A TV crew descended on Innerleithen last week to capture the spirit of the St Ronan’s Border Games.

As part of an upcoming DVD, the team from Castle Productions travelled to the Peeblesshire town to film the Cleikum ceremonies on Friday night and the games on Saturday.

The 60-minute documentary, called ‘Our River – Stories of the Tweed’, aims to capture the rich past of the towns along the river, through the built heritage, including some of the most important castles, abbeys, mansion houses, and the relics of the industrial past such as the woollen mills.

The production will tie the Border landmarks with the cultural heritage of the region, including the Ride Outs commemorating past battles or raids by the Border Reivers, and the summer festivals.

In the past the river has formed the basis for the local economy, with the woollen mills in the towns and the salmon net fisheries on the lower reaches, but these are now in decline or have disappeared altogether, and those who worked in them are getting older. 

Teams from the show hope to record the memories, dialect and local knowledge which are fast disappearing as people move away, industries close, and the workers pass away. 

The programme isn’t the only show to focus on the Tweed, a six-part TV programme The River aired last Autumn on BBC One Scotland.

The DVD is set to be released in November. Copies and digital footage will be lodged with the local archives at Hawick and Northumberland for use by the general public. 

Plans are currently being drawn up to hold screenings of the documentary at venues across the Borders upon its release in November.

Locals with memories, old photographs and documents to share can email the team at: castleproductions.uk@gmail.com. 

For updates and to follow the progress of the project, visit: www.facebook.com/OurRiverStoriesOfTheTweed