Peebles Guildry Corporation Annual Supper

The centuries old Guildry Corporation was once only second to the town council in terms of importance within the burgh and its fifty members were duly reminded of this in a toast by Scottish Borders Council convenor, Alasdair Hutton.

The honour of delivering a reply to Alasdair was given to Rev. Callum MacDougall, while Dr Declan Hegarty followed with a toast to the town and trade, he was replied to by local businessman, Bob Harrison.

The evening's revelry first began in the hotel's magnificent Bannockburn Room with a warm welcome from Dean of Guild, George Thorburn.

Chief Callant Davie Robb then added membership of another distinguished town body to his list, as he was initiated into the Guildry Corporation's brotherly fold.

Five courses of delightful fare followed from the Peebles Hydro kitchens. And well-fed and sated the guild members relaxed as John Fairless delivered a splendid rendition of Rudyard Kipling's On The Road to Mandalay', accompanied by David Love on piano.

Alasdair Hutton began his speech by reminding members that they were 'the inheritors of ancient rights and practices which stretch back into the mists of the fifteenth century.

"Then, you could keep your bonnet on in church but woe betide you if you did not remove it before a bailie. A councillor could be fined a handsome sum if he tried to speak without the permission of the provost.

"Thinking of some of our councillors in the Borders now, I am attracted by one privilege available to the Peebles Provost who, on October 14 1556, ordained 'the bailies to punish Robert Murray at their pleasure because they find him windy in his talking'. His penalty for disobedience was to be fastened in irons at the bailies' will.

"Speaking as convener of Scottish Borders Council I can say with feeling how much I wish I could have recourse to some of the old ways!" Alasdair then offered the assembled members an illuminating insight into the formation of Peebles' Guildry Corporation.

The first Peebles Dean of Guild, John Tuedy the Younger, was appointed on the October 4, 1647.

At first his principal duties were to ensure the proper use of weights used by traders but eventually the corporation's power grew to include complete control over all trade in and about the town.

Alas its power wained greatly over the centuries but Alasdair feels that now in this present age of cuts by both local and central goverment, some of its lustre may return.

He said: "Peebles has always been blessed with many groups and societies and the age of the Big Society is a time when this group could again play a strong part in the life of the town.

"The public sector in this country has been taking too much out of people's pockets for too long.

"It is always tempting for politicians at all levels to promise to do lots of things with other people's money but we have hit the buffers and Scottish Borders Council is now facing several years where we must lose a large slice of our budget each year and only a fool would make promises with money which we do not have and are not going to have.

"I do not expect the money available to SBC to bounce back to the levels we have grown used to in recent years, once it is down I expect it will stay down.

"So as the next few years unroll there will be an increasing number of tasks which people have expected Scottish Borders Council to do which it will not be able to do and I can see a growing role for a body such as this to help fill that vacuum.

"So, gentlemen, I urge you to look around your town and see where the gaps may be opening up and where you can step in to organise charitable and voluntary effort to provide what people need in Peebles." A reply was then made by Rev. Callum Macdougall, minister of Peebles Old Parish Church which was followed by another musical interlude courtesy of John Fairless and David Love, 'When the Sergeant Major's on Parade'.

Local GP Dr Declan Hegarty next delivered his toast to the town and trade.

He began by praising local businesses for evolving to meet new challenges such as online retail but he also urged further support for local shops.

Following this he spoke about his own trade and the pressures facing it.

He said: "As you are all aware there are significant cost pressures within the public sector. Although politicians will claim that they are not cutting services, NHS Borders this year alone need to make £7.5 million of efficiency savings and a not too dissimilar figure for next year also." He then explained about the proposed setting up of a health hub at Hay Lodge: "This will involve Dunwhinny Day Centre closing and being relocated alongside Hay Lodge Hospital. Ward 2 will close with a loss of 18 beds with Ward 1 increasing from 18 � 23 but an overall loss of 13 beds. "Ward 2 will then be converted to house both Firholm and Priorsford. Closing both the Firholm and Priorsford units will release money on a recurring basis as well as the benefits from selling off the properties.

"As part of the overall build reconfiguration process we hope to get an additional 1-2 consulting rooms within the health centres as we no longer have sufficient rooms for all the doctors and practice nurses.

"Having several departments under one roof will allow the pooling and sharing of knowledge. Increasingly many of the people in Hay Lodge Hospital have memory issues and having nurses with expertise on site from Firholm will make for better care.

"Unfortunately the major issue remains that a substantial number of beds will be cut in a time when we expect rising numbers of elderly. The hope is that there will be a quicker turn around with shorter lengths of stays. "In theory if you can half the length of stay then you only need half the beds.

However like many in the local community and also within the Bannockburn Room on Friday night, Dr Hegarty too has concerns about social work services being up to a standard required to support this health hub proposal.

He stated: "To make this work there needs to be additional resources for physiotherapy and occupational therapy to decrease rehabilitation time and facilitate quicker discharge. This requires investment in resources and I have concerns in the present climate that this will not be possible.

"At present our main stumbling block is the delay in social services providing a package of care, either to allow discharge home or placement in a residential or nursing home. In December last year there were 156 bed days blocked.

"This equates to five beds blocked per month which unfortunately has been a reasonably constant figure recently.

"If we cannot make this work when the beds are reduced then more people who could be treated in Hay Lodge will end up in the BGH and the service we can provide will deteriorate which no-one wants to see." Local garge owner Bob Harrison then made a humorous reply to this toast in which he light-heartedly but firmly urged members to get themselves checked for prostate cancer.

However speaking of trade in the town he warned: "Those of us in business, whether large or small, or in employment, are now facing a world in which many of the traditional values we thought we knew and understood are now all changed.

"We don't really fully appreciate the huge changes we face and so we need to learn quickly and adapt to ensure our community continues to develop." Fairless and Love then delivered rousing renditions of The Tweed is the Pride and Oklahoma, joined on the choruses by fifty would-be tenors.

Following this Davie Robb was absentmindedly welcomed as a new Callant by Sandy Craig, a Freudian nod, if any, to the community involvement of both men.

Sandy recovered well though delivering a hilarious speech that raised howls from all in attendance.

A vote of thanks was then given by Andrew Muir before Auld Lang Syne rang out to end the night.