It’s been almost 2 weeks since my last blog… where does the time go? So without further ado, an update on the past 10 days or so…
Last weekend (3rd-5th July) was the Newcastleton Music Festival which, in years past, has apparently been quite a big event with lots of folky music going on in different venues.
I heard that this year was the first time the “new committee“ had organised this event and some say that it was much quieter than usual… the reason for this is a bit less clear although one of the local pubs (the Liddlesdale) has closed again (it seems the man who has the lease for the pub and who is responsible for paying the people who come in to run it, regularly doesn’t pay them for doing so… so they have upped and left – who can blame them!)… the 2nd of the three pubs opened specifically for the weekend (sensible people – they looked to be doing a roaring trade) and the 3rd pub (The Trap) has never closed as this one definitely seems to be the most popular with the locals!
The Trap also appears to be the epicentre of the Copshaw Holm (that’s the other name for Newcastleton that the locals use!) Common Riding events which also take place annually on the first weekend in July.
Not being familiar with this particular tradition, I of course looked up what Common Ridings were all about on the internet, which provided the following information:
From Internet!
A Common Riding is an ancient equestrian festival, primarily held in the Scottish Borders, where townsfolk ride on horseback around their town’s historic boundaries (or “marches”).
These celebrations, which date back to the 13th and 14th centuries, originated as practical patrols to protect shared land and defend local territory against invaders and rival clans.
Today, these summer events have evolved into massive, week-long community festivals filled with pageantry, pipe bands, and traditional ceremonies:
The Rideouts: Hundreds of horses and riders participate in morning cavalcades across the hills and valleys.
Local Customs: Each town has its own unique highlight. For example, Hawick commemorates the 1514 capture of an English flag, while Selkirk features the “Casting of the Colours” to remember the fallen from the Battle of Flodden.
Principal Figures: Each town elects a local leader—known variously as the Callant, Cornet, or Laddie—who carries the town’s standard on the rideout.
Bearing the above in mind, you might wonder what traditions we have here in Copshaw Holm… well, it’s certainly not boring! Instead of the rideout being on horseback, it is, of course, done on bicycles! The “Callant / Laddie” is known as the “Tub” and the leader of the pipe band, for some unknown reason to me, has a broom instead of a mace! 🤣
All brilliantly daft of course… here’s some photos from the day and the order of events which will give you some idea of the daftness which surrounds the Copshaw Community Riding!
Gathering at the fountain in the square waiting for the Copshaw Community Ride “oot” to begin… The lad with the bowler hat is Tub Nichol II – his Dad, Ian, is the guy that put our new doors in! Part of the Tubs many duties is to give out prizes on the day… shown is the winner of the Hound Trail.
Because these two events (the Music Festival & the Copshaw Common Riding) take place concurrently, it’s difficult to know which event the people staying in the tents and campervans that were set up / parked on the river bank (unorganised), Caravan Park & playing fields (both organised & for a small fee) were here for. Although the ones with the beards carrying various instrument cases (mostly guitar shaped) were a bit of a give-away! 🤣🤣
The commemorative post-box topper to mark the Copshaw Common Riding & tents & campers along the river & in the wee park!
And the final events of the day… hope the videos work – The Tub’s song is a few minutes long!
The bits we went to see were great fun! We didn’t make it to the pub as I think it’s safe to say that at least half the village were completely pished by the end of the day 🤣 and we didn’t think, turning up sober, would be a good way to make new friends! 🤣🤣🤣 We will leave that for another time…
There were certainly a lot more people in the village during this weekend – most looking like they had the most outrageous hangover ever 🤣! I am sure the businesses that were open benefitted & hope they took enough coinage to keep them going until next year!
Of course, the events of the weekend was the talk of the village when I went back to work mid-week. I learnt from some of the older folk that when the Copshaw Common Riding was first dreamt up by a group of {then} lads during a night on the ale in The Trap back in the late 90s (you can read about the history of the CCR here: https://www.copshawcommonriding.co.uk/en/history), neighbouring villages were a bit upset that our village-folk seemed to not be taking the whole common riding thing seriously. Indeed, even today, almost 30 years after the inaugural CCR, this sniffiness continues for some! Which goes to show that there really is nowt as weird as folk! 🤣
I made it to see my Mum last Tuesday (7th July) and it was nice that she knew who I was on arrival despite me not visiting for around 6 weeks.
I was able to take her belated birthday presents as the items I had ordered online had partially turned up… Unfortunately, when I eventually received the delayed package from EVRI, it turned out that Damart, who I had ordered 2 boxes containing 2 vests from (4 vests in total) only sent 1 box – grrrr! I had to make a complaint to Damart then about the order not being complete… As it turns out, they were great – confirming that they would send out the missing order without delay – of course, I then thought it would probably take another week or so for EVRI to deliver but, as it turns out, the delivery came the day after I visited Mum and Damart had sent the full order of 2 boxes – so now Mum has 2 free vests which is great as, if anyone has ever looked at Damart’s stuff, it’s pretty pricey! So, it seems all the faff was worth it in the end – hurray!
Mum and I spent a pleasant few hours together although Mum spent about 25% of that dozing in her chair! Staff told me they feel her dementia is definitely deteriorating now and that she can be more grumpy with them (see photo! 🤣). I imagine the grumpiness is partly down to it taking her much longer to work out what’s being asked of her, during which time she has probably forgotten the question… she will then decide she doesn’t want to do it (whatever it was!) even if the request is a reasonable one such as going to lunch, or what she would like for dinner… I guess it must all be a bit scary for her at times when people are asking her stuff that she just can’t compute 😞
Unlike England, here in the Borders we’ve only had 2 or 3 blazing hot days of sunshine which I am glad for as it makes working very uncomfortable! On a few days, it’s got as high as 32 degrees which I think it quite unusual for here 😎. Seeing how hot it has been elsewhere in the UK makes us think that we made the right decision to head further north!
Despite the hot weather, Pete has been working hard on putting a new fence up in the garden which looks great. We didn’t want to shut out our neighbours nor hide the beautiful stone wall we have around the garden but hope this will offer us a little more privacy and, more importantly, allow us to grow plants upwards. We have a climbing rose from my Dad’s garden in Kent (which we had growing up the fence between our two houses when they lived next door in Yorkshire) to put in and a new Jasminoide which reminds us of the one we originally had when we first lived together in Kegworth, East Midlands… happy memories!
The garden looks and feels so much better than it did a year ago when we moved in & is going to look even more amazing next year!
Although the Bird Box we put up didn’t get the Blue Tits we hoped for, it has become a home to wasps who have made a nest in it! It’s great seeing them standing outside the hole on a hot day fluttering their wings trying to cool the nest down…
Oh my God! England have made the semi-finals of the World Cup… could the dream become a reality?? Staying up until 4am to see them beat Mexico, I could hardly keep still and had to watch the last 30 minutes or so through my fingers… and then last night’s match was no better – I’m not sure I can bear a semi-final against Argentina! 🫣🫣 I don’t know what state I’ll be in if they actually make the final 🤣🤣🤣 Still, I hope they blumming do! Come on England – Bring it home!
That’s it for now – I’m off to watch the Wimbles final on the telly! Viva L’Italia – after all, God loves a Sinner! 😘 Toodles xxx
All the gubbins… 
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