Unveiling the new stone bench

“Our beautiful new stone seat with a fantastic view into the Glen and waterfall was unveiled on the 20th September 2016 by Graham Philp Manager of the Local Scotmid store and Patricia Edington the firms Membership and Community Manager at a short unveiling ceremony .

The creation of this seat was made possible  by a generous grant from the Scotmid Community Grant scheme and also the skills of the highly talented members of the Dry Stone Wallers Association ( South East Scotland Branch).   4 members of the Dry Stone Wallers Association  took the best part of a weekend to build the seat from scratch . It was amazing to see 4 tons of random stone transformed into this magnificent seat. As one stone waller member said ” It is like making up a jigsaw where all the pieces don’t fit!”

Our Chair, Neil McKinlay made a short speech at the unveiling ceremony welcoming everyone and thanking all those involved in the creation of the seat which he said is already being used by locals and visitors alike and will continue to do so for many years to come.

 

Ceremony
Neil delivers speech
The reveal
The unveiling
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The new bench

Stone Bench preparation work is well in hand

On three consecutive Mondays Jim, Neil and Iwan have been working on the area where our new stone bench will be located, which overlooks the waterfall that drops into the Glen. Iwan managed to procure the foundation materials to ensure a solid base for the bench.  The area has been edged using stout rail sleepers. We have allowed generous access to enable pram and wheelchair users to enjoy this new viewing/seating area.

Study
Studying the job in hand

The work generated a lot of interest from passers – by, who were all very enthusiastic about our plans for the new bench.  We were also delighted to hear that our grant request to Scotmid Co-operative to cover the cost of the bench materials/construction has been successful.  Well done and grateful thanks to Scotmid!  The date of the actual build by the stone waller’s voluntary group is scheduled for Sunday the 28th August.  Why not come along and see them in action?

That fits nicely

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