THE project to regenerate a historic country hostelry has come in for a significant boost with the award of a £127,000 grant.

The extra cash will give planners more scope in their ambitious £2m-plus scheme to develop the Crook Inn at Tweedsmuir as a community hub.

The money from the Scottish Land Fund comes on top of grants of £10,000 each from the SSE Clyde and the Infinis Glenkerie Funds and £5,000 from the Tweedsmuir Community Company.

Duncan Davidson, the chairman of TCC, said: “This latest grant is fantastic news - it makes our project even more sustainable now.” The TCC was set up to save and restore the 17th century Crook Inn - one of Scotland’s oldest hostelries - and this grant will allow the company to buy more land at the site.

The land is the remainder of the original Crook Inn site that was retained by the landowner when it was purchased with community support in 2013. It runs to 1.14 hectares and includes the semi-derelict former owner’s house and listed outbuildings and part of the old Talla railway line.

The TCC’s aim is to preserve and develop the Crook Inn to support the Upper Tweed community and more widely tourism in Scotland by developing an impressive multi-faceted community hub.

Dr Davidson said: “The TCC is delighted with the substantial awards. They will dramatically increase the scope to develop and sustain our rural and isolated community, by enhancing the long-term viability of the Crook Inn Community Hub.

“The hub will provide opportunities for employment, learning and training, social and cultural life and in the support of local business. It also provides scope for innovative new developments at this historic site.

“We now have excellent plans for the Crook Inn, developed by our design team, WTArchitecture, in consultation with our community.

“The plans are for a sensitive renovation of the listed building together with new hospitality features a bistro/restaurant/café, altered bar, and new bedrooms. Although the Cook Inn has been offering hospitality for over 400 years this is a development for the 21st century.” In the short term the land purchase will allow expansion of parking facilities, relocation of the proposed wood-chip boiler system and storage facilities for the TCC.

In the longer term it will allow options for the development of diverse uses of the land - additional accommodation such as a bunkhouse and for staff, recreation facilities, small business units.

The next challenging hurdle is funding the expensive developments. The TCC will be making application to Big Lottery and other potential funders.