Welcome

This is me in the garden—it shows that the sun does shine in these parts! In fact, the eastern Borders (of England and Scotland) has a good sunshine record and the average annual rainfall figure is not nearly as high as in the west, although the Cheviot Hills in England and the Lammermuir Hills in Scotland do attract more rain. Also, the River Tweed and its tributaries can produce some dramatic local flooding particularly after prolonged heavy downpours in the hills to the west. This is a fantastic place to live with attractive scenery on both sides of the Scotland/England border as seen from the photograph in the heading which is a view of the distant, snow-capped Cheviot Hills from the back of the house and from the photograph below which shows the Eildon Hills, as seen from Scott's View, near Melrose. 

Please have a look at the pages on my website by clicking on the tabs in the left hand column to learn more about me, my interests and my work. 

For the last four years, TillVAS volunteers (including me) have been working on excavations associated with the Battle of Flodden 1513. This year is the quincentenary of the battle and there will be many events leading up to the commemoration of the battle on 9 September and for many years beyond . 

We have worked under professional guidance at the supposed site of the encampment of James IV of Scotland on Flodden Hill and we have excavated and field-walked in many fields around the positions of the Scottish and English armies before the battle and the site of the battle itself, below Branxton Hill.

These excavations continue but funding has enabled additional sites to be excavated this year at Norham Castle and at Ladykirk. The photograph shows work in progress at Flodden Hill.