Kelso is a picturesque and historic town in the Borders between Scotland and northern England. The historical novelist and poet, Sir Walter Scott, spent many summers there growing up and described Kelso as the most beautiful town in Scotland.

Start your walk in the ancient town centre, which has the largest cobbled market square in Scotland. Among other things, the elegant Kelso Town Hall building contains the River Tweed Salmon Fishing Museum, which boasts a carving of a record-breaking 32kg salmon caught on the Tweed by Earl Home in 1735.

Also in the market square is the grand Cross Keys Hotel, which gives an almost continental feel to the area.

Facing the hotel are a couple of banks. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) branch, built in 1934, has an art deco lintel inscribed “ditat servata fides (loyalty enriches)”, the old Latin motto of National Commercial Bank of Scotland which merged with RBS in 1969.

The older Bank of Scotland branch next door is called Linen House and was originally a branch of the British Linen Bank.

The ruined Kelso Abbey is one of the town’s highlights. It was founded in the 1100s and was one of Scotland’s largest and wealthiest religious houses.

The Kelso Bridge stretches across the River Tweed. Floors Castle, the magnificent stately home of the Duke of Roxburghe, can be seen in the distance.

Waverley Lodge was the garden cottage home of Scott’s Aunt Janet, where he stayed while attending school in Kelso.

The Kelso Public School, built in 1878, replaced an earlier school that Scott had attended.

The banner outside the Old Parish Church says: “Welcome to God’s House”. You would think it would be bigger!

The Public Library was built in 1905, partly with a donation from steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie. The architecture is of the Scottish Renaissance style with large Jacobean windows to provide light to the reading room.

Here are more places with a Walter Scott connection.

This article first appeared on Northumberland Traveller.