Eagle news

Roadworks

2007-01-15T10:14:00.000Z

The A7 is closed at Langholm from 15 January for around 10 days. The diversions look slow: they're on B roads. You may wish to reconsider your route into Scotland if you would normally take the A7 from Carlisle via Hawick.

Some new drinks and some old ones

2006-12-23T22:28:00.000Z

Cherry sourz has joined its more popular Apple-y cousin.

Our cask ale is now usually either Hadrian and Border's Legion Ale or Wylam's Gold Tankard. Both are made in or near Newcastle. We try to make sure there's always cask ale available, but we have some bottled ales as well. These are Black Sheep from the brewery of the same name in Masham and Hobgoblin from Wychwood in Oxfordshire.

New drinks

2006-06-20T18:45:00.000Z

Pilsener Urquell has arrived at the Spread. Any beer described as a "pilsener style" is a copy of this one. Light, very hoppy and thoroughly delicious.
We also have one or two weirdities for the world cup. We have a few Cusquena beers from Peru, some Carib beer from Trinidad and some Crocodile lager from Sweden. Once the remaining stock is finished we won't be getting any more.
Permanent fixtures are Andechs Hell, Spezial Hell and Weisse, Budvar, Zywiec and Holsten Pils are also available and if you're driving we have Holsten Pils Alcohol free.

13th May 2006

2006-05-13T20:07:00.000Z

We've got draught Kronenbourg (several weeks ago) and new supplies of Andechs Weisse, Andechs Hell and Andechs Spezial Hell. For more on the Andechs brewery look here

Friday 24th March

2006-03-24T21:06:00.000Z

On promotion while stocks last...

Archers Aqua
Smirnoff Black Ice
WKD Iron Brew
All the above are £1.80

Soft drinks: Limonata and Aranciata (Lemonade and Orangeade) from San Pellegrino have arrived and cost £1.20 a can

Farne Island continues to be our house ale.

Thursday 2nd March 2006

2006-03-02T19:32:00.000Z

Bar:
We've got some Czech Budweiser (Budvar) so you can see how far the American version has strayed.

We have fresh supplies of Zywiec (Polish Pilsener style beer)

Smirnoff Black Ice remains on promotion at £1.80(about a dozen left)

Sunday 26 Feb 2006

2006-02-26T14:15:00.000Z

Guest Ale:
Our guest ale for the forseeable future will be Farne Island from the Hadrian and Borders brewery in Newcastle.

Direct from cask!
As our cellar is a long way from the bar, the ale travels through the chilled dispense system and becomes excessively cold. Because of this we've taken to dispensing directly from the cask. This gives a much better looking pint at a more acceptable temperature.

Promotions:
Smirnoff Black Ice £1.80 while stocks last (normally £2.20)

Continental beers

We're going to change the range of continental beers. We currently have 5 beers from the Andechs brewery in Munich, but I have to drive to Glasgow Airport to pick them up.

Currently remaining:
Andechs Weisse (about 20)
Andechs Dunkel Weisse (about 15)
Andechs Hell (about 20)
Andechs Spezial Hell (only 2 left)
Andechs Bergbock Hell (about 15)

Continental beers currently stocked
Poland:
Zywiec

Continental beers planned once the Andechs runs out:
Pilsener Urquell
Budvar
Leffe Blonde
Erdinger Weisse
{if there is anything you'd like to see us stock please leave a comment}

Room news
Once renovations get under way (anticipated: April) room 9 will be unavailable.

A first note

2006-02-26T14:13:00.000Z

Lorna spent yesterday updating the Spread Eagle website. Since this isn't something that can be done in a few seconds We'll use this blog for occasional announcements that don't warrant a major rewrite.
The kinds of things we're thinking of are drinks promotions, events, special offers and stuff like that.

A final note

2006-02-03T17:48:00.000Z

Because it's difficult to separate the renovations from the running of the hotel I have decided to discontinue this blog and put all future posts here instead.

Getting up to speed

2006-01-18T20:56:00.000Z

Our project manager arrived today and spent the morning poring over plans, faxes, emails and drawings in an attempt to work out what needs to be done. The plan to underpin the function room wall using skewer beams resting on the pend walls has a flaw. The flaw is that the pend walls, in common with the rest of the building have no discernible foundations so it's impossible to certify the job as a permanent fix.

The alternative plan, which has the advantage of being cheaper, involves supporting the skewer beams on vertical steel girders located inside the cellars on either side of the pend. New foundations will be built for the vertical girders. The project manager reckons that this will save enough money to allow the function room and adjacent room (we'll have to stop calling it the dining room since it isn't any more) to be re-instated. We like that bit.

Other jobs that will kick off next Monday are:

- The improvement to the rear of the building - better drainage, lighting and surfacing

- Repairs to the bedroom windows

- Strip out and cladding of the old kitchen

- Loft insulation

- Upgrade to the lounge bar (which will become the new dining room)

I'd better get some "before" pictures taken.

We have a cunning plan...

2005-12-13T16:47:00.000Z

After a site visit by the project managers, the structural engineer and one of the builders, a plan has been formulated to sort out the wall debacle that you'll all know about if you've been paying attention.
Briefly, the bedrooms are supported on two colossal wooden beams which rest on the brick wall dividing the function room from the old dining room. The wall itself rests on the wooden floor of the function room. Bad design guys! Anyway, having looked at the site today, the consensus is that the best approach is to remove the brick wall totally (having propped up the beams above first of course) and then install steelwork to take its place. The previous plan involves trying to insert steel beams under the wall. We didn't like that plan and neither did the builders.
Work's due to start in January on that, the refurb of the upstairs kitchen, the lounge bar and the creation of three new bedrooms on the main stair from the front hall. The fact that we have had to turn away 5 guests on a cold Tuesday in December tells us that there's demand there for more bedrooms. Work will also start on services (electricity, plumbing, drainage: boring but necessary) which will be upgraded as the work continues.

More investigations

2005-12-10T08:41:00.000Z

The builders were back to find out where exactly the beams supporting the bedrooms are, so that the structural steelwork can be positioned accurately. A strip was removed from the dining room ceiling and the beams exposed. The whole top floor is supported by two big beams... both of which are supported by THAT wall.

Under pressure

2005-11-20T21:47:00.000Z

The plasterboard's been removed in the pend below the function room and some acroprops have been inserted.
'scuse these pictures being the wrong size. I will sort that later.
The five big beams holding up the wall above are under colossal strain

This one has cracked right through, and the crack is not old.

So now we know where we stand (not under here anyway) we can get some remedial work done. The quick fix (which isn't really either of these things) involves inserting steel beams between the stone walls of the pend and building up brickwork beneath the wall. With the current supports in such an unsafe condition we are more than a wee bit nervous about this.

The better solution involves propping up the bedroom floors with more acroprops, removing the brick wall completely, and building a new lightweight steel structure. Since it's going to be messy and expensive anyway we may as well have the job done properly.

Skyhooks

2005-11-11T21:50:00.000Z

The planning officer from Borders council was here yesterday with our architect. She was shown the precarious wall (postings passim/ad nauseum) and agreed that it would have to come down.

There's a temporary fix which involves inserting skewer beams (whatever the hell they are) beneath the wall and insterting packing between them and the old floorboards. A more permanent fix involves removing the wall completely and inserting structural steelwork to support the bedrooms above. We're pressing for the permanent solution since a lot of the money will be workmen's time. We also want a door between the two rooms to give a function suite.

This will be a big job.

All in all it's just another brick in the wall

2005-10-19T19:37:00.000Z

The wall in question being the one between the function room and old dining room. It's built of brick, weighs around 3 tons and supports the bedroom floors above. It is held up by a wooden floor of great antiquity whose supporting joists are "stressed to the limit" to quote the structural engineer. (That's the printable part of his report). So as soon as we get quotes in, there will be some steel girders installed beneath it which will stop it moving any further. Levelling the floor will come later.

Roof repairs - the saga continues

2005-10-12T13:56:00.000Z

Finlaysons are back and have erected scaffolding to repair the gutters above the vennel at the back door. The entire back roof drains into a single gutter which then drains onto the lower roof. All this water comes whooshing down into the gutter and the effect is a bit like where you turn on the kitchen tap forgetting about the upturned spoon in the sink.

Investigations

2005-09-18T14:50:00.000Z

Work is to start in the next month or so to take down the plasterboard above the vennel to see what's up there. Actually we know what's up there - there's a wooden floor with a brick wall built in the middle of it. What we want to know is what state it's in and what we need to do to it.

The general consensus is that the wall will have to be removed and replaced by a steel beam and stud partition, but we'd have to get the structural engineer to declare it unsafe. That shouldn't be difficult since the floor is severely bowed and the walls show signs of relatively recent movement.

Everything in the (beer) garden's luvverly

2005-07-12T20:19:00.000Z

The beer garden's now in use and, contrary to my gloomy predictions there have been a lot of hot sunny days. The signage appears to be OK as we haven't found too many people wandering about looking lost. The woodwork in the kitchen corridor's been painted - quite nice, a sort of pinkish grey, and completely different from the colour shown on the paint chart. We have two six seater picnic tables complete with parasols and cast iron bases. The lighting has been much admired and I'll get some pictures of it in time for the next post.

A whiter shade of pale

2005-06-21T19:24:00.000Z

The painters were in yesterday and today to paint the walls outside the back door. Dark glasses are now required before going outside. The back wall and the breeze block wall have also been painted white and all that's required is some furniture and some plants.

Also here today were Q*** along with an electrical surveyor and D**. There's going to be a planning meeting tomorrow when we decide what needs done, when and how. Then the planning application can go in and hopefully in 12-16 weeks we'll get the go ahead.

Meanwhile, the surveyor says that the wall between the function room and the dining room is in a bad state. Looking at the plans, it's clear that it is a brick wall supported on some fairly dodgy wooden beams. We need to take down the ceiling over the approach to the beer garden for some investigation. If rot has set in to the joists (probable) then the wall will need to be removed for safety reasons.

Joinery and electrical work

2005-06-17T13:16:00.000Z

A new door was fitted to the kitchen corridor and the new lights were installed outside on the route to the beer garden.

Some before and afters are here

For possibly the first time in 30 years, work has been carried out by skilled tradesmen meeting at least some of the required standards instead of being lashed together by pub customers after a few pints.

That's pleasing. And it shows just how badly all the rest of the work here has been done over the years.

Even more pleasing was the fact that it rained heavily yesterday and the roof did not leak.
Roofing:
Tradesmen recommended: Finlaysons of Galashiels.
Tradesmen NOT recommended: Roofing Direct of Edinburgh

Electrical
Tradesmen recommended: Scott & Foggon of Jedburgh
Tradesmen not recommended: Almost anyone who's worked at the hotel in the last 100 years.

Lux

2005-06-13T21:28:00.000Z

Otherwise lumens per metre squared. A measure of illumination. We need about 200-250 lux in our beer garden. We hope that the wee stainless steel lamps will provide this. The electrician is drilling through the (very thick) walls to install them now. And the paving's continuing and beginning to look really good. The beer garden should be open by the weekend.

Decked out

2005-06-11T14:41:00.000Z

The decking in the beer-garden-to-be is finished and looks pretty good. They're coming back on Monday to start laying slabs on the rest of the area. Lighting's starting then too, though the nice stainless steel fittings we've chosen won't give a huge amount of light and a SON floodlight may be necessary too.

Q**** s on holiday this week, but returns on Monday and an electrical surveyor's coming on Tuesday to see what needs done to the wiring. Lots we suspect.

It rained last night. The roof still leaks:-(

Roofing - the saga continues

2005-06-08T18:52:00.000Z

The repaired roof also leaked like a sieve. "Not our fault" cried the roofers. "B**ll**ks" we wittily replied. It seems that having repaired a fault in the lead valley, the water was now being correctly channelled down... into another big hole that was really obvious - you couldn't miss it.

We've been here before (see postings passim) but with Q***** in charge (and not paying a penny until we've had several days of heavy rain) we are confident that we will eventually have a watertight roof.

The planning department of the council have issued a stop notice preventing our doing any further work until a detailed planning application has been submitted. That doesn't hold up the beer garden which is well under way and looking pretty good. But it does prevent us starting any other work for at least 12 weeks.

While you're waiting for that to happen, have a look at http://runningspreadeagle.blogspot.com

Rolling stones

2005-05-30T19:40:00.000Z

Work began this morning to remove the ruins of the end outbuilding. The back wall's being retained and two buttresses are being constructed to stabilise it. This is part of phase 2 (or is it 1b?) work to create the beer garden. The overall plan is to pave the current courtyard area beside the ex-boiler house. Later, the boiler house will be removed as will the breeze block wall at the end of the courtyard. A wall built with stone reclaimed from today's operation will be built later. Of course the boiler house and breeze block wall are both listed (listing applies to the site not specific buildings) so we can't go ahead with that part of the project until planning permission and listed building consent are given.

Also now requiring planning permission and listed building consent is the conversion of the old owners' accommodation into a suite. That'll delay work a bit, but there are other things we can get on with such as refitting the laundry store above room 9 and setting up room 8 as our office.

Pop goes the Henry

2005-05-26T07:16:00.000Z

The removal of all unnecessary debris from the old owners rooms has been completed and we have a shell. Q*** V*** and D** are here and plans are being shown, coffee drunk and presentations made.
Work will start on the beer garden on Monday. This will also include tidying up the half demolished outbuildings at the rear of the hotel. Work will also begin to sort out the mess the previous roofers left. The main slating work is adequate, but much of the leadwork and guttering was very poor.
After a brief investigation above the office ceiling, we brought out our splendid British made vacuum cleaner (called Henry) to clear up the dust. Henry was duly plugged in, switched on, went "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee -BANG!" and is now on the skip.

Seeing the wood for the trees

2005-05-24T06:35:00.000Z

The lower room of the old owners rooms has been stripped out. As we thought, the middle wall used to be an external wall and it has a window in the middle of it. V**** the architect suggested this as a feature in the bathroom which will be in the middle of the suite. The rest of the room is now a shell with bare walls and beams. Q**** is coming tomorrow to see how things are going.

The floor outside rm 9 has been reinstated and appears OK apart from minor problems with one board. We hope to have this room usable by friday.

Deconstruction

2005-05-20T17:11:00.000Z

The old owners rooms were partially demolished today. These two rooms will form a suite, though the layout is difficult. The rooms are entered off a turn on the main stair and then you go up a short flight of stairs to one room and down a short flight of stairs to the other. The plan is to have the upper room as the bedroom and the lower one partially as ensuite and more beds. In the short term we'll move in there to allow the development of the rooms we're in as a family and double ensuite. Later there are plans to open up the roof area of the old owners area to make more room up there.

Meanwhile Q*** s roofer arrived and declared Roofing Direct's effort a disaster area. I won't all have to be redone, but there are substantial shortcomings.

Ye canny change the laws of physics

2005-05-19T11:52:00.000Z

So, the water board folks arrived to fit a new 30mm meter in place of the 15mm one. They dug a big pit around the old meter and were about to fit the new one, when I checked that the connecting pipes were also 30mm.
Workmen - "No, no they're 25mm"
Me - "So what's the point of fitting a 30mm meter to a 25mm pipe then?"
Workmen - "Oh, it won't make any difference. The 30mm meter will give a better flow rate than the 15mm. Far better"
Me - "Maybe so, but not as good as if it was connected to the right size of pipe"
Workmen - "Oh, no, it won't make any difference. The 30mm meter will give you much better flow rate. Beautiful plumage"

OK, they didn't say that last bit. I phoned their supervisor who, for an employee of a water company seemed also to have great difficulty getting his head round the concept that the flow rate of water in a pipe is determined by its narrowest point.

They're fitting the new meter now, but it looks as if the pipe from the stopcock in the street may have to be replaced.

Nearly there

2005-05-11T07:17:00.000Z

Hot water was reconnected yesterday. We confidently predicted that this would mean we wouldn't get any guests, but we have two.
The water is a direct fed pressurised system (relatively new to the UK, but commonplace elsewhere) and the result is that the flow rate's much better. It'll be even better when the new bigger water meter is installed.
One slightly odd side effect of these unvented systems is that the hot water comes out looking like soda water - slightly fizzy and almost white in colour. We hope this doesn't freak the guests out too much (it's less noticeable in the bedrooms anyway).

Pouring cold water

2005-05-10T08:40:00.000Z

The plumbers have now turned their attention to the hot water system and have begun by disconnecting the old system and going home. So we had to turn away 7 tourists who were looking for accommodation because there was no hot water. Fortunately the coffee machine still works or I'd be REALLY tetchy!
Work continues to remove the old heating pipes. The wee ones can be cut with an alligator saw (like a big motorised hacksaw) but the big ones need an angle grinder.
Q****** is back on Thursday to discuss our plans and V**** the architect is coming on Friday - so we need to do a brainstorm of how we want the place to look and work before then.

Flame on!

2005-05-07T07:23:00.000Z

So the heating's working and seems to do the job, though the layout of some of the zones seems to have been done to suit the plumbers rather than us.

Q**** the project manager turned up yesterday. Various suggestions were made, one of which is to get the beer garden done as soon as possible. Because listing applies to the entire site rather than specific buildings we need listed building consent to remove the boiler shed, so we may have to leave it for the moment.

The rest of the short to medium term plans involve creating the new bedroom out of the old owners' accommodation. This is a difficult site and will probably involve re-laying the stairs to meet fire regulations. Once that's done we can move in there and create a family room and a double room (with ensuites) from the four rooms we're in just now.

Wires and roofs

2005-05-04T16:23:00.000Z

The electrician was in today wiring up the new heating system - no easy matter due to the multiple zones and multiple boilers. Meanwhile the leaks in the roof continue. We've decided that even if the roofers are coming back we don't really want to see them. The plumbers had a roofer to make the holes in the roof for the boiler chimneys - we're going to get him back to see if we can at least make the place watertight.

The big cast iron radiators have been taken out and will be collected by architectural salvage tomorrow. Most of the new ones are installed - the pipework's nearly done and the guys hope to have the system running by the weekend.

Project management arrives (about time too)

2005-05-02T07:30:00.000Z

In a project of this (or any) size where there are several different tradesmen working together, it's as well to have some means to co-ordinate them. For example we've nearly finished the heating, but on reflection it might have been better to have the function room floor re-laid before putting pipes under it.

Q***** the project manager was staying at the hotel as a guest and got involved in our plans. I suspect that this will turn out to be one of our better decisions because it takes the day to day co-ordination of the project out of our hands leaving us free to run the business.

A draining experience

2005-04-24T17:30:00.000Z

With a great deal of whooshing and gurgling the old central heating system has been drained. Given the size of the building and the pipes, this took a while. Next we get the plumbers to disconnect the radiators and call in the architectural salvage folk in Edinburgh to take them away.

Getting anyone to take away the scrap piping is a bit harder as there's almost no value in scrap iron (unless you're buying it of course). Probably best to hire a skip as there's no shortage of junk needing thrown away.

Two weeks (estimated) till the new system's finished.

Communication breakdown

2005-04-19T14:15:00.000Z

The heating engineers tell me that they had thought we were going to be closed during their installation.

No.

We are continuing to accept visitors and are trying to minimise the number of missing floorboards for them to fall through. Meanwhile, the roofer they are getting to deal with the installation of boiler flues came and looked at the work R****** D***** had done and was not mightily impressed. He will come and remedy the situation, hopefully next week.

Not much else happening this week.

In with the new

2005-04-14T07:34:00.000Z

The heating engineers are getting on well and so far are keeping external piping to an absoltue minimum.

Paving at the back is finished and looking good and even the roofers have been in touch. Seems that R****** D***** is a one man band and the one man has broken his arm in a car accident.

The heating engineers are bringing a roofer along next week to fit the chimneys for the new boilers, so we'll ask him to take a look and see if he can sort the problem.

Pipe up

2005-04-08T07:14:00.000Z

The heating engineers have been here for a week and things appear to be going to plan. Because the old system uses huge pipes which run vertically from cellar to roof, it has so far been possible to install the new system while keeping the old one working. This is a good thing because the temperature outside has dropped to somewhere near freezing. We hope to be able to minimise the length of time we have to do without heating - possibly to only a week or so.

The Watergate affair

2005-03-30T21:07:00.000Z

Right, let me run this past you and see if you spot anything odd. The roofers' estimate said they would thoroughly check over the entire roof. They came back this morning and said that the water was coming in because there was a big hole in a "watergate" in the angle of the roof (I thought they were called gulleys, but that shows how much I know) and that it was obvious really - you couldn't miss it.

So why did they miss it?

What else have they missed?

Apres moi le deluge!

Splosh Glug Splish

2005-03-28T20:46:00.000Z

So I spoke too soon.
Heavy rain this morning resulted in an indoor swimming pool in the unused room above the kitchen and an ornamental water feature in the kitchen. Trying to load the dishwasher while getting rained on is not the best start to anyone's day.
Of course it's Easter Monday, so the roofers are not around. They are supposed to turn up tomorrow. I don't feel any particular urge to be polite to them. On a slightly more positive note, the other two areas that were re-roofed appear to be watertight.

Drying out

2005-03-25T16:21:00.000Z

Roofing work is complete apart from a Velux window to be fitted to the back kitchen. I'd foolishly assumed that a window would be fitted to the new roof in the same place as it was in the old one. Of course not!

Slab laying was suspended yesterday. The folk working on the paving got upset by the roofers habit of throwing unwanted building materials off the scaffolding without looking down first. Health and safety? What's that all about then?

The heating engineer called to arrange delivery of materials next Thursday with a view to starting the work the following Monday. Architectural salvage are interested in the old cast radiators. We're not.

Raindrops keep falling

2005-03-14T16:19:00.000Z

Intermittent showers in the rooms above the bar. It seems that the roofers underestimated the number of slates needed and have gone home leaving two rows of slates missing.

Flagstones and asbestos

2005-03-14T08:19:00.000Z

The builders are back to re-lay the flagstones which were taken up to mend the drains. The previous layout was a mixture of flagstones, tar, concrete and anything else previous builders had by them. There aren't enough flagstones to cover the whole area, so we'll have to get some new (synthetic) ones and hope they don't look too naff next to the originals.
The roofers are coming back today to replace the asbestos roof on the back kitchen and deal with some other minor problems which are too boring even to put here.
Samples of insulation from the old heating pipes were sent for analysis and apparently do not contain asbestos. This is good news as it means that the old pipes can be removed from the cellars.

A roof over our heads

2005-03-10T07:56:00.000Z

The delayed roofing work got under way this week. The part of the building which contains the public bar is being re-slated and the work should be complete this week. Some other minor repairs will be done next week.
Meanwhile, the drainage work is complete and the kitchen corridor has been re-laid with new cement.

Excavations

2005-03-05T07:05:00.000Z

The builders were back this week digging a trench along the kitchen corridor for the installation of a new drain which will connect with the main drain they replaced last week. Under the concrete were what looked like flagstones, but on closer examination they were some kind of manufactured stone - furnace bricks, the builders suggested. Under that was bare earth with big rocks in it, suggesting that the ground preparation wasn't particularly thorough. Foundations? You must be kidding!
Anyway, the pipe's laid and the guys will be back on Monday to replace the concrete.

Roofing put off until Monday. Central heating set for April. Can't come soon enough - I am fed up having to walk down to the boiler room in the dark to turn the heating on.

Roofing (or the lack of it)

2005-03-01T09:10:00.000Z

Weather is fine here, but the roofers are in Edinburgh where it's snowing, so the work's been delayed another couple of days.
Work continues to reinstate the woodwork in the dining room which was removed for rot treatment.
And we think there might be a small outbreak of woodworm in the breakfast room. Hopefully the insurance policy we inherited will cover this. The joys of owning a historical (hysterical?) building! Time for another coffee.

To date

2005-02-26T15:09:00.000Z

Work to date (apart from learning how to operate a bar, wrestle with payroll, incompetent utility companies and people trying to sell cheap telephone services) has
consisted of...

Fruiting bodies R us! Yes, one of the first things we discovered was a crop of dry rot fungi in the old tack room under the dining room. This led to the discovery of a small but perfectly formed fruiting body peeping out from the dining room wall. The slight saving grace was that it was an outside wall, so the outbreak was pretty much confined to that room. The outbreak has been treated and reinstatement continues

Money down the drain - The next work to be tackled was the replacement of the main drain along the passage at the back of the building. That's just been finished and a new drain is to be laid along the kitchen corridor next week to allow us to relocate the sinks

...and up the chimney
We had four chimneys lined to allow us to use living flame gas fires in the lounge bar, the residents' lounge, the function room and the dining room. The lounge bar and function rooms have fireplaces, but the dining room and residents' lounge don't

Dumb and dumber - We opened up the old mechanical dumbwaiter which was last used about 10 years ago. The braking mechanism had stuck, but after emptying half a can of WD40 into it it came to life and is now in use transporting stuff between the kitchen and the old still room above. Built by John Brydon of Edinburgh according to the maker's plate, but no date.

A bit of background

2005-02-25T20:27:00.000Z

Licencing was introduced in Scotland in 1603 as a reaction to overcharging by inns and hotels. Among the first applicants were the Kings House Hotel in Glencoe and The Spread Eagle Hotel in Jedburgh. The Spread Eagle has held a licence ever since.

Fast forward four hundred and one years and you find us as the new owners of "the Spread" as the locals call it. The hotel has been severely underinvested for many years and there's a lot of work needing done.

So this blog will describe what's going on. We've been here four months, so some of the work has already been started. I'll try to post fairly regularly, but apologies in advance for any gaps.
John & Lorna