The Post Office will be open in Garvald Village Hall from this Thursday, 9th July, at the usual time of 10-12 am . 

Hand sanitiser will be available ; one customer at a time; doors will remain open at all times; there will be a Perspex screen between PO staff and customers and contactless payment is preferred.

Douglas Findlay, whose window cleaning services many Garvald households use, has asked for the following information to be shared with the village:

Many of you in Garvald will know me as Douglas the ‘window cleaner from Tranent’. Unfortunately I am having to share information of a material change in my circumstances. You will realise once you have read this just how difficult this is for me.

Regrettably  I have to inform my customers that I shall not be returning to Garvald to keep cleaning your windows. I have not been in the best of health for while, almost a year to be honest. Since September of last year when I began to feel unwell, I have undergone a range of tests and medical examinations which, until recently, had all been clear. However in April the symptoms returned and I have since undergone detailed scans, both in Haddington and Edinburgh, which have revealed Cancer of the Oesophagus which has spread into my lungs, lymph nodes and my liver. I am awaiting further results which will reveal where exactly I stand.

I’m absolutely sure you will all understand that my working life is over, that if I get through this that I would not want to return to my work. I do hope that I would be able to pay you all a social visit to say a thank you for your custom over the years; I’ve worked out that it’s been 18 years that I’ve been doing Garvald and 20 years at Cousland in Midlothian. It’s not the most glamorous of jobs but I do know that I was appreciated and I will miss the friendly banter, the dogs, and the wee ones.

I would like to mention Gillian and Rufus Bellamy and Mr and Mrs Barnes. Gillian, I never thought that I would need Wellington boots to clean windows, Mrs Barnes I will miss your cafetiere of coffee and shortbread on my visits.

I’m sure you can all realise that this has come as a bombshell to me and my family which is why I’ve taken so long to get in touch with the village.

Kind regards, Douglas.

A few months short of her 100th birthday, Bette passed away in Muirfield
Care Home, Gullane which had been her home for the past three years.

A visitor to Garvald for weekends and holidays from her home in Leith
for almost 90 years, she was a loyal supporter of village events, helping
in the kitchen and baking for the teas. She also attended Garvald
Church, and her 80th birthday saw her extended family join her in the
Stables for a surprise celebration.

She always took a keen interest in the latest village news, and had a
remarkable memory for stories of the people she had met and events
which had happened during her remarkable life.

Her funeral will be held at 10am on Friday 3rd July at Seafield
Crematorium, under the Coronavirus restrictions, but can be live
streamed by using the link:

www.wesleymedia.co.uk/webcast-view 
Login/OrderID: 38106
Password: chfsrzfu

Our condolences go to her son, Mark, at Ballymoss.

Alasdair has managed to get round most of Garvald and take photos of households; he has had a few ‘no answers’ however. Therefore, if you want to be involved and he missed you – or you are in one of the outlying areas he has not reached yet – please use the contact form below to request a date/time for him to visit you. Afternoons between 2 and 3.30pm is best – or some early evenings. We are trying to complete this by WEDNESDAY 10TH JUNE so that the photos can get printed and ready for display!

As well as a physical display in the village hall/church, we thought it might be nice to include the final photos in the Gallery section of the Garvald.org website. Please get in touch if you would prefer your photo not to be included on the website version.

See the link here: Ducks

Some lively ‘residents’ of the village – specifically the Runner Ducks along the Carfrae road – will feature on ‘Landward’ this week. The short video (taken by Phillip White) will make up part of the viewers’ montage section of the programme. It can be seen at the following times:

• Thursday 28th May at 8pm on the BBC Scotland channel

• Friday 29th May at 7.30pm on BBC One Scotland

• Sunday 31st May at 9am on BBC Two

Please see previous post on 15th May for details.

For those who wish to be involved, Alasdair will come round the following areas of the village, on the dates below, between 2 – 3.30pm – ish: 

Wednesday 20th May – Westpoint to Papana Cottages, No.1

Thursday 21st May – The Rowans to The Garvald Inn (both sides, including No.s 5 – 8 Council Houses)

Friday 22nd May – Burnside Court to Braefoot (south side of street)

Monday 25th May – 4 Council Houses to Whitelaws (north side of street)

Tuesday 26th May – bottom of brae/T-junction round to Africa (both sides)

Wednesday 27th May – Kirkbrae and Garvald Grange

Thursday 28th May – Tanderlane and Garvald Mains

Friday 29th May – Nunraw Barns and surrounding area

More outlying areas of Garvald: if you wish your photo to be taken for this project, please use the contact form, below, to request and organise a time for Alasdair to visit with his camera (on his bike!):  

Over the next week or so, Alasdair (12) will be coming round the village, taking photos of families/households standing in their doorways – maintaining safe distances, of course! This will form a display, either in the village hall or the church, to document the current situation and those who are living in the village at this time. There is no obligation to participate – and there is no dress code! Pets can join in – and it would be interesting if people could bring to the door whatever they are working on at that moment in time: baking, crafts, building things, weeding, decorating, etc…

Please let those who are not online know. Posters will appear in the noticeboards and we will try to work out a ‘timetable’ of days/times he will cover specific areas of the village. Details to follow!

Please remember to put your brown bins out early (by 7am) on Saturday morning for emptying!

Message from Penny Short – Emergency Resilience Co-ordinator:

Hi everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. If you’re bored & want to do something great during lockdown why don’t you consider sewing some face masks or “scrubs bags”? Tracy Thomson is making scrubs bags from pillowcases & Kathleen Harrison is making face masks & we wondered if there were other people in the village who would like to be involved in this voluntary effort. The scrubs bags are for hospital workers at Roodlands (& other hospitals if we get enough) & allow them to safely wash their uniforms. The face masks aren’t medical grade but would help local people stay safe if they wish – & both will be free of charge. If you are interested please let me know & more details can be provided in a separate group where patterns & advice can be shared. As an added incentive Tracy has offered a fantastic Singer sewing machine free to anyone who wants to help with this effort. If you can’t sew for toffee you can still help by donating materials – especially elastic. We need fine weave cotton fabric that can withstand a 60 degree wash – & the more pillowcases the better. Please use the contact form below if you can help & I’ll co-ordinate replies & donations. Thank you.

The Scottish Government now advise wearing face coverings when in enclosed spaces, shopping, etc. Some free (home-made using a double layer of washed, high thread count, quilting cotton off-cuts) will start appearing in the Garvald Book Exchange (the old phone box) once the elastic arrives – hopefully by the weekend. Please help yourself. I will replenish as needed/production speed allows!