Fordy on a Friday - Graham Ford's Blog...
July 2010
16 July 2010 - Email: fordy@hawickonline.co.uk
A week prior to Hawick Common-Riding the staff at Peter Scott were hit by a bombshell with the announcement of the closure of the Buccleuch Street factory.
Sadly this week it was the turn of the loyal staff at Slumberdown to see their careers crash ahead of another local holiday period. In recent months the reduction of staff at the Burnfoot factory has been incessant and sadly this week has seen the axe fall on a further 60 staff leaving a skeleton team to run the once thriving factory into the ground.
The Slumberdown announcement came just a week after the Hawick News proudly celebrated the creation of seven new jobs at Turnbull & Scott's, sadly the good news was quickly obliterated by the devastating news from elsewhere in the town. You have to feel for the staff who would all have been hugely excited ahead of their summer holidays, but once again a loyal Hawick workforce is tossed on the scrapheap. It is wrong!
I said in my weekly blog back in June that the Hawick public should be demanding a public meeting to address what is now becoming a serious Hawick situation. Core jobs, core industry is being ripped from Hawick, and it is happening far too often. There are some glimmers of light on the horizon, including the take over of the Peter Scott name, the Turnbull & Scott jobs and the Sainsbury's project. But more must happen. The whole future of Hawick depends on it.
May I also wish all Teries a great Trades holiday, and enjoy your far flung adventures, hopefully it will offer some much needed solace at a time when their is far too much doom and gloom around.
9 July 2010 - Email: fordy@hawickonline.co.uk
Both locally and worldwide - there is a plethora of sport taking place. Just last weekend saw the culmination of Wimbledon, a tournament that I simply adore, while this weekend brings the World Cup in South Africa to and end. But as one sporting contest ends another swings to life. And my favourite sport is currently being thrust into the limelight.
This week has seen the Hawick Golf Club Championships taking place, for members it is one of their favourite weeks of the year. The qualifying for the Championships took place last Saturday over the Vertish Hill and what an atmosphere was generated. I was chuffed to qualify for the main club championship for the fifth time in my career. As the daw was being made in the clubrooms late on Saturday night, I found myself paired against 7-time Club Champion Allan Ballantyne. It was the last match out on the course on Monday evening, and personally for myself the culmination of a dream. Since a youngster I have always wanted to play Allan in the Club Championships, and despite losing the match at the 16th hole, I was far from disgraced in my own performance and I feel good about that. Last night (Thursday) was semi-finals night, and it is an evening which has grown in recent years. Now their are no fewer than 8 different categories all competing tonight, and it is the type of event that brings all members of the club out to support the various competitors.
At the same time the Barclays Scottish Open is underway at the glorious Loch Lomond and is an appetizer ahead of the Open Championship at St. Andrew's next weekend. The Open Championship is definitely one of my favourite sporting events of the year, and I will be glued to the action next weekend, although I may still end up going up to Fife to take in some of the live action.
Speaking of sports action, what do you make of the German octopus that has been predicting World Cup results? The creature seems to have been guessing correctly throughout the tournament, but sadly I don't think it thought things through too well on Wednesday when it decided to opt for Spain to beat the Germans. The octopus may have been correct but I can't see its hosts being too pleased, and I fear it may not be around to celebrate even if it does predict the winner of the final between Spain and Holland.
Fordy's Blog - June 2010
Fordy's Blog - May 2010
Fordy's Blog - April 2010
Fordy's Blog - March 2010
Fordy's Blog - February 2010
Fordy's Blog - January 2010