at the end of the High Street, from Tweed Bridge. Ahead is the Buchan house (see 11 January), and continuing past the red door at the side (apparently the old front door on the High Street was red) will take you across Cuddy Bridge and into Old Town. To the right and in front of the Buchan house is the High Street. The buildings in shadow from the corner to the bay windows on the right were till about 18 months ago, the old police station, complete with cells in the basement, while the house with the dormer windows to the right of the photo was the police inspector's house.Now, over the road, the half-timbered building houses a pub downstairs and Italian restaurant upstairs. It didn't always look like this. In old photos it's stone fronted! On the other side of the bulding is the Parish Church - you can just see a tiny bit of the church tower. However I found out something rather interesting from the local newspaper this week about the nickname of the pub. Although it is really The Bridge Inn, formerly the Tweedside Inn, the local folk call it The Trust - and that is apparently due to the fact that when the bridge was widened in 1900, the town council wanted to buy it, and along with the bridge works improve the appearance of the inn. It was bought but for some reason never altered; the widened bridge re-opened, and the town council owned a pub which they really didn't know what to do with. Several ideas were suggested, including demolition, but in the end the lease was sold off to the East of Scotland Public House Trust Company, and that is how the nickname came into general use! Incidentally, the lease was a short one and since then the pub has changed hands several times.
As for the upstairs, it was a Chinese restaurant in recent years, with Chinese Frankie and his Italian wife in charge. One of their daughters married an Italian lad and when Frankie retired, the young couple took over to run it as the Italian restaurant it is today!
Hi Evee,
ReplyDeleteNice pictures of Peebles where I once lived. Left in 1969 for Sydney Australia but still have fond memories of Peebles. I remember watching England win the world cup in 1966 from the Bridge Inn, it was a very small pub but as I lived in Springhill Road it was my local. Is the police station still opposite it? Anyway please keep posting your pictures as they are much appreciated.
Andrew