THIS weekend, the first community event will be held at a recently refurbished business in Tweedsmuir.

Development of the Wee Crook in Tweedsmuir is now complete.

Now the Tweedsmuir Community Company has organised the first event to be held at the café.

The first annual Rhubarbfest will feature an afternoon of entertainment, cream teas, live music and the opening of the Tweedsmuir Jubilee Orchard.

A spokesperson for Tweedsmuir Community Company said: “The Jubilee Orchard is part of the ongoing works to turn the neglected gardens and grounds of the Crook back into a valuable community resource, and Tweedsmuir is delighted to be welcoming Sir Hew Strachan, Lord Lieutenant of Tweeddale, and Deputy Lieutenant Finlay Smith, to perform the official opening ceremony.

“The Tweedsmuir gardening group fixed on rhubarb as a theme for what they hope will be an annual celebration, when they started clearing the productive garden, and realised there was a flourishing rhubarb patch which had survived the decades of neglect unscathed.

“The popular fruit – or is it a vegetable? – shares the resilience of the community itself, and is obviously very comfortable in the southern uplands of Scotland.”

As well as enjoying Rhubarbfest, visitors will be able to take a look inside the Wee Crook – which was formerly a dilapidated building next to the Crook Inn – which has been transformed into a stylish café.

The Wee Crook will host a variety of events over the summer ahead of opening for regular hours in the coming months.

The spokesperson added: “The refurbishment work has involved an investment of more than £600,000, funded by a range of organisations, including Scottish Borders Council (through the South of Scotland Enterprise Fund); the Clyde and Glenkerie Wind Farm Community Funds and Garfield Weston Foundation.”