Late October in the Borders of Scotland and we rose to glorious sunshine streaming down. So after breakfast it was a stroll down to the riverbank from our lodgings in Kelso where we were staying for a few days.

The ambush party was awaiting as we trod the green grass of the riverbank. Swans, cygnets, geese and ducks all had the mistaken assumption that we were carrying crumbs from our breakfast within our coat pockets.

We carried on along the riverbank, leaving the hopeful to disperse. What had started as a distinctly bright and sunny day was ominously getting darker by the minute.

In the distance of the above image one can make out Floors Castle, a bright white in reflecting sunshine. Floors Castle is rather modern compared to the building’s of last week’s post in Melrose, having been built in 1721. It continues to be inhabited by the 11th Duke of Roxburghe, its first occupant being the 1st Duke of Roxburghe. This makes it the largest inhabited castle in Scotland.

A fine panorama indeed and nothing like the fortified, battle scarred castles that I tend to associate with Scotland. This is opulence and grandeur.

A huge advantage of the changing weather that Scotland offers is that the light changes so much and with that comes opportunities. Here a rainbow makes a perfect arc from the southern bank of the River Tweed over Floors Castle.

The lands and waters of this area are rich in life with the Tweed offering some of the best salmon fishing in the United Kingdom and this stretch being particularly good (and expensive). Drive the country lanes in the area and one could be forgiven for thinking that it is raining pheasants from time to time.

To my mind it doesn’t compete with the Highlands, it simply offers something totally different and very much worth taking in.

No doubt Covid-19 is hitting such attractions, but it is good to see that admission is being waived for entry into the Castle’s walled gardens until the end of the year. For more information on Floors Castle just visit www.floorscastle.com.

All these images were taken within the town of Kelso, a market town I cannot speak highly enough of.