DOZENS raised a cup at Eddleston Parish Church to welcome a Bite and a Blether to the village.

The new community initiative allows people in the area to come together once a week for a catch-up.

There was also plenty of tea flowing as well as a healthy serving of bacon rolls.

Session Clerk Lorraine Mulholland told us: “Since the Village Shop closed a few years ago, we have heard many people saying how much they miss having somewhere where they can come together on an informal basis for a blether. “We are always looking for new ways to reach out into the community and decided what better way than to invite people to get together on a weekly basis in a friendly and relaxed environment to share a simple lunch.” Going by the first out a Bite and a Blether is an immediate success.

And there was a mixture of youngsters from the village school as well as the not-quite-so-young.

Eddleston Primary School headteacher Shirley Bean said: “The older pupils are currently working towards their Community Passports and we saw this as an ideal opportunity for them to help out at the Village Hall, to get to know some of the local residents and to feel like they are a valuable part of the community in which they live.” Local Peebles butchers and bakers, W T S Forsyths supplied the bacon and the rolls for the Wednesday initiative.

A Bite and a Blether will be held in the hall each Wednesday from 11.30am to 1pm.