Beltane stalwarts awarded Tweeddale Citizens of the Year 2010

Published 26 Feb 2010 13:05 Comments 1 Comment

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David Turnbull and Allan Beveridge were jointly named Tweeddale Citizen of the Year last week

TWO of Peebles' best known faces took the honours at the Tweeddale Citizen of the Year Award last week.

Allan Beveridge and David Turnbull were awarded the prize in recognition of their role as joint secretaries of the Peebles March Riding and Beltane Queen Festival Committee.

At a ceremony held in the Council Chambers last Thursday (February 18), the pair were presented with their award by Councillor Graham Garvie.

Councillor Garvie read out the nomination that secured their award, which cited the hard work and dedication both Allan and David had shown over the years.

He said: "This nomination represents the opportunity to recognise the exceptional length of service given freely by these two individuals.

"The nominees are dedicated to their roles in the Beltane Committee. Lengthy service, conscientious effort, enthusiasm and active involvement can all be used to describe the valuable work they willingly give to their tasks year on year.

"Their joint service has been a great asset to the Royal Burgh of Peebles."

Allan and David first took up the position of joint secretary in 1976, when the previous secretary emigrated to South Africa and put their names forward as successors.

Friends since childhood, both David and Allan followed a similar path through life.

Both attended St. Joseph's Primary followed by Peebles High School, before undertaking stints as apprentices and then eventually both joining the police force in 1974.

Taking to the floor, David and Allan spoke of the many changes they had witnessed in Peebles over the years, as well as recounting many fond memories of the Beltane Festival.

David took the opportunity to remember some of the funnier occurrences at Beltane, such as the time he and Allan forgot to pick up the Coronet's flag on the Wednesday night and the year racehorse Red Rum was booked without their knowledge at huge expense.

He also told guests at the ceremony about the time he and Allan decided that a stirrup cup of rum and milk would be a good idea on the day.

"That was a 'bright' idea - it took us so long to get the mixture just right that by the time we did we were well and truly sloshed."

Over the years both David and Allan have been recognisable during the ride-out thanks to their distinctive red coats - which they revealed had nothing to do with making them stand out.

David revealed the real reason they wore the jackets was that when they first started with the committee they were both broke, but he had a friend who worked for the hunt and was able to sneak them the jackets for free.

Summing up their work with the Beltane Committee over the past three decades Allan said: "The Beltane is in our blood and indeed in the blood of most Peebles folk and many others who have come to live in our midst.

"We very much enjoy doing what we do, it is hard work, but the pleasure we get when we see the committee's work coming to fruition is most satisfying.

"We would like to stress that there is and always has been a very large hard working committee carrying out tasks of all sorts for months in advance of Beltane Week."

David added: "We would like to thank everybody involved in giving us this honour, but at the same time remind them that we are only here because of the hard work of our committee along with the many non-committee helpers within the community."

This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 26 Feb 10

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Valerie Anne Askew
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Feb 27, 14:28
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I got onto the Peebleshire website through BBC Scotland which is registered in my favourite site.

When I read about the award to two Peebles citizens my thoughts strangely went to the two names before I even saw the photos.

Since i was a young girl in Peebles and friends with both Alan's twin sisters and David's sister I can always remember them as an active part in the Beltane, especially when Alan was Cornet.

I was fortunate to get back to Peebles for the 2009 Beltane and was thrilled to see both Alan and David on the ride-out.So I would like them to get my fondest congratulations for a well merited award.

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