The beauty and history of the Scottish Borders counties of Roxburghshire and Berwickshire have to be two of the best-kept secrets in Britain.

The Cheviot Hills have a range of beautiful images that range from the stunning in the full glory of the summer to the mystical in the morning mist of the winter, becoming almost Tolkeinian when viewed from the ramparts of the ruins of Hume Castle. It's still very much a rural area, with Agriculture dominating the lives of people that live there.

The land varies from rich arable to beautiful hill country (increasingly used for the rearing of organic sheep and beef) - small wonder that for centuries the Scots and English felt it was land worth fighting for! No coincidence either that some of the largest and most beautiful houses and castles,including Manderston (star of Channel 4's documentary "The House"), lie so close together.

But the history of the area doesn't start with the big houses of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Celts cut trails in these parts, the Romans housed their Trentium Legion on the Ealdens, and the early Christian kings of Scotland, most notably King David, built a string of Abbeys and Cathedrals throughout the region, the ruins of many of which are still awe inspiring (particularly Jedburgh).

The Reivers kept the local population on their toes with frequent raids over the border, whilst from Coldstream in 1660 General George Monck marched his regiment to London in support of the Monarchy. This march was instrumental in putting Charles II on the throne, thereby re-establishing the Monarchy and restoring Civil Liberty to England. The regiment later became known officially as The Coldstream Guards, to commemorate its historic march.

Scott's View, on the other hand, was named nearly 200 years later after Sir Walter Scott, the poet and author (it's said that he was so passionate about the place that the horses pulling his hearse stopped there automatically) whilst Duns celebrates a more recent motor racing son by holding the "Jim Clarke rally" in July every year.

There's so much to do in the Borders: shopping (Kelso is still a market town with many independent shops), cycling, walking, history (Romans, abbeys, castles), equestrian (Kelso races, Floors Castle festival of the horse), fishing (the Tweed), falconry and golf.