Common Ridings 1948-1951

Just a short blog today. I've downloaded the first of many Common Riding 8mm reels that we have had digitized from the John Little Film collection. This one is 1948 Egdar Morrison; 1949 Wat Robinson; 1950 John Young; 1951 William park

Catching Up

Shot of the Day

Scott's View

The reason I haven't blogged for a while is that I had  an unfortunate incident where some hackers managed to access certain information from my laptop. I had to get my laptop completely wiped and reset. It also shakes your confidence about going on line. I was assured that I was just unlucky but I now realize that you cant be too careful.

I was out most days taking photos so to catch up I've produced a small gallery to give a flavor of my days out.

I came across these quirky fairy doors on a recent walk near Brampton

I paid a visit to Abbotsford the home of Sir Walter Scott which has been refurbished.

I enjoyed a couple of days at Haddington messing about on the river with Joe and Sandy

I also enjoyed a visit to Dryburgh Abbey with Mr & Mrs Tootlepedal and Jean

If you look carefully you can make out Tootlepedal waiting to get a shot of the cavalcade crossing the river Ewes during the Common Riding. To get more pictures and an interesting description of this event, visit Tootlepedal's blog

This is the view he was getting

Two of the four emblems

A Surprise Visitor

 A Gorgeous Red Squirrel  
After having a lazy cup of tea this morning, I went up stairs to get dressed for the day. I looked out of the bedroom window to see what I thought was a ginger paw reaching for the nut feeder from out of the canopy above, I angrily banged on the window, rushed downstairs and out the back door to shoo the offender away. I returned upstairs and checked out of the window once more and to my utter surprise it was not the ginger cat that lies about under the nut feeder greedily licking it's lips, but a gorgeous red squirrel. Luckily enough I had set the camera up on the tripod the previous evening in the hope that I could catch the young woodpeckers that Mrs Gill had seen on Friday. I set the camera on video and let it run. Unfortunately when I came to save the edited clip from Movie Maker it wouldn't save so I ended up taking some stills.

Moorland Feeders
Tootlepedal asked me a few days ago if I would assist him in filling the feeders at the moorland station as Cat Barlow is away at the moment. After filling the feeders and no sign of any interesting birds we returned to Wauchope Cottage to enjoy a cup of good strong coffee and discussed among other things, how we could recruit some keen photographers and record the the Common Riding in its entirety next year.


The Gill Family Visits

 We had the Gill family visit us over the Common Riding which was wonderful but somewhat exhausting. I didn't take any photos worth putting on the blog, this mainly due to being in the same place at the same time every year. I need to move about more as Tootlepedal did as you can see in his Common Riding blog, which is worth a look at. 


A Sigh of Relaxation
The Gill's returned home on Saturday afternoon. It was lovely to have them as we see too little of them but it was also nice to slink onto the couch and breathe a sigh of relaxation.

Joe

" what's in there Sandy? "

Sandy explaining what's in there

Earlier in the week I did some work around the garden. 

The Cotoneaster was in need of a good trim.  

                                           Before                                                                                            After

The shallots needed lifted before rot set in due to the damp weather we have been having.

In the greenhouse the two Tumbler tomato plants have grown at a tremendous rate producing plenty of flowers but very little fruit.

Hopefully I can get to the root of the movie problem and post the squirrel's at a later date.

Auld Langholm The Third Yin

When I look outside at the atrocious weather these Dog Daisies cheer me up.

Atrocious Weather
As today's weather was atrocious I decided to start preparing Matt Ewart's slides for entry into the Langholm Archive Website. I've held these back for a couple of years as I new there would be an Auld Langholm Show  in the Buccleuch Centre's program this winter and wanted Billy and Big Deev to use them in their presentation before I put them onto the website.


We've got a bit of a problem!
After hours of resizing, renumbering and things you do to prepare the slides for the web, there was a knock on the door at about 3:30pm. Big Deev.  "er!!    hi Sandy can you help us oot, we've got a bit of a problem? "What's the problem David?" I replied. It turned out they needed a laptop that ran Microsoft Office 2010 which by luck I had a trial version running on my laptop. "Whew!!!!!!" said David " Thank God for that".  So I followed him down to the Buccleuch Centre and seen it was running OK in preparation for tonight's show. (if you want the full story of what really happened behind the scene's ask Big Deev himself,  but don't mention it to Jen ) 


Witty Ad Libbing
This is the third Auld Langholm that Billy Young and David McVittie have put on over the past few years. They prove very popular with the local community and play to full houses and raise a substantial amount of money for local causes which the Archive Centre is always included, for which we are very grateful. Their wit and timing would give other not so famous duo's such as Ant & Dec something to think about. The night went fine apart from the usual little hiccup, which adds to some witty ad libbing.


Archives Latest Project
Near the end they kindly announced the Archive's latest project involving 8mm home movie film reels that are currently getting processed and showed a clip I made of the 1960 Common Riding. It went down very well, but unfortunately it lost quite a bit quality on the big screen, and also the music I set to it didn't play, so some of the impact was lost. I've loaded it onto this blog so hopefully it will play OK and give you a taste of what's to come. 

Through the Tunnel
I was also pleased to see Terence Froud and friends who came all the way from Hawick to see what we are up to " through the tunnel" as Billy Young calls the distance between Hawick and Langholm. They were very impressed.  


Something's Afoot
I've got a sneaking feeling there is something afoot in the not too distant future. It is rumoured a battle will commence between Auld Langholm and Auld Hawick. Definitely a night to look forward too. (Don't mention it to Jen) 

Under Severe Pressure

Longtown Bridge.

Time Management
I've been under severe pressure from Mr Tootlepedal for my lack of blogging of late, I've no excuse as there has been plenty going on so I just need to manage my time better.


On the Archive Front
On the Archive front we were given a collection of about fifty 8mm film reels these are between 50 - 60 years old and contain loads of clips of subjects such as Common Ridings, people, Fire Brigade and other events. These were taken by the late John Little the baker ( Dropscones uncle I think) and passed on to us by Big Bill Harkness. 


A busy time editing
I spent some time trawling the internet looking for a company to transfer them to a digital hard drive. I found a company called Timeless Moments. Apparently they  do a lot of work for the BBC, so if it's good enough for the Beeb it's good enough for Langholm Archives. They did four reels free of charge as a test piece and they came back most satisfactory.  A reasonable deal and price was negotiated and they have now been sent off and we should receive them near to Christmas or into the New Year. I will then have a busy time ahead editing them on to DVD. 


Old Film Reels Appeal
If any off my readers/ followers have any old film reels of Langholm & district please get in touch with me or Mr Tootlepedal. but because of the relatively high cost of the transfer we wouldn't be able to do this as a free service but a donation of some kind to the Archive Centre would be helpful and appreciated. 


College New Build
The College new build is now completed and the students and staff have full access. There is a wonderful new Hair and Beauty Salon "Essence" and a state of the art kitchen and restaurant "Oyster" which will be offering high class themed evening meals in the near future, Budding Chefs is always a favourite and worth a go I believe.

A Fine Bunch

I was recently asked by Billy Young, on behalf of the Castle Craigs Club if I would go up to the Benty and take a photo of this years Cornet and his right and left hand men and other members of CCC along with members of Westerkirk Women's Rural. Apparently this was to mark 50 years of the Rural providing the teas for the Benty Ride out, and a fine bunch they all are.

Common Riding Celebrations

Thursday 28th July.

Neil & Rae

After lunch Neil, myself and the boys set off to go and see the slow worms at the Pool Corner via Becks Burn. The boys had an excellent time slaying dragons and aliens. Neil said it was a long time since he had been along this route and didn't think it had changed much except for the tree felling on Gaskell's Walk

Further along the way we met Ray Elliot who is our Fair Crier. He had been visiting friends the previous evening and was returning to retrieve his car. A big night by the looks of him. He was in fine fettle and looking forward to his important duty next day. Neil had his pen knife with him so I cut a couple of suitable twigs and made whistles for the boys, which was maybe not a good idea as they were rather piercing on the ears.

"Look at what I've got"

" I think I could take you home"

The boys were impressed at the various sizes of the worms. Surprisingly both Joe & Sandy handle them quite confidently and sensibly. Joe thought it would be a good idea to take one to his show and tell lesson at school, but we persuaded him this wasn't a good idea. After spending some time studying the worms we headed for the Buccleuch Centre to meet Mum and Granny for lunch.

I always think the Summer Fair night is one of the best parts of the Common Riding as it is mainly locals and exiles that gather in the market place to listen to the bands as they play, but this year I noticed a change. There were more strangers than ever before most of them intent on pouring as much drink down their necks as possible.

Friday 29th July

I was spared the task off making Heather Besoms this year as Joe decided he would give it a miss and Sandy goes along with what ever Joe does. We did all the usual things that we do on Common Riding day. The Cornet went up the Kirk Wynd to rousing cheers from the crowd, followed by a cavalcade of horses and riders.

In the afternoon Neil and I took the boys to the Castleholm so they could join in the boys races and watch the sports and horse racing. 

Waiting for the Cornet

Refreshments at the Golf Cub

A tense moment for the Cornets father?

The Crown

Common Riding Thistle

Barley Banna

Cornet Earsman

The second fair

Riders coming down the Bar Brae

Barry Jackson. A possible contender for Tub 2012 at Copshaw

Riders returning back over the Ewes

Ready! Steady!

GO!!!

Cumberland Wrestlers in action

Neil, Joe and Sandy watch the wrestlers

In the evening I decided to give the Handing in of the Flag a miss. This to many people is the most emotional part of the Common Riding ceremonies.