Last Freight Train to Kelso - Information Wanted

Some years ago, I gave a talk to Borders Family History Society about the Waverley Route.

My interest in Border railways hasn't diminished and I've watched original photographs of locations sell for jaw-dropping prices on an internet auction site. Sadly, these historic shots seem to disappear into a black hole never to appear again.

Recently, there was a negative of Kelso station. The description said it was part of a collection; I suspected that in the normal course of events the usual bidders would win and the collection disappear.

I contacted the vendor and after some to-ing and fro-ing of emails, agreed on a price and I went to pick up the collection. After blethering for a while, he told me to take away a sports bag containing not just the negatives but some 25 reels of ciné film. For all the world, the 'collection' has the hallmarks of a house clearance.

It was, and still is, my intention to make sure that the railway negatives will be available to view once they are scanned and locations identified properly; some 70 of them are easily identified as taken around Kelso station.

I have no facility to watch 8mm ciné, however a friend produced a viewer which was hand-powered. One of the films was, intriguingly, labelled, 'St Boswells – Kelso – Tweedmouth' - a prime candidate for watching. Part of the way through the film were shots of the last freight train to Kelso in 1968. I had had permission to travel on it, and there, on the flickering ciné was a glimpse of me!

Although it was almost 50 years ago, I can recall quite clearly a gent waiting the arrival of the last freight. He had a couple of cameras and I think, perhaps, he was wearing a brown warehousecoat. On speaking to him, he said that he worked at the foundry.

From the locations, many taken between Kelso and Sprouston, and from the subjects of the negatives, I would hazard a guess that he lived and probably worked not far from the station.

However, not only is there 8mm ciné but also 9.5mm ciné. I have only looked at the white lead-in for clues; there are obviously several reels of Kelso and one of a foundry. I would guess a date around late 1960s. I'm hesitant at watching the other reels as I could damage the ciné.

One of the reel containers has “D W K C C” on it could this be DWK and Ciné Club ?

Can you suggest a name for a pretty prolific ciné enthusiast from Kelso and who possibly worked at the foundry? I'd like to make contact with any family members.

By Bruce McCartney

Just to clarify matters, the picture shown above was taken by Bruce and appears here with his permission.

Responses below, please, or via our Contacts page (choosing Contact the Chairman).

World Famous Gypsies

The 50p anagrams quiz sold at St Boswells post office in the weeks leading up to St Boswells Fair asked
'How many World Famous Gypsies you can identify by re-arranging the letters to spell their names' ?

Although it wasn't our quiz, we had a request via our Contacts page to find out the answers.

Mary S said "I tried to do the quiz from the post office but I only managed one, and I'm not sure it was right."
So here are the answers (provided by Euan Watt):

1.    leachmic inaec        michael caine
2.    reilhac panlich        charlie chaplin
3.    lilb nitlcno            bill clinton
4.    vaddi sexes            david essex
5.    obb sinksoh            bob hoskins
6.    mej came            jem mace
7.    derdeifr zipren        freddie prinze
8.    godjan dtharneinr    django reinhardt
9.    b b gkin            b b king
10.    slive sleyrep            elvis presley
11.    rotherm sateer        mother teresa
12.    yonhnj hacs            johnny cash
13.    uly ynbrner            yul brynner
14.    yonjnh markntha        johnny frankham
15.    aceyrt lanlmu        tracey ullman
16.    rice tonnaca        eric cantona
17.    tira rotywhha        rita hayworth
18.    vaa redragn            ava gardner
19.    nita lee            tina  lee
20.    anes yerncon        sean connery
21.    goerr roome        roger moore
22.    lobpa saposic        pablo picasso
23.    yonnr odow        ronny wood
24.    pygys soer ele        gypsy rose lee


The answers were displayed at the St Boswells Fair/Gypsy Fair Exhibition in the recently refurbished St Boswells Village Hall from 18 to 20 July and the winner won a voucher for a free palm reading.

St Boswells Fair/Gypsy Fair Exhibition - First Day (18 July)

This exhibition is in St Boswells Village Hall.

I'm happy to say that we were busy.

Though it wasn't meant to be open in the morning, people drifted in because the doors were open to receive exhibitors, and we were busy all day.
The organisers counted just under 200 visitors, including as we hoped, lots of gypsies.

Lots of interest in John McKale's books and paintings.

The children's table, where there is a competition in 3 age groups to win book tokens, was often crowded.


3 members of the gypsy Royal Family talked to us, and Davina took the family tree on display home to update it.

I met people who had come from south Yorkshire, Berwick, Glasgow, Fife, as well as various places in the Scottish Borders: Eyemouth, Gordon, Kelso, Lauder, Westruther, West Linton as well as St Boswells.

I was also introduced to Mary Hanson (and her husband, Keith) who has done a lot research into the gypsies and into Napoleonic prisoners of war in the Scottish Borders.

Unfortunately, we are limited by table space in the number of items we can display for sale and as luck would have it, there were a number of things we could have sold had we bought them with us.

Lots of the gypsies were interested in the Hawick Heritage Hub's photographs, some wanted copies, others identified family members.

If you come today (1pm to 7pm) or tomorrow (1pm to 4pm), make sure to fill in a feedback form to win a bunch of carved wooden flowers.

St Boswells Fair / Gypsy Fair Exhibition in St Boswells Village Hall

There's an exhibition about the almost 400 year old St Boswells Fair, also known as the Gypsy Fair in St Boswells, this weekend.
Opening times are:

• 1pm to 4pm on Friday, 18th July
• 1pm to 7pm on Saturday, 19th July
• 1pm to 4pm on Sunday, 20th July

On Friday, 18th July there's also a coffee morning from 10am to 11.30 am and a community lunch from 12 noon to 1.30pm. Everyone is welcome at these; they take place in St Boswells Church Hall. Approximate map.

St Boswells Village Hall is on the corner of Main St and Jenny Moore's Rd, St Boswells, Roxburghshire, opposite the bus station. Approximate map.

Admission is free. There’s a free colouring competition for children under 12 with book-tokens as prizes.

We’ll have a stand with a display, books to look at and buy and we’ll be on hand to answer questions about family history. 
We would like to hear from you if you’re related to a gypsy family, if you want us to help you trace your family history or if you just want help with a brick wall.

Tom Tokely’s talk begins at 3.30 pm on Saturday,19th July in St Boswells Church Hall and we’ll have copies of The Kirk Yetholm Gypsies by Tom’s late brother, Vic Tokely for sale at £2.75.

There will also be gypsy artwork and miniature vehicles on display.

There will be refreshments available until 4pm each day.

Other exhibits are by the Hawick Heritage Hub, Police, Fire Service, NHS, Citizen's Advice Bureau.

I understand the organisers, St Boswells Community Council, are looking for feedback on the event. Everyone submitting a feedback form has a chance of winning some carved wooden flowers donated by Blackie Lee, the husband of Tina Lee, who tells fortunes.

Don't forget to look on the St Boswells Green at the traditional gypsy caravan and perhaps have your fortune told.

St Boswells Fair

St Boswells Community Council are organising an exhibition about St Boswells Fair which will be held in St Boswells Public Hall from 18 to 20 July. The Hawick Heritage Hub will be putting on a display about the gypsies and the fair and we will have a stall too. If you have any photos or memorabilia relating to the fair and would be willing to lend them for the exhibition, please contact Ralph Parker on 01835 822528.

The Berwickshire Railway

Members, particularly  those with connections to Berwickshire and/or having an interest in railways, might well be interested in a book published in the last few days entitled "St Boswells to Berwick via Duns, the Berwickshire Railway".

The book, the latest of a series of similar volumes, traces the history of this branch line  which was opened in three stages; the first from Reston to Duns in 1849, then from Duns to Earlston in 1863 and in 1865 after the completion of the Leaderfoot Viaduct  to St. Boswells.

The book has many fine photographs of the line, stations and bridges along the way and locomotives which plied the route; also maps and much background information. Certainly a must for all railway enthusiasts

With a very attractive hardback cover the book, which extends to 96 pages and contains 120 photographs, may be purchased from Middleton Press

The price is £16.95 including postage.

For further information on the line see also Dunse History Society 

My Talk, Useful Free Websites for Family History Research, Today, Will Take Place

My talk, today, about Useful Free Websites for Family History Research will be taking place as planned in the Volunteer Hall, St John Street, Galashiels, TD1 3JX.

There will also be an exhibition of photographs that will help you date your own photographs. This exhibition is based on a collection of 19th century photos donated to the society by Douglas Bain and collated and researched by Ian and Morag Carter and laminated by Davina Smart. 

Unlike many people in Cumbria, Dumfriesshire, and other parts of Scotland, the Borders seems to have escaped most of the snow.
The Met Office website says that no severe weather warnings have been issued for soth-west Scotland, Lothian or the Borders.
Main roads to Galashiels are free of snow, though there may be the remnants of snow on roadsides.
The traffic cameras at Soutra, Earlston, Hawick, Terrona, Houndwood, Carter Bar and Mosspaul all show snow-free roads.

There's no snow at St Boswells though the Eildon Hills look very pretty with their scattering of snow from last week,

It is still cold and the strong winds have eased a bit.

So I hope to see you at today's talk but I quite understand if you don't feel like travelling to Galashiels.

Please don't travel if the conditions are worse where you are and please don't take risks.

Queen Victoria's Visit to the Borders

A few weeks ago, I was shown several interesting items including two scrapbooks with old photographs and prints of Jedburgh Abbey, photographs of the Jedburgh Rambling Club in Edwardian times, the Proclamation of George V in the Market Square, Jedburgh, 1910, a particularly nice photograph of Darnick Tower (which unfortunately doesn't scan well), and the Thomson bi-centenary at Southdean on 8th September 1900 – all these photographs have people who could be recognisable, and almost all of them are unfortunately identified; another scrapbook, contains cuttings from various Border newspapers from 1862 to 1887, together with his comments and copies of letters.

Darnick Tower, near Melrose

The last item was a small book of 69 pages that I haven’t seen before; The Scottish Border: A Memorial of Her Majesty’s Visit to the District, August 1867, published by Rutherfurds of Kelso in 1867. On 20th August 1867, Queen Victoria left Windsor Castle, accompanied by Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife (Victoria’s daughter, Princess Helena), and their infant son, 3 other children of Victoria, Princesses Louise and Beatrice, and Prince Leopold, to visit the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe at Floors Castle on her way to Balmoral. It describes the scenery and associated history from Carlisle, to Hawick, and in and around Kelso.

There’s a detailed description of the inside of Floors Castle. Most people came into Kelso about 6 am on 21st August and waited for procession to start from Shedden Park at 8 am. It names the dignitaries, the occupants of windows overlooking the Square. The Royal train arrived at 11.15 am, and of course, there were speeches and music. The next day, the Queen visited Melrose and Abbotsford via welcoming crowds in Maxton, St Boswells, Newtown St Boswells, and Newstead; the day after, she visited Jedburgh, via Heiton and Eckford.

Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland - Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba (AÀA)

There's a great new website developed by the Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, which is apparently a national advisory partnership for Gaelic place-names in Scotland, whose purpose is to agree correct forms of Gaelic place-names for maps, signs and general use.

You can search for a place name in English or in Gaelic, or by other criteria, location, type of name, local authority, parish post 1891, county post 1891
old admin area, topographical feature type, post town, OS sheet number, OS grid reference, nearest main road, post code.

So search for Melrose, and you find out that the Gaelic name is Maolros, and that it means bald moor. It tells you that it's in the Scottish Borders, too, and there's a link to the OS map.

For some names, it discusses the etymology of the name, and the forms shown in various dictionaries and reference books, and for some (though not for Melrose) there's an audio file giving the Gaelic pronunciation.

Using the advanced search, you can type in the name of a local authority, and get a list of all the places there; at the moment, the only place in the Scottish Borders listed with a Gaelic name is Melrose.  I was surprised not to see Kelso/Cealso or St Boswells/Naomh Boisil, but perhaps they'll get on there.  There are a number of other places in the Borders that have place names that could have Gaelic origins, and many more with Brythonic origins.

There's an A to Z of English place names only which is a bit odd, I think there should be an A to Z of Gaelic place names, too.

At present there are only 1,000 entries covering places throughout Scotland, but they say that work will continue to add further research and sound files to assist with pronunciation, and to expand the number of entries, and you can also write in with suggestions and queries There's also a page where you can apply for a number of leaflets and maps, most of which are free, and post free in the UK. They have a blog, too, and people have put suggestions on the blog too.