GALASHIELS Ex-Service Pipe Band paid tribute to one of their longest serving members last week.

Jimmy Rae, who was famed for playing his pipes on the top of Laidlaw & Fairgrieves and the Galashiels sawmill chimneys before they were demolished, took piping in the Borders to another level.

He was a member of Galashiels Ex-Service Pipe Band for almost 60 years and played the pipes around the world, including 50 Braw Lads' Gathering, before he died in 2007.

And, on Friday night, the band honoured him with a bench in Bank Street Gardens, Galashiels. It was unveiled by former band secretary Olive Hastie on Spurs Night, after the Braw Lad and Braw Lass meet the Selkirk Standard Bearer at Galafoot Bridge.

Pipe Major Drew Ness led the tributes before the band played Jimmy Rae, a tune he wrote in memory of his former band mate.