The Scottish Borders Walking Festival

Stuart Forster heads to Kelso in Roxboroughshire, Scotland, to participate in the 2023 Scottish Borders Walking Festival and find out what it offers to people who enjoy walks. Disclosure: Some of the links below and banners are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through...

Top things to do in Alnwick, Northumberland

Beautifully landscaped, The Alnwick Garden was created by the Duchess of Northumberland. Highlights include a cascading fountain, a vast treehouse and the world’s largest orchard of Japanese Taihaku — flowering cherry trees. Typically, the cherry trees in Alnwick blossom in late-April or early-May.

Canoe tour of Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia

Over centuries the Mi’kmaw people, one of Canada’s First Nations, have navigated routes in the region. The Mi’kmaw would paddle along waterways then disembark their birch bark canoes to carry them on portages of up to two kilometres at a time. Cody explains that Todd Labrador, a Mi’kmaw craftsman, operates workshops in which he demonstrates how to strip bark from birch trees and make traditional canoes. Interpretative tours also provide insights to other aspects of Mi’kmaw heritage, including the medicinal use of plants.

Durham Miners’ Gala

“I think it’s a celebration of working class life in the north East. The pits have gone but it hasn’t broken the spirit of people or the communities. It’s now become a great festival, a carnival. Some people come for the fun fair, some people come for the speeches, some people come for the bands, some people come for the banners, some people come for the laughs. It brings people together,” said Kevin Maguire, associate editor of the Daily Mirror, talking after the 2016 Durham Miners’ Gala.

Things to do in Malton, North Yorkshire

Tom Naylor-Leyland is the founder and director of the Malton Food Lovers Festival. Tom’s family has owned land in and around the town for more than 300 years. He was happy to provide tips and suggestions relating to the town, which has an impressive array of pubs.