Local Area Recommendations
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Local Area Recommendations
Set in the heart of Scotland’s top new mountain biking destination, Braeside Innerleithen Holiday Apartment is the ideal base for the amazing bike trails on offer!
A 7stanes destination, Innerleithen is renowned for its four downhill trails, all of them orange-graded Bike Park Extreme. There’s also some serious cross-country action on the challenging red-graded Innerleithen XC trail. Glentress is within very easy reach with trails to suit all tastes and abilities.
Events
Pipe Band & Drum Major Competitions Sat 3 Jun 2023
Victoria Park, Innerleithen
Instituted in 1827, The Games are the oldest organised sports meeting in Scotland and are now part of a week long festival that incorporates many events for every age group. Central to the festivities are the Cleikum Ceremonies when the town’s association with its Patron Saint, St. Ronan, is celebrated.
Keep up to date with the latest Games Week news on our Facebook page.
Attractions
St Ronan’s Wells
St. Ronan’s Wells was a popular spa where people came to drink the water from the sulphurous spring which helped with their ailments. At one time rivalling the town of Harrogate, the current pavilion was built by the first bottled water company in Scotland. It is now a community garden with monthly workshops and events.
The centre’s name comes from the founding legend of an itinerant pilgrim monk called St Ronan, who came upon Innerleithen on his journey up the River Tweed. The local story claims that “St. Ronan Cleik’t the Deil by the hind leg and banished him”, referring to the monks bringing Christianity to this part of the world.
There are many literary connections of the town to James Hogg and Sir Walter Scott. Scott frequented the spa as a boy, and wrote a novel about the town called ‘St Ronan’s Well’, which the residents of Innerleithen were quick to attribute to their town.
St. Ronan’s Border Games were founded by James Hogg ‘the Ettrick Shepherd’ in 1827 and held initially to give the locals an enjoyable pursuit and to entertain the many visitors thronging the village to “take the waters”. The Games and the unique Cleikum Ceremonies continue to this day every year in the month of July.
The community gardens provide a lovely setting to relax in, with aromatic herbs, sculptures and seating.
Wells Brae, Innerleithen EH44 6RB, UK
In the heart of Innerleithen lies this gem of printing history. Robert Smail’s Printing Works is an operational letterpress printers and an important part of Scotland’s industrial heritage.
Between 1866 and 1986, newspapers, business cards, stationery for local traders and letterheads all passed through the inky presses of this thriving business. The National Trust for Scotland purchased the printing works in 1986 and have kept it as a genuine working printers.
The printing presses, some of which date back to the Victorian era, can be seen in action; shelves of type line the walls, revealing the changing fashions for typefaces; and 52 giant guardbooks showcase almost every item printed by the family firm.
High St, Innerleithen EH44 6HA
Traquair House, Traquair, Innerleithen EH44 6PW, UK
Experiences
TVB Tours offers private, guided, full day tours, with the Borderlands of Southern Scotland and Northern England as our speciality.
Scottish Borders based guide Stewart Wilson offers a friendly and personal service to suit your requirements. Expect lots of fun, breath taking sightseeing and insight into this fascinating and often overlooked world. Sit back, relax and enjoy the local view on one of Scotland’s hidden gems.
TVB Summer 2023 core tours are detailed on the website, each of these can be fully tailored for you and your interests be that the natural world, family history, literature – you name it!
Take a look…
Tucked away in the picturesque Glentress Forest, this hidden gem boasts an adrenaline-filled activity set against some of Scotland’s most stunning scenery. The perfect backdrop to this dramatically challenging Go Ape Peebles course with a 325-metre-long zip wire across a valley that’s a whopping 160ft high!
See the adventure unfurl while you traverse the huge Douglas fir trees and zip over the open water and mountain bike trails. Go Ape Peebles has bike racks available at the cabin, or take advantage of the bike hire available.
Falla Brae Car Park Glentress Forest, Peebles EH45 8NB, UK
Food & Drink
Traquair Rd, Innerleithen EH44 6PD, UK
Chinese Takeaway Tel: 01896 209298
21 High St, Innerleithen EH44 6HA
12 High St, Innerleithen EH44 6HA, UK
1 Peebles Rd, Innerleithen EH44 6QX, UK
Coffee House
4 Traquair Rd, Innerleithen EH44 6PD
Tap Room