Have you got a story to tell? Perhaps something that you would like to share with the world; an amusing story, tales of a heroic deed, a little known fact about the village, or something about a character who you knew in the village.
Henry Borthwick did just that and published a book, Channelkirk Talks in 2010. We asked him why he wrote his book and he gave us some information which he will share with you now….
In the late 1970′s, a group of ramblers who were walking over Soutra wanted someone to talk to them about Channelkirk Church. The minister was not available, nor anyone else. Somehow I got pushed through the door and felt embarrassed at my lack of knowledge and unpreparedness for the task.
Other groups such as the Berwickshire Historical Society and the Galashiels Historical Society asked me to talk to them in the church, by that time I had gained a little more knowledge.
I have an old Page-a-day diary in which I jotted down any information concerning Channelkirk. I have done this for 25 years. I had to make a decision about what to do with this information. Should I put it in a drawer and forget about it or should I publish some of the stories. My book is the answer.
The publishing of the book, Channelkirk Talks (available at Bakehouse Stores), has produced some unexpected results. A number of people who have read it have sent me their memories of Channelkirk. I would like to recall one such letter from John Scott of Currie, Edinburgh;
Your book brought back memories of my late father, who worked for Midlothian County Council, Roads Department, for a number of years in the 1930′s. He once recalled a particularly bad winter where the snowploughs could not get through the drifts of snow on Soutra. What they did, was to take everyone they could get, from the Dole, and hand-cut the snow. On that occasion he said, that at the end of the day, it seemed like Bonaparte’s retreat from Moscow, watching them all trudging down the road.
On another occasion after a heavy snowfall again on Soutra, they were clearing snow out of the roadside gullys, when a shout went up, “There’s a body in this gully”, the Road Foreman rushed up and they made to lift the body out, only it moved as they laid hands on it. It was an old tramp, who, once they helped on to his feet, stamped up and down a few times and made off down the road, declining all offers of help and assistance. They marvelled at how he had survived overnight in the freezing conditions and snow cover.
