Last updated 21:50, Wednesday, 04 June 2008

EACH Wednesday The Scotsman newspaper publishes a ‘Recommends’ supplement which it claims “gives the reader an insight into the best, the weirdest and the most wonderful of places – from hidden shopping gems to the best place to get a fish supper”.

Readers can write in and recommend places to go and recommended in one of May’s editions, as best town, was Langholm.

This is what the person singing its praises had to say.

“Can I recommend Langholm? With a population of just under 2,500, it was voted best community in Scotland in 2000. It has a theatre called The Buccleuch Centre, manned mostly by volunteers, that is proving to be the best in the south of Scotland.

“In the last year even Hayley Westenra has appeared at the venue and each week it stages a programme that is the envy of many city theatres.

“The scenery around Langholm is exceptional for walking (see www.langholmwalks.co.uk) and it stages one of the most popular walking festivals in Scotland each June.

“The Common Riding, held on the last Friday of July, is without doubt the best in the Borders unless, of course, you come from Hawick or Selkirk.”

High praise indeed. Then I read the name of the person singing these praises.

It was signed Gavin, Borders. I thought about the paragraph on walking, put Gavin and Langholm walks together and came up with the name of our walks group chairman.

Was I right, Gavin? Nowt like bumming up your own town. Of course, I may be entirely mistaken.

However, we can’t claim the title of the best horse song in Scotland.

This accolade goes to the song sung at Hawick Common Riding, Pawkie Paiterson’s Auld Grey Yaud, in which a talking horse laments life on its way to the knacker’s yard.

A Langholm resident appeared on national television the other day.

The Rev Bob Milne, sporting his Common Riding tie, was seen being interviewed during a discussion on the increase in inter-faith dialogue in Scotland.

Taken as an example of this upsurge is the link between the Tibetan monastery at Eskdalemuir and the parish church in Langholm.

When asked how he had become involved in this interchange of ideas, he said the Samye Ling monastery happened to come into his parish after Langholm, Ewes and Westerkirk united with the Eskdalemuir parish last July.

Both faiths, Buddhist and Christian, were exploring what united them, finding out that there was so much more that united them than divided them.

He told how last Christmas nuns from Samye Ling were invited to attend the Langholm parish Christmas carol service. Half a dozen or so were expected but they wound up with nearly 20 nuns and monks in full saffron robes, along with several visitors.

It’s reassuring to see two different faiths finding common ground in this world where different religions are so often made the cause for strife.

With the walking festival kicking off tomorrow at 1.30pm, it’s still not too late to find a place on one or two of the walks.

The countryside around Langholm is looking its best at the moment and how better to enjoy it than by walking in its midst in good company and with a culinary treat to look forward to at the end.