The Tweed Valley Canoe Trail, developed by GO Tweed Valley as a fantastic new recreational asset for the Scottish Borders, was recently awarded £8,000 from Fallago Environment Fund. Launched last week, the 30-mile Trail runs from Stobo to Galafoot near Galashiels and mixes physical adventure with the chance to enjoy the area’s cultural history, landscapes and wildlife. The grant has provided waymaker signs and interpretation panels to share the stories of the magnificent River Tweed, provide a sense of place and geographic context, and encourage responsible behaviour on the water.

Fallago Environment Fund has awarded a £50,000 grant to Destination Tweed’s Designed Landscapes project to help plant landscape trees that will grow to be visible from the new River Tweed Trail and provide many additional environmental benefits.

The Tweed catchment’s designed landscapes are an essential part of the area’s character, with many developed during the 18th and 19th centuries to provide an enhanced setting for the region’s great houses. Unfortunately, many of the impressive trees within them have been lost to old age, harsh weather and disease.

The Designed Landscapes project aims to address this by planting 5,000 individual landscape trees such as oak, beech, sycamore and holly planted in copses, treelines and as individual parkland trees. As well as adding to the beauty of the landscape, the trees will capture carbon, improve biodiversity and provide shelter for livestock and wildlife.

Managed by Tweed Forum, the first Designed Landscape project planting has been taking place at the Old Melrose Estate, Traquair, Hirsel, Floors and Ladykirk estates.

Fallago Environment Fund Chairman, Gareth Baird popped into Jedburgh Grammar recently to meet some of the pupils taking part in the Scottish Traditional Building Forum’s Build Your Future programme. The Fallago Environment Fund awarded a grant of £30,000 to the three-year project, which will give all Second Year pupils in the Scottish Borders an insight into some of the skills and career opportunities in the traditional building sector. They get to learn about a range of activities including stone carving, roof slating, decorative finishing, 3D and thermal surveying, and the use of drones in construction.

Arborist Kirsty Smith is pictured with a £7,000 cheque from the Fallago Environment Fund which is part-funding preservation work on ancient Jed Forest oak, the Capon Tree.  Estimated to be between 700 and 1,000 years old, the sessile oak is recognised as one of Britain’s 50 Greatest Trees by The Tree Council and has played an important part in the lives of local people for centuries. Its heritage is celebrated annually at the Jethart Callant’s Festival when on Festival Day, the Callant stops his mounted cavalcade at the tree where he is presented with a sprig of oak to wear in his jacket lapel.

Fallago Environment Fund Chairman, Gareth Baird said “We’re extremely pleased that these windfarm-generated funds are being used to help maintain the health of this historic tree and enhance its surroundings so that it can continue to play its important role in the lives of people from Jedburgh and beyond.”

Committee members and users of the Border Ice Rink in Kelso are celebrating the award of a £75,000 grant from the Fallago Environment Fund. The award, which recognises the cultural importance of the sport of curling in the Borders, will be spent on new ice-making equipment that will help to secure the rink’s future.

The Rink is the only one in the Scottish Borders and is home to 24 curling clubs and a skating club. The new equipment will enable the Border Ice Rink Club to abide by environmental protection rules, reduce its energy costs and carbon footprint, and continue to provide a Borders venue for participants in one of Scotland’s oldest and best-known sports, as well as ice skating.

The Fallago Environment Fund shares the benefits of the Fallago Rig windfarm in the Lammermuir Hills with projects across the Borders and is supported by Roxburghe Estates, Federated Hermes and EDF Renewables.

The work of the Fallago Environment Fund in supporting local communities in the Borders was recognised at the recent Helping it Happen Awards, which are organised by Scottish Land and Estates.

The Fund was nominated as a Finalist in the Working with Communities category for creating a special £30,000 Covid-19 Community Paths Repair Fund to help repair and upgrade local paths which had become degraded during the pandemic. Local walkers in 14 communities can now safely enjoy outdoor exercise on the repaired areas, with all the physical and mental health benefits this brings. The Paths Repair Fund was delivered in partnership with The Bridge (a Council for Voluntary Service/community development organisation working within the Scottish Borders).

While the Fund didn’t win the top prize on the night, it did receive a special Finalist’s certificate for its nomination in this important category. Pictured on the night are (from left) Luke Comins from Tweed Forum, Roddy Jackson, recently retired Roxburghe Estates Factor and Jaap Roell, Managing Director, Roxburghe Estates.

The community in Eyemouth is set to benefit from the creation of additional indoor space at Eyemouth Parish Church for educational, cultural and social use, thanks in part to a £50,000 grant from Fallago Environment Fund. The money will help the town’s Eyemouth Renew project to remove the fixed church pews to create a large indoor space. An additional new space will be also created under the gallery for community events, and an environmentally-friendly heating system will be installed.

The whole project is expected to cost £340,000 and will create the possibility of developing a drop-in café to help tackle loneliness and support people with dementia and their carers. The enhanced space will be used for community meetings and will relieve pressure on the church hall, which is currently heavily used for toddler groups, dance classes, a fitness club and for film nights as well as by the NHS and the local Food Bank and Food Larder. More children will be able to attend holiday clubs and more adults will be able to take part in some of the groups already running within the church hall, all of which are currently restricted due to lack of space.

We are delighted to announce that a special “Covid-19 Community Paths Repair Fund” created by the Fallago Environment Fund has been chosen as a finalist in the Scottish Land and Estates annual Helping it Happen Awards.

The £30,000 project helped 14 Borders communities to repair and upgrade local paths which had seen lots of extra use during the pandemic, meaning local walkers can safely enjoy outdoor exercise with all the physical and mental benefits this brings.

The Fallago Environment Fund is backed by Roxburghe Estates, EDF Renewables and Federated Hermes and shares the benefits of the Fallago Rig windfarm in the Lammermuir Hills with projects right across the Scottish Borders.

The award nomination is in the ‘Working with Communities’ category and the results will be announced on Wednesday 5 October. We’re keeping our fingers crossed!

Find out more here.

Building on the success of this month’s archaeological investigations at Tinnis Castle, The Arthur Trail Association will be running a one-day conference plus half-day field trip on the 7th and 8th September, respectively. The conference will be held at the Proudfoot Institute in Moffat, with the packed programme looking behind the legend of Merlin; seeking out the real historical figure who lived in the 6th Century AD in the company of archaeologists, historians, philologists, topologists, literary scholars, geographers, art experts and anthropologists. You can find out more about the conference here (including information on how to sign up).

The hidden history of Dark Age Tweeddale will be uncovered this month during a 2 week dig beneath the ruins of the mediaeval castle of Tinnis. This Fallago Environment Fund-supported project (The Hidden History of Dark Age Tweeddale; the Arthur Trail Association) will be investigating whether Tinnis was occupied during the Dark Ages, the period of time in which the legends of Arthur and Merlin arose, with a particular interest in discovering whether the legends originated right here in the Scottish Borders. The project is welcoming visitors to the Tinnis dig between the 8th and 19th of August, just follow signs for the Merlin trail at Drumelzier http://merlintrail.com/merlindale/. You can also find out more about the project here https://dark-age-digs.com/.