All the fun of the Fair in Tweedbank

But for the families of this year’s Principals, Tweedbank Fair is a week they will never forget.

Primary seven pupils Charlie Bashford and Carmen Paterson-Benton were named 2015 Tweedbank Lad and Lass after their names were chosen at random.

They were supported by their Attendants - Murray Anderson (Lad’s First Attendant), Paul Boggs (Lad’s Second Attendant), Abbi McCormack (Lass’s First Attendant) and Kyla La Grange (Lass’s Second Attendant).

While Kyla’s grandfather was one of the Fair’s founding members, Charlie, who has learning difficulties and a speech problem, is believed to be one of the first people with autism to be appointed to a Principal role at any festival in the Borders.

However, after the success of this year’s sun-kissed festivities, which culminated with the Fete and Fun Day on Saturday, organisers are hopeful he won’t be the last.

Reflecting on the Fair week, Rob Goudie, convener of Tweedbank Fair Committee, told the Border Telegraph: “It’s been fantastic, the weather does make a difference.

“Wednesday was wet to start with for the fancy dress but it dried up and there was a patch of blue sky by the time we came to announce the winners so, ultimately, the kids enjoyed themselves and everybody had fun.

“I’ve been speaking to people who have just moved to the area and they can’t believe that there is something like this going on here. There are more and more people coming to it and it’s getting bigger and bigger.” He added: “Charlie, and all the Principals, has done a fantastic job. Everyone in primary seven at Tweedbank is entitled to stand for the position and, hopefully, this starts the trend for all the other civic weeks which go on.” Tweedbank Lad and Lass, and their Attendants, were paraded through the village on a horse drawn carriage for the Grand Fruit and Flower Parade, led by Melrose and District Pipes and Drums, as crowds of well-wishers lined the streets to show their support at the weekend.

The sun-kissed procession, from the community centre to the primary school, is one of the highlights of Tweedbank Fair Week.

Earlier in the week, the official party swapped colours with the Braw Lad and Lass, Cameron Pate and Abbie Frankland, from Galashiels during the Investiture evening and then met the Melrosian, Donald Crawford, during the fancy dress parade the following night.

Reflecting on the festivities, Charlie’s mum, Caroline said: “It’s been amazing to watch him. We are bursting with pride.

“Everyone on the committee has been so welcoming and accepting of Charlie despite his difficulties. He is so proud of himself that he wears his tie everyday! And even though he has found some aspects difficult, the committee and the community have accepted him as himself and done everything possible to include him.

“His confidence is definitely growing and it’s given his self-esteem such a boost.” The mun-of-four revealed she was worried how her son would respond to having such a high-profile role - especially as he is terrified of large crowds.

Caroline said: “Charlie needs a lot of help with everything and he struggles if we go out. He finds it hard to cope with people around him.

“He was a bit nervous on Saturday but when he saw his friends he was full of confidence. He loved going on the horse and cart and was waving at everyone! He’s made us all so proud today and everyone was so kind and supportive of him.

“Charlie says his favourite part of the day was riding in the horse and cart and waving at everyone like he was the King!” Tweedbank Thistle Football Club, Rainbows, Brownies and Guides were among the community groups who joined the Grand Parade at the weekend. And all the fruit and flowers donated was gifted to local care homes.

Kyla’s mum Emily said: “Kyla wanted to say she has totally enjoyed every moment. It was very special since her Grandpa was part of the original Tweedbank Fair back in the day!” And Murray’s parents added: “Murray said it was the best week of his life ever.” With the new Borders Railway, which boasts a terminus in Tweedbank, due to open in September and a new home for the Great Tapestry of Scotland due to be built nearby, the number of visitors to Tweedbank Fair is only expected to grow next year.

However, fears have been voiced that the celebrations may have to be downsized in future unless more residents volunteer to join their committee - which only has eight members.

Rob said: “It’s been an extremely difficult year, the numbers (of helpers) haven’t been brilliant - I think the committee is down to eight but they’ve all done a fantastic job behind the scenes.

“Tweedbank Fair doesn’t just happen. But we definitely need more numbers.” Scottish Borders Council Leader David Parker, a local councillor for the area, praised the volunteers for putting on a show. And claimed this year’s Fair was one of the biggest and best yet.

He said: “It’s a fantastic sunny day - gorgeous weather once again; we’ve been very lucky with the weather, there’s been a huge turnout and again a really big number of stalls and people taking part.

“The Fruit and Flowers is the busiest it has been in a number of years and we’ve got five boxes of fruit to donate and two huge amounts of flowers to go to different homes, so there’s a lot of people here.

“It could be fantastic with the railway coming, it will be really interesting to see what impact that does have on events like this. There will be lots of people in Edinburgh and beyond who will be able to come down an experience our festivals and Common Ridings much easier so that is something that could be quite big for us.

“With the Borders Railway on our doorstep and with Abbotsford (House) so close by, and with the kind of connectivity we are going to have with the new bus network and some changes we’ll make there, alongside the tapestry building, it could become quite an important hub for the central Borders.

“A lot of people who will come won’t stay in Tweedbank, they will go to Galashiels, they will go to Melrose, they will go further afield; But what we need to make sure is that we have the facilities at Tweedbank so we can signpost them to the rest of the Borders.” The local authority leader revealed plans for the new tapestry building in Tweedbank were due to be submitted this summer.

And, he pointed out, that could lead to some “quite big changes” on the industrial estate.

Councillor Parker said: “All the housing side of Tweedbank is now developed, the next big expansion will be the redevelopment of the industrial estate. The plan there is to start to replace some of the units that are empty with different types of units - we are looking at bringing in more office jobs, some smaller units, as well for start up businesses and some quite big changes.

“And the council owns quite a bit of land there now and that will start to be redeveloped in the next little while. So, a few years from now, we hope to have quite a modern business park there and a very different feel to it compared to what is there at the moment.

“The tapestry is progressing well. We’re currently doing two things - we’re currently preparing to submit the planning application and that should go in in the early summer; and we’re also doing some private fundraising. We always said that we would try to reduce the amount of money we would have to invest in it and we have started that private fundraising work; and, over the next year, we hope to bring in some further funding to support the project.”