The Peeblean: Friday 13 June 2025
Beltane 2025, Fountain work agreed, OBE comes to Peebles, Common Good discussions, Peebles CC, long distance walkers, updated Jobs Board, Peebles HS inspection, Mountain Bike Innovation Centre.
Welcome to Issue 23 of The Peeblean.
July Events: There are two more issues of The Peeblean (on 20/21 June and 27/28 June) before we take a little break, returning on 11/12 July. If you have one-off events running in early July please send us details using the form below. Our July posterboard is now published.
Submission Form: New today on our homepage you will find a tab in the top menu called Get in Touch. This links to a form where you can submit news, events, jobs and ideas. We hope you find this useful and please let us know if you encounter any problems when using it. We can’t accept poster uploads but if these are visible on your social media, we’ll find them or email you.
TOWN CHAT
The Three Fishes / Millennium Fountain is to get the refurbishment proposed by Ruaraig McIver of Beltane Studios, who originally sculpted and manufactured the bronze. Peebles Common Good Fund Sub-Committee agreed to fund the cleaning, refurbishment and restoration. The cost of the work has been reduced to £500 to cover out of pocket costs only, thanks to Beltane Studios, Colin Napier (stonework) and Ewan Irvine (installation of water supply and other works) offering their time for free.
It’s Beltane Week 2025! Starting on Saturday 14 June with the Beltane Ball at Peebles Hydro and with activities running across the coming week, there will be spectacle, fun and ceremony. Road closures and diversions will take place to enable processions and events at certain times of the week. The event timetable is pasted below.
If you are new to Peebles and interested in the background to the Common Ridings and other Civic Festivals, local tour guide Stewart Wilson has published a helpful guide. Stewart publishes on Substack and Instagram as
.Congratulations are due to Peeblean Mariella Marzano, the Principal Social Scientist at Forest Research, who was awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours. Here’s a video posted on International Women’s Day in which she introduces her work. Historian and Borders Book Festival director, Alistair Moffat was the recipient of an MBE. Lucette Wood, Border Telegraph
EVENTS THIS WEEKEND - - see our poster board for details
Saturday 14 June
Music Everywhere concert, Innerleithen Church of Scotland, 19:30
Free Again tribute band, Eastgate Theatre, 19:30
Beltane Ball at Peebles Hydro
Sunday 15 June
Beltane Festival inaugural service at the Old Cross Kirk. Parade leaves the High street at 17:45.
Reuse, Repair & Share Hub at Whitmuir is open 10:00 - 15:00
Michelangelo: Love and Death (film) at the Eastgate Theatre
COMING UP - see our poster board for details
Peebles High School prizegiving, Monday 16
Edinburgh College music ensembles concert at the Burgh Hall, 19:00, entry by donation, Monday 16
Tuesday 17, free Community Lunch in Cardrona Village Hall with ukelele band
Tuesday 17, Innerleithen Mill Lade workshop 14:00 - 16:00 at Smail’s
Sunday 22, Mission Impossible screening at the Eastgate Theatre (also Weds 25)
Tuesday 24, Shakespeare at Traquair fundraiser for the Eastgate Theatre, 19:30
Wednesday 25, last day of term for SBC schools
COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
Peebles Tennis Clubhouse is 100 years old this month. To celebrate the centenary, club members are holding a celebratory event on Sunday 22 June at 14:00. Members and guests are welcome to join in the fun which includes a BBQ and tournament played in 1920s dress with wooden rackets.
Peeblesshire Paths Group volunteers are looking for more help to keep vegetation cut back from the Tweed Valley Railway Path and Eddleston Water Path. Much of the work is done with the assistance of edging machines, leaf blowers and strimmers. If you can help, contact them on ppg2019 (at) googlegroups.com
BOOKING NOW
Saturday 14 June is World Blood Donor Day. The blood donation team will be at the Drill Hall (Community Centre) on 2 July and you can book online at www.scotblood.co.uk for this date or register for dates/venues that are convenient.
BAFTA-winning writer and comedian Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt, is previewing his new book at the Eastgate Theatre on Wednesday 20 August.
AROUND AND ABOUT
The revised plans for the Mountain Bike Innovation Centre on the site of the former Caerlee Mill have been submitted to SBC this week. For a closer look at the plans, visit the SBC Planning portal. Paul Kelly, Peeblesshire News
Peebles and the Tweed Valley are well served by long-distance walking routes with several passing through the area. A new one caught our eye this week though: Nigel Griffiths is a retired engineer who is walking from the south of England to northern Scotland in a straight line. The journey, along the 3°W meridian line of longitude, will bring Nigel to Traquair on Tuesday 17 June, heading for Garvald in East Lothian then Prestonpans, Crichton and Wallyford. He is walking the route in 4-5 day stretches, to allow for rest periods and is keen for people to join him. His Insta account is 3deg.west. Also David Robinson, The Times
Portmore Gardens at Eddleston will be open on Saturday 28 June and then every Wednesday during July and August (13:00 - 17:00). Admission £7, children free. Group bookings available by arrangement.
Thanks to the
for highlighting the London Edinburgh London cycle ride which passes through the area during the period 3-6 August as cyclists ride from London to Scotland and back within 128 hours. You can volunteer to help at the control points which include St Mary’s Loch, Broughton and Innerleithen.BENCH OF THE WEEK
On the south side of the Tweed between Fotheringham and Tweed bridges, this bench is a little shabby but still offers a great vantage point for views of the river and wildlife.
JOB VACANCIES
New roles at the Eastgate Theatre (fundraiser), Cringletie (receptionist), British Heart Foundation, Moredun Research Institute, St Ronan’s and Walkerburn PS, Tesco and Holland and Sherry. If you secure a role that you saw advertised here please let us know!
NEWS ROUND-UP
At Peebles Common Good Sub-Committee this week:
The removal of the Tweed Green pavilion gates has resulted in some vandalism to the interior. The reinstatement of the gates is being explored to see if they could safely be opened during the day and locked at night.
Further vandalism to the Kingsmeadows public toilets in the last week has meant these are not operational for Beltane Week, with the East Station toilets also shut due to prior damage. It was suggested that vandal-proof units are investigated for suitability and cost.
Parking fee income was extensively discussed. The money raised from carparks on Common Good land is going into a separate Peebles Parking Fund with grants determined by local councillors.
Progress has been slow on negotiations between SBC and the Peebles Men’s Shed about the lease for Hay Lodge Depot. Some progress was reported which should allow a short-term lease to be agreed and the planning application for the building to be lodged in the near future.
Councillors approved the use of Tweed Green for a Wood Market later this year.
The first hour of Thursday’s meeting of Peebles CC was spent discussing the current SBC/Live Borders venue consultation. CC members raised concerns about the quality of the consultant’s report, the framing of the public consultation and budget decisions. Socio-economic factors were a specific concern and the knock-on impacts of reducing access to sports, leisure, cultural and library facilities. Councillors said community consultation events should be confirmed shortly.
On Thursday 12 June, Peebles HS head Kevin Ryalls presented to SBC’s Education Committee on the recent return of HMIE inspectors to the school and the positive progress reported. He was congratulated for steering many of the changes and gaining sign-off from HMIE on the areas previously highlighted as concerns prior to his appointment. A link to the recording is available on the committee page and the agenda item starts at 2h:26m
Coming up at SBC HQ this week:
On Monday, planning applications previously refused but submitted for review will be considered by the Local Review Body (aka the planning committee). The siting of a storage pod in the front garden of Waverley, Edinburgh Road, Peebles (item 8) and a house on land SW of Bruaich Hazlieburn, West Linton (Item 9) are included.
On Thursday, the vexed issue of public toilet provision across the Borders will be discussed at the Scrutiny and Petitions Committee. They will also consider topics for future scrutiny reviews - including Gaelic language, foster care and passenger transport services.
Scottish Conservatives have selected Keith Cockburn as their candidate for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale at the 2026 Holyrood elections. The May 2026 election will elect a successor to Christine Grahame as the constituency MSP (first map) as well as seven MSPs representing the South of Scotland region (second map)
Thanks for reading!
The Peeblean