Showing posts with label Earlston Golf Club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earlston Golf Club. Show all posts

Sunday 1 October 2023

From Punk Rock to Moon Buggies

Earlston's contribution to world history (or let's take a light-hearted, time travelling culture tour)


In 2015, there was a TV show called 'Six Degrees of Separation'. The show centred on finding a connection between six unlikely objects.


So, for a change this month, we'll look at the connections between six unlikely topics - punk rock, Caribbean sugar plantations, BAFTA TV Awards, New York book publishing, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Moon buggies - which are all linked to Earlston.


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Tom Davidson (https://tomdavidson.co.uk), the Earlston-based artist, has his gallery on Earlston High Street. The gallery is where his grandfather, Willie Alchin, had the village baker's shop.


The shop now doubles as Tom's studio and gallery, where he creates stunning lino-cut prints of local landscapes. His ability to capture light reflecting off the Leader river or sunshine piercing through the trees of Cowdenknowes Woods is a joy to behold.


But Tom also gained fame in another of the arts - music.


Tom studied at Carlisle University and joined The Limps, a punk rock band. The band released several singles and appeared on the John Peel Show in 1979.


The Limps(1)


The band eventually broke up, and members drifted off to do their own thing.


Their music lives on, though. They appear on a recently released compilation album with bands like The Jam, The Stranglers, Siouxsie and the Banshees.


Gary Crowleys Punk and New Wave(2)


There's a whole new audience that appreciates their music.


A film studio recently contacted the band asking to feature their track 'Someone I Can Talk To' on the closing credits of a new movie still in production. Its release date has not been announced, but look out for its title - 'The Snack Shack'.


Sugary snacks, like music, can hit the right note or, as they call it in the food industry, the bliss point. This is where the snack has just the right amount of sweetness. Any sweeter and it would be too sickly; any less, it wouldn't be sweet enough.


The bliss point makes you come back for more, which is great news for dentists and sugar producers alike.


John Redpath was an Earlston man who made his fortune through sugar refining in Canada.


John was the son of farm servants working on farms in the Earlston area. His father had the foresight to see the changes in store for farm workers due to the 'improvements' between 1760 and 1830.


The 'improvements' centred around better fertilisers, drainage, and more selective crops. As a result, farms became more productive and larger. The downside was that the farms needed a smaller workforce. Thousands of families left farming during this period in what became known as the lowland clearances.


John was fortunate in that he managed to get an apprenticeship with his uncle, a stone mason in Edinburgh. However, by the time John became a master mason, the Napoleonic Wars had just finished releasing thousands of soldiers, including stone masons from the engineering regiments, into the job market. Consequently, John decided to emigrate to Canada.


Within a few years, John had established a successful construction business. Seeing an opportunity and with enough spare capital, he constructed a sugar refinery in Montreal importing raw sugar from Caribbean sugar plantations.


John made his fortune from sugar. He returned to Scotland just once, but he took the time to visit Earlston when the Corn Exchange was being built. He presented the villagers with the clock in the Corn Exchange tower that chimes the hours as his lasting legacy.

In Canada, you can buy Redpath sugar in almost any grocery store or supermarket to satisfy your bliss point. Of course, not just humans enjoy sugar; horses also have a notoriously sweet tooth.


Redpath Sugar(3)


Satisfying your sugar tooth and eating too much sugar will likely result in putting on weight, which in turn will slow you down. Presumably, the same is true for horses as well as humans.


Slow Horses was the name of a TV series starring Earlston High School former pupil Jack Lowden. Jack graduated from the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2011. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award (2023) for Best Supporting Actor in his role of River Cartwright. The series follows a team of intelligence agents who serve as a dumping ground department of MI5 due to their career-ending mistakes.


Jack Lowden(4)


The series is based on the book 'Slow Horses' by Mike Heron and published by Baskerville.


Slow Horses(5)


And talking of publishers, Robert Carter was an Earlstonian who established a publishing company in New York.


Robert was born in Earlston in 1807 with an apparent unquenchable thirst for knowledge. At an early age, Robert showed his love for books when he watched an auctioneer dispose of the household effects of a neighbour.


Robert Carter(6)


Included in the sale was a copy of Josephu's works, complete in one thick volume. When the auctioneer asked, 'How much am I offered for this?' Robert replied in a faint voice, 'Fourpence'. The auctioneer immediately handed the book to Robert, saying, "You shall have it, for you are the smallest customer I have had today'.


By age fifteen, Robert was holding night classes for local boys. Robert went on to attend university.


Years later, he gave up his teaching job in New York and opened a bookstore on the corner of Canal and Laurens Street in 1834. From selling books, he began to publish books at his New York book publishing company, Robert Carter and Brothers.


That first book no doubt changed Robert's life just as some of the books he published and sold would change the lives of others.


No wonder they say that the pen is mightier than the sword.


Of course, the most famous type of Scottish sword is the claymore, the weapon of choice for hundreds of years.


In 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie led his Jacobite army south towards London, the army camped at Fans, a few miles from Earlston. When the army marched southward again, it was discovered that a soldier had left his claymore behind.


Bonnie Prince Charlie(7)


When news of the army's imminent arrival in Earlston, locals feared the Jacobites' notorious reputation for looting. Valuables were hidden wherever possible. Horses were hidden in a hollow below Caldies Hill known as 'Howe of Hope'. The exact spot had provided Covenanters a meeting place one hundred years before.


Caldies Hill is part of the old Earlston Golf Club. 


On August 8th 1906, a meeting was held in the Smaller Exchange Hall to discuss the formation of an Earlston Golf Club. Twenty men attended, and the site chosen for the proposed course was Caldies Hill, owned by Lord Binning. The Chairman of the meeting, Rev N C Keith, advised the group that he had already gained permission from Lord Binning and his tenants.


On August 30th, Willie Park, a professional golfer and course designer, visited the site to draw up the plan for a nine-hole course.


The course was officially opened on Wednesday, November 7th 1907. However, the first competition occurred in October 1907 for the Silver Challenge Cup, presented by Issac Wallace, an Earlstonian who had emigrated to Australia. The Cup was won by Robert Lountain with a score of 79.


The game prospered in the village with both ladies and gentlemen sections. Two businesses, John McDonal, Saddler, and John Weatherston, Watchmaker, stocked clubs and balls.


Despite the best intentions, the Club was forced to close by the end of World War 2 due to a lack of members and funds.


However, the Club members were undeterred and boldly decided to open a golf course on the Moon.


To quote the Club's website (https://www.earlstongolfclub.com/):


With the purchase and restoration of the original golf course being unattainable at an Earlston Golf Club Committee Meeting in 2000, it was agreed to pursue the purchase of land to build a course on the Moon. This transaction was completed on November 3rd 2000, and initial planning was soon under way.

 

 There are 18 Seas on the surface of the Moon, each of which has a Latin name which has been translated and given a Scottish Borders flavour to reflect the origins of the Club.

 

The holes on the Earlston Golf Club Moon Course were named to keep the authenticity of the course location whilst ensuring that the history and traditions of the Club are echoed in each hole.


One can assume that Moon buggies will be substituted for golf buggies.


Moon Buggy(8)



Credit links

Do you know of any unlikely topics or objects that are connected and linked with Earlston? Let us know in the Comments section below.

Wednesday 6 May 2015

Earlston launches First Moon Golf Course

Auld Earlston is committed to remembering the heritage of our village for future generations - and here is something that bit different from  recent history. 
 
golf_neg.gif


The history of Earlston Golf Club, founded in 1906, featured in the last blog post HERE. Although its course never reopened after the Second World War, the Club itself continued playing on other courses. 

But in  November 2000, the  club launched a new initiative to pursue the purchase of land to build a  course on the moon and called for Moon Course Associate Members - as described on its web site HERE.  
"The holes on the Earlston Golf Club are named to keep the authenticity of the course location whilst ensuring that the history and traditions of the Club are echoed in the Course. 
  
There are 18 Seas on the surface of the Moon, each of which has a Latin name which has been translated and given a Scottish Borders flavour to reflect the origins of the Club."

                                           Moon Course Location

"As a result, the Club has featured in newspapers and magazines, on TV and on the web world-wide. It featured in Robert Duncan's 2003 Canadian TV documentary, "Golf - The Ridiculous Obsession".


There are now has around 70 local members who play in competitions throughout the Scottish Borders and the Club is expanding its presence around the world with Moon Course Associate Members in the USA, Canada and Australia. 


Preliminary negotiations have been opened with NASA, RKA and ESA, the US, Russian and European Space Agencies respectively, to provide transport to the course. The Russians have thus far provided the cheapest offer".


A First for Earlston!


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Monday 27 April 2015

Earlston Golf Club - A Short History

With thanks to the website "Golf Missing Links" for giving  permission to use its  article on the history of Earlston Golf Club, together with the Club's recent activity which you will find HERE.

Earlston Golf Club was founded in  August 1906, making it one of the oldest in the country. The course  was designed by Willie Park of Musselburgh on land owned by Lord Binning . The nine-hole course was situated in an area known locally as “Caldies Hill” on high ground with sandy soil. At the time of its opening,  it was stated that "there were some rough and stony parts but the course was gradually improving".


Minutes of the meeting in 1906, with "20 gentlemen present", to set up the club.  
The Rev. Mr  N.C. Keith  was in the chair, with Mr Geo L. McDonald appointed  clerk. 

1909  
In May 1909 Mrs Young, captain of the ladies’ section, provided a handbag as a competition prize. It was won by Miss May Smith with a score of 58. 

James McDonald won the May 1909 monthly medal with a score of 86.

The AGM was held in the "small room" of the Corn Exchange in November 1909 with the Rev A B Taylor in the chair. It was reported that the course had very much improved and the membership was stable. The treasurer submitted the balance sheet which showed an income of £79/6s/9d and an expenditure of £48/1s/7d. The golf house fund income stood at £17/19s/10d. 

The following officers were elected
 
Lord Binning, president
Colonel Hope, vice-president

G L McDonald, secretary
Management Committee – J Morris, D Hogg, G Angus, Rev N C Keith and Rev A B Taylor.


Ladies’ section;

Mrs Young, captain

Miss Ethe Herbertson, vice-captain
Mrs Newton, secretary
Committee – Mrs G L McDonald, Miss Aitkenhead, Miss Hewat, Miss Archibald and Miss Hogg.   



1913
Competitions were played on the Caldies Hill course on Saturday 31st May 1913 with the following results: 
Gents’ competition – A A Burt, 40 nett; J D McDonald, 42; Geo Simpson, 43
Ladies’ – Miss Ruth Wallace, 58-4-54; Miss Jenny Kerr, 62-3-59
Juniors – James Hewitt, 113-18-95; Alexander Blair, 112-14-98
Mixed foursome – W F Aikman & Miss E H Hebertson
Gents’ approaching – Harry Aikmen  and Hardie Readman
Ladies’ approaching – Miss Jenny Kerr. 

 

1914
In 1914 the secretary was R F Garroch of the Temperance Hotel, Earlston. The club had a membership of 64 gents and 37 ladies. There was no entry fee. Subs for gents were 10/- and ladies 5/-. Visitors’ fees were 6d a day, 2/- a week and 4/- a month.It was emphasized that Sunday play was not allowed.
Results from the Spring Meeting played in May 1914; G Logan (scratch), 40; J R Borthwick (6), 41; A A Burt (11), 43. Ladies’ stroke competition; Miss Jenny Kerr (3), 54; Mrs Burt (8), 62. Mixed foursome; N C Keith and Miss Aitkenhead (11), 43 after a tie with G Logan and Miss Polls.  

During World War One, the course was ploughed up for food crops in support of the war effort, but playing resumed in the inter-war years. 

1925
On the Monday evening of the 22nd June 1925,  the final of the juveniles’ competition was played, Tom Montgomery beat Douglas Wallace by one hole.

On the following evening twelve players motored to St Boswells to play a club match only to lose by 11½ mashes to ½. Although it was a heavy defeat for Earlston,  many of the matches were close.

Result of a mixed foursome played on Saturday 12th September 1925:
First – Miss M Crozier & Tom Montgomery
Second - Miss A Millar & Willie Anderson
Third - Mrs W M Frater & Frank Mitchell
Captain’s Prize – Mrs J Aikman; runner-up, Miss J Turnbull
September medal – Mrs W M Frater
Gent’s section;
Wallace Cup – W Messer; runner-up, J Hewitt
Weatherston Shield – W S Donaldson
Captain’s Prize – R Crozier.

Also in October 1925 the final of the juniors’ match-play competition was played -  Adam Cummings beat Douglas Wallace by 2&1.

The club was organising weekly whist drives during December 1925, which were held at Mr Bolan’s Tea Rooms on Wednesday evenings.  

The prize presentation night was held in the Corn Exchange Hall on Friday 9th October 1925. Following a successful golfing season, the club captain, Mr T Bolan, presented the prizes to the following;
Ladies’ section – Mrs Sharpe, Rose Bowl, Mrs D Broomfield was runner-up

1929
Result of the Spring competition played in May 1929:
A. M Keillor (club captain), 74-10-64
Dickson Fleming, 85-20-65 
William Messer, 83-14-69


Result of the June 1929 gent’s monthly medal:
D Fleming, 84-20-64
W Messer, 79-14-65
A Anderson, 81-16-65
R Thomson, 93-28-


On Friday 19th July 1929 the final of the ladies’ competition for the Challenge Rose Bowl presented by Mrs Sharpe, The Park, took place. The winner was Miss Jennie Lunn;   Mrs W Donaldson was the runner-up. 

Playing in the August 1929 monthly medal, l Dr L G Campbell set a new course record of 32 – 5,3,3,4,3,4,4,3,3. The previous record was 36.   Playing in the same competition the following players qualified for the club championship; D Fleming, W Messer, J S Brockie, J A Hewitt, J Fairley, Dr L G Campbell, R Thomson and T Murray.

1936
The annual meeting was held in the Lesser Exchange Hall in December 1936, Mr D Denham presided. The treasurer submitted his financial report which was adopted.
The following office bearers were elected:
Captain, A R G Romanes 
Secretary, A R G Romanes
Treasurer, Miss M L Milton
Match secretary, A R G Romanes 
Ladies’ captain, Mrs W S Donaldson
Vice-captain, Miss N Hunter 
Competition secretary, Mr J Fairley
Ladies’ competition secretary, Miss I Mack
Committee of management – The Misses A D Douglas, I Mack, A Aitchison, A Millar, Mrs W Frater, Messrs D Denham, W Dobson, J Fairley, J Wilkie, D Fleming, T Fell.  

1939
The monthly medal winner for May 1939 was Miss J Whitelaw.
The June competition winner was Miss Margaret Spence.
Two stroke competitions were won by Mrs W Frater and Miss Whitelaw.
In a gentleman’s stroke competition R A Thomson and D W Denham tied.  

The final of the Wallace Silver Challenge Cup was played in July 1939 and was won by R Campbell who beat D D Fleming by 4 and 2.

1940  
The annual meeting was held in Rhymer’s Mill Canteen on Thursday 21st March 1940, Thomas Bell presided.

The whole of the committee of management were re-elected. Office bearers;
Captain, T Bell;
Vice-captain, R Henderson;
Ladies’ captain Miss N Hunter;
Joint secretaries, R Keddie and J Fairley; treasurer, Miss M L Milton;
Committee – T Bell, R Henderson, J Fairley, D W Denham, R Keddie, D Hunter; green committee – D W Denham, T Bell and J Fairley.

Postwar

Play was suspended during the duration of the war, but afterwards,  the Club  could not manage to survive due to lack of funds. . The course was subsequently used as a motorcycle scrambling circuit. There were hopes that the golf club and course could be resurrected but unfortunately this never materialised. 

Earlston Golf Club has, however, continued to have outings and competitions to various other courses in the country.   In 2000, 91 years after its start, it launched a new initiative to create the first golf course on the moon! 
 Read all about it in the next post on the Auld Earlston blog. 

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 Postcard of the First Earlston Golf Club Gymkhana  in 1908


moonlogo2.jpg 

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