Society Saturday - Auld Earlston in the Scottish Borders.

AULD  EARLSTON

Valuing the History of our Village for Future Generations

Copyright © A R Edwards and Son,  Selkirk.    (Cathy Chick Collection). 

All Rights Reserved

The postcard view can be dated prior to 1920, as it depicts  a horse and cart at the village pump well on the right.  The well, with a trough for horses and cattle to drink from,  was demolished to became the site of the village's War Memorial, unveiled in 1921, 

AULD EARLSTON is a small community heritage group in the Berwickshire village of Earlston in the rural Scottish Borders.  Set up in 2012 by an enthusiastic group of volunteers, it aims to preserve the history of our community for future generations by  collecting documents and sharing memories and photographs.

Two members of the group were initially asked to give a talk to primary school pupils on what life was like growing up in the  village in the 1950's.  Their talk seemed to be a success and they were asked to speak to other organizations.  Many memories were rekindled and it proved there was a great interest in preserving the heritage of our community.

The project was broadened, local historians consulted  and the group was formed. It was fortunate to  be donated  the rich historical and pictorial information gathered by local historians John and Mary Weatherly,  who had a wealth of documents,  photographs, press cuttings and memorabilia about Earlston.

An appeal to the local community resulted in the Group being inundated with  postcards, photographs and other information which has been  collated, scanned and indexed, with currently over 1400 items in this collection alone.

The Group is always  open to accepting other material with photographs scanned, and where requested,   returned to their owner

Current activities include:

• An annual slide show.
• Displays on particular themes at local events e.g. Earlston Civic Week and Earlston Community Day.
• A Sharing Memories project, talking to older residents and recording  their experiences on growing  up in the village.
• An ongoing project to collect  press cuttings  on Earlston from local newspapers.
• An associated Facebook page Lost Earlston, featuring old photographs and allowing its followers to share, discuss and learn from Earlston's past. 
• Our latest venture is the launching of a blog with short articles and photographs on the Group;s activities and on aspects of Earlston's past.

The long-term vision of Auld Earlston is to open a Heritage Room where visitors can come to view the material held. 

For more information go to the Auld Earlston blog HERE 

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Society Saturday is just one of many daily blog prompts from Geneabloggers encouraging us to write on aspects of our family and local history.