BORDERS-based stonemasons John Beattie Memorials were involved in a last-minute repair to one of Scotland’s most visited landmarks last week.

The call for help saw Hawick masons Martin and David Beattie join Tim Purves to repair the headstone of Greyfriars Bobby’s master John Gray ahead of an important memorial event in Edinburgh.

The repair work was donated by funeral firm William Purves after they heard that Edinburgh City Council would be unable to fix the monument in time for an event which was being held to mark the 146th anniversary of John Gray’s death.

Tim Purves is the fifth generation of the Scottish family firm which now owns John Beattie Memorials as well as the funeral service side of the long established Borders business.

Mr Purves contacted the council to organise the repair and speaking to the Border Telegraph this week, he said: “We are always keen to do our bit for the communities we serve and it’s always important to give something back. We had the expertise and were only too willing and glad to help. We were delighted to be able to repair this extremely popular and well-loved landmark.”

The Hawick-based three-man team of memorial masons are highly skilled craftsmen providing memorials and stonemasonry expertise across the country from their Trinity Street office.

Most recently the team co-ordinated repairs to several notable heritage graves in Peebles and Jedburgh as well as providing memorial work for the 27 branches in the William Purves group.

The legend of Greyfriars Bobby dates back to the late 19th century.

The Skye terrier is said to have kept a constant vigil over the grave of his master John Gray in Greyfriars Kirkyard for 14 years following his death.

And last week as the snow hit the region with the vengeance, the staff at Beatties were out shovelling snow from pavements and driveways in various parts of the town after advertising their services for free on social media.

Mr Purves added: “We were only too happy to assist after the heavy snowfall. We value the strong links we have with the communities we serve and we are delighted to help when we can.”