In the 1950s an unusual and ambitious body was set up – the Tweed River Purification Board. This body viewed the Tweed as a whole, crossing local authority borders, and aimed to make the Tweed a clean and healthy river.
The make-up of the Board in 1954 was a sign of the times – including a Right Honourable Earl, a Provost, a Bailie, a His Grace the Duke, a Sir and a Captain. A River Inspector was appointed in 1954 – something really innovative. They couldn’t find anyone with the qualifications they wanted to work in the Borders for the salary on offer (£835/year). So they offered it to my father, Ian Waddington, in return for a promise to study with the Royal Institute of Chemistry.
The new inspector reviewed the state of the Tweed and its tributaries and concluded that they were “fairly clean”, but with pollution in at least 30 places, some of it “gross”. The main problem was un- or partially-treated sewage. Polluters included a farm with no Council waste collection and effluent from Melrose Burgh sewage works. He requested funds for a lab, as the service from the Edinburgh City Analysts was inadequate and very expensive (3 guineas per sample).
I have a few Board minutes and other papers from my father’s time in the Tweed River Purification Board which speak of the history of caring for the Tweed.
