in the towns former Victorian Police Station (see if you can spot the old cells!), and Haus & Co has a cosy snug which has led to some great wee connections in the town - you feel like a member of an extended (if occasionally dysfunctional) family in there. Café Culture is here to stay in Innerleithen.

Get Hiking - Caerlee, Lee Pen, Golf Course

Innerleithen is surrounded on all sides by hills, as you might expect from a town at the confluence of two valleys. Many are covered by mountain bike tracks (you can find out a bit more about the development of mountain biking in the area in this blog), however I want to highlight a few hikes which are away from traditional MTB routes. Caerlee Hill (or Curly to locals) is a short, sharp 20 minute hike from the centre of town. There are three entries from St Ronans Terrace and multiple paths through the woods take you to the open hilltop, where you can see the groundworks of an ancient Celtic fort, a telecoms mast and killer views of Innerleithen and The Tweed Valley. It’s a wee gem of a hill! If you want to be a bit more energetic you can continue your hike to Lee Pen, the hill standing guard over the town. A local icon, it’s been hiked countless times over the years and hosts both a hill race in the summer, and half the town on New Years Day. This year me and a couple of friends have even set up a ‘Social Club’ to encourage people to climb the hill and make new pals, join us if you can this summer (poster below). Finally, a walk from Cuddy Bridge to the Golf Course is a local favourite. The path is signposted from the bridge, you follow the Leithen Water upstream before getting to the golf course (do pop in to see Brenda for a cuppa!), and then follow the road back down, past the salmon ladder (always known as The Cauld to locals) and on to paths hugging the riverbank. This is a popular loop for people dog walking, horse riding and trail running so a great opportunity to say hi to some locals!

Summer Guests - Ospreys and Sand Martins by The Tweed

The River Tweed loops south of the town and is easily accessed by grassy paths and the multi use, tarmac Tweed Valley Railway Path. A summer stroll along the river is a great opportunity to do a bit of twitching with Ospreys and Sand Martins among our summer visitors, supplementing our year round wildlife. Sand Martins can be found burrowing into their tunnels on the river bank near Tweed Bridge, gorging themselves on the abundance of flies in early summer evenings. They are here from March to September, generally. Ospreys can be found right up and down the Tweed Valley between April and September. They have become a part of our identity in the area, with great excitement at the return every year. Sightings of these, and the other wildlife who call the River Tweed home (including Kingfishers, Otters, Salmon and other raptors) can never be guaranteed but a summer, riverside walk from Innerleithen to Walkerburn and back gives you a very probable chance of some memorable wildlife sightings. To help you, here is a map of locations where I have seen Ospreys and Sand Martins over the past few summers, good luck!

Eat Out - Out Out, Caldwells, Saffron, Bumbu, The TA, Pie

Lots of food options in the town. For more than 100 years visitors have flocked to Innerleithen to taste Caldwells Ice Cream. Four generations of the family have kept the recipe a closely guarded secret, and it’s a fairly common summer sight to see a queue snaking out of the High Street shop. My choice? Vanilla, original and best. If you are looking for a hearty lunch after a day out exploring then Pie is well worth a visit. These are gourmet pies, with veggie and vegan options, and make for a great treat lunch. Newest kid on the block is Bumbu, which is apparently Scotland’s first Indonesian street food outlet. They have a very small sit in area and are open at weekends, well worth checking out for something different. For an evening meal you can check out the pizza and gastro pub at Out Out, top notch curries at Saffron or contemporary pub grub and a great selection of beers at The Traquair Arms. On top of all this are butcher, bakers, takeaways and coffee shops meaning you’ll never go hungry in Innerleithen.

A rich heritage - Traquair, Robert Smails, St. Ronan’s Wells

Traquair House is just a short walk from the town, and a place you can easily while away a summers day. I have dived into the long and fascinating story of Traquair on this series of blogs, and the expert guides at the house are waiting to take up the rest of the tale if you visit this summer. My recommendation is to walk across from Innerleithen on the excellent and waymarked paths so you can enjoy a taste of Traquair Ale on site, made using the traditional brewing equipment of the Earls of Traquair! In Innerleithen we have a true gem, Robert Smails Printing Works, the oldest letterpress printers in the UK and a living, working museum of Victorian Scotland. Tours are hands on here, and well worth your time. You can find out more about booking tours from the National Trust for Scotland website. No visit to Innerleithen would be complete without visiting St. Ronan’s Wells, the spring high on the flank of Lee Pen which takes its name from the legendary figure who has become Innerleithen’s patron. The building itself is only expected to be open for a very short summer season in July, amidst ongoing discussions around its future, however the pavilion and in particular the volunteer tended garden are open 24/7 and well worth the climb up from the town centre.

Wee Toon, Big Events - Pipe Band Championships, Games Week, Mountain Biking, Traquair Summer Events

Summer is peak event season across Scotland, and Innerleithen punches above its weight for the variety and quality of events in the town. On the 1st of June it will be the Innerleithen Pipe Band Championships in Victoria Park, always an exciting day in the town. I was Chieftain of the Championships last year and will be in attendance, looking forward to another sunny day. The biggest event in the town every year is St. Ronan’s Border Games & Cleikum Ceremonies, in the third week of July. I have written a few blogs about ‘The Games’ and the other Border summer festivals, which will give you more detail on what its all about. Suffice to say in my (hopelessly biased) opinion Innerleithen’s week is the most family friendly of these Border festivals with kids at the forefront, and a welcoming feel throughout. The current organisers have done a great job of engaging with Innerleithen’s evolving population, and of making the event more equitable, without losing sight of its early goals and the near 200 year heritage - a tricky balancing act! Traquair hosts many events throughout the summer, including the Medieval Fair, Dogs Day Out and Beyond Borders International Festival. Finally, for 30 years Innerleithen has played host to Mountain Biking events and this year is no different, with the Muck and Mac festival at Traquair House at the start of May with relaxed festival vibes. More intense action will round out the summer in September with Scottish Downhill Association Final Round and Tweedlove Enduro Series Round 3, which will be the final round of the UK Enduro Series.

Image Credits: Haus & Co (Natalie Martin), Osprey Steve Smith @varrak, Pints, Lee Pen sunrise & Social Club @tweedvalleyblogger, Victorian letterpres Bruno Martins@brunus,

A day oot in The Borders… 6 things to do in Innerleithen