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Posted 16.2.25

ANNOUNCING OUR FIRST NEWSTEAD SUNDIALS FESTIVAL!!

We are pleased to announce that our application to Destination Tweed was successful and we are now able to plan an inaugural Festival based on the theme of Time. The Newstead Sundials Festival is planned to take place on the afternoon of Sunday 7th September!

CLICK HERE FOR LATEST FESTIVAL UPDATES

Music Night in the Village Hall

Thanks to everyone who attended the Music Night in the Village Hall on 26th April - a great night of singing and dancing was had by all.

Many thanks to Ian Phillips and the Borders Caballeros for the fantastic music.

Over £400 was raised for Newstead Village Community Trust which will help to ensure that The Newstead Sundials Festival goes ahead as planned in September.

live music night poster April 2025.pdf

VILLAGE GREEN UPDATES

Village Green Planting Plan FINAL.pdf

Village Green Update

Thanks to a successful bid for funding to Fife Environment Trust, generous donations from our community and fundraising events we are able to proceed with our plans to improve the Village Green space to include a new bespoke carved bench (to replace the Jubilee commemorative bench), two wheelchair accessible picnic benches and a circular bench under our cherry tree. In addition the funding will enable us to refurbish the well in the woodland and to install an interpretation board to enable us to share what is special about Newstead with residents and visitors.

Watch this space for more news as the project progresses.

Our bench has arrived!!

On 8th March we took delivery of the first instalment of our new additions to the Green, a bespoke carved bench by award-winning chainsaw carver, Sam Bowsher. Along with the bench Sam brought along some Spring sunshine!

We asked him to produce a carving which celebrates all things River Tweed and I’m sure you will agree that he has exceeded the brief and has produced a spectacular bench which will become a lasting feature on the green.

Thinking Outside of the Box

Newstead’s iconic phone box has now been saved from removal thanks to Melrose and District Community Council and Newstead Village Community Trust. The Community Council were able to buy the phone box for £1 through BT’s Adopt a Kiosk scheme on the understanding that NVCT would ensure it was put to the good use for our community.

This is an exciting opportunity, so we have been doing some research into how other communities have made the most of their tiny spaces. Here are a few ideas that we thought were worth considering: Library in a Phone Box for a second-hand book swap venue; Garden in a Phone Box to add some colour and interest next to our Village streetscape; Tourist Information Box to let visitors know more about Newstead’s heritage and history;

Defibrillator in a phone box as our nearest is currently in Melrose; Pop up Café to open for Village events; Art Gallery in a phone box which could celebrate the work of local artists and visiting installations.

Or perhaps a combination of several of these ideas on a rotating basis. Tony Player, Artist in Alverton, Nottinghamshire said ‘In the village l started off using redundant box as a gallery. Then at Christmas we used it for nativity. Summer used for excess veg we grew to share and so on. In a hamlet it became our focal point.’

We have recently had conversations with Connecting Threads, a creative project linked to Destination Tweed and Trimontium Trust who are both interested in collaborating with NVCT to develop some of these ideas.

To have your say please complete the survey here

Newstead Phone Box Survey

Garden Party on the Village Green

The Prosecco and Strawberries fundraiser on 21st July was an outstanding success.

Tickets were sold out prior to the event and the rain held off just long enough for over 50 adults and children to gather, sip Prosecco and partake of some lovely strawberries and cream.

We were able to raise over £400 towards the bespoke carved bench we are planning to add to the Village Green.

Thankyou to all the volunteers who made it happen and to all the folk who attended and made it a great social event!

A big thankyou to Martin Baird, Butcher, Melrose; The Fabric Shop, Melrose; Jacks Cafe, Melrose and Purple Plum Fruit Shop, Melrose along with kind donations from our community of raffle prizes.

Posted on 26th July 2024

Men at Work

A big thankyou to Jonny, Andrew (and his Dad) for taking the time to lift a kerb stone at the Village Green to improve accessibility for wheelchair users!

Posted on 20th July 2024

NVCT Annual Fundraising Walk 28th April '24

Our Annual NVCT Fundraising Walk was a great success.
A group of around 20 people walked from Newstead to Melrose where we were greeted by staff and volunteers from Trimontium Trust.
Rob Longworth treated us to a fascinating talk about the discovery and excavation of Trimontium Fort and a tour of the new Halo Centre where we were able to test out the new VR tech which brings the Roman occupation to life! A cream tea was also enjoyed.
Many thanks to Trimontium Trust, to Isobel King for organising the walk and to Susan Young for leading the walk to Melrose.

Posted on 30th April 2024

Bingo Night in the Village Hall 20th Jan '24

Eyes Down for a Full House! - Bingo Night in the Village Hall

A huge thankyou to NVCT Director, Meri Taylor for organising a fantastic BINGO evening in the Village Hall on 20th Jan. The event was sold out and around 40 people, young and old, joined together for a fun and entertaining evening. There were some impressive picnics brought along by some attendees and the 'rookie' Bingo Caller got everyone into the spirit, encouraging chants of 'check that card, check that card'.

Prizes were donated by local businesses and individuals and were much appreciated by the lucky winners. A special thankyou to Joshua for sharing his birthday cake with us all and a big thankyou to the army of helpers on the night too!

Feedback from the evening was really positive and there were requests for similar future events so this may well become a regular feature of the NVCT calendar!

Posted on 2.2.24

Golden Eagle Project Presentation

A huge thankyou to Philip Munro for a fascinating presentation about the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project which took place in the Village Hall on 15th October.

The event was attended by 33 people from Newstead and beyond.

And thankyou to Ross Laurie for updating us all on the Village Green Bioblitz and encouraging us all to take part in this fascinating Citizen Science Project.

Posted on 23.10.23

Newstead Traffic Survey

Updated on 21.12.23

🚗🚕🚛🚐 Calling all Newstead pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and horse riders! Share your thoughts on traffic in the village via a quick survey. SBC have agreed to add an additional digital speed sign, similar to the one on Dean Road. Let's capture your feedback to determine the best location

📣 Your voice will help influence where SBC locates the new sign! Take the survey to help shape road safety measures in our village. Please help spread the word and encourage others to resident and visitors to participate. Survey open until September 3rd, 2023.

Thank you.

Picnic on the Green

Posted on 27.06.23

Picnic on the Green

The rain held off for our Picnic on the Green on 25th June (Isobel was right when she said "if we put up the gazebos it won't rain"!)

It was a great opportunity to celebrate bringing the Green into community ownership, catch up with one another and to get to know a few new faces in the Village.

Thankyou to all who attended and to the team who worked hard to rake the grass, dispose of the cuttings and set up on the day.

Raffle

The lucky winner of the original painting by Shona Lenaghan was Val Miller.

Second prize of a signed copy went to Jan Barwick.

Third prize of an Edinburgh map print, kindly donated by The Picture Framer, 1 Lawyers Brae, Galashiels, went to Eileen Johnson.

Thanks to the Gallery, Melrose and Butterfly, Melrose for helping us to sell tickets.

A special thanks to Shona Lenaghan for giving up her time to draw the raffle.

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