In Scotland, where the Teviot and Tweed Rivers meet, one can find the gorgeous burg of Kelso. With just over six thousand or so citizens, Kelso isn't what one would call a metropolis. This is a good thing, however, because the beauty of Kelso is in its unassuming elegance. Cobbled roads (a rarity in Scotland) aged hundreds of years gracefully wind through burgs filled with decadent Georgian architecture and French homes that charm even the most cynical of purveyors. The Cobby Tweedside meadow displays a particularly ravishing portrait of Kelso as it sits amid the two life-giving rivers that enhance an already incredible landscape.
Some of Kelso's greatest treasures, however, are much older than the city sidewalks and a true history buff wouldn't let a trip to Kelso end without first laying eyes on the famed Kelso Abbey. Like many towns in England and Scotland that existed during the 1100s, Kelso rose from the Earth after an Abbey was put into place on the original land and the semblance of a village began to be erected on the surrounding area. The city quickly grew in beauty and wonder in the resulting years and by the 1700s notable figures like Charles Edward Stuart and the Kerr family were frequent visitors and residents. The Kelso Grammar School was built around this time and has been educating bright young minds ever since, boasting alumni like Sir Walter Scott who, remembering his years in the school, remarked that Kelso is "the most beautiful if not the most romantic village of Scotland."
The most remarkable aspect of Kelso, however, would probably be its bridgework. Rennie's Bridge is beautifully prominent as it spans across the River Tweed and, having been built in the early 19th century, adds another layer of history to a town already filled to the brim with it. Rennie's bridge was actually a replacement built after the original bridge that spanned the Tweed was destroyed in a flood in 1797. All the same, Rennie's Bridge is a more than suitable replacement and has been the subject of much more fascinating events than the original could have ever hoped for. Most notably, it was the site of a massive riot in the 1850s that nearly tore Kelso apart. The rapid growth of Kelso throughout the centuries began to cause pollution and erosion damage to the venerated bridge and the city of Kelso thankfully responded to the problem in order to maintain the beauty of its most striking piece of architecture: The new Hunter's Bridge, meant to divert much of the traffic that was damaging Rennie's Bridge, offers modern construction that doesn't buckle so easily to wear and tear.
Hunter's Bridge, though new, is still beautiful and it is certifiable proof that Kelso, no matter how much it adjusts to the marching hands of time, will still be a strikingly gorgeous town with architecture that stands head and shoulders above much of the rest of Scotland. If you have yet to pay a visit to this idyllic burg on the Scottish Borders you don't know what you're missing.
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