Armstrongs are coming!
Published at 21:37, Wednesday, 08 August 2012
ABOUT 50 Armstrongs from across the globe are expected to head to Langholm this weekend for an annual gathering.
Armstrongs from America, Canada and South Africa – and a honeymooning couple – will arrive in town tonight for a gathering in the Masonic Hall.
The weekend will also include a trip across the Border into Carlisle tomorrow and a visit in the afternoon to the Clan Armstrong Trust Museum in Langholm.
A traditional Burns Supper will be served in the Gilnockie Hall tomorrow night.
After the supper there will be entertainment.
On Saturday, the visitors will head by coach to Lanercost Priory, near Brampton, where they will watch a re-enactment by the Border Clansmen. They will explain the weapons of the Reivers, their clothes, armour and other aspects of their life.
On Saturday night there will be a formal dinner at Caerlanrig, near Teviothead in the Scottish Borders.
Sunday morning will begin with a meeting in the Crown Hotel on Langholm High Street at 9.30am followed by a tour of The Reiver Trail. A stop will be made in Newcastleton.
In the afternoon, Geoff Armstrong a retired marine engineer will give a talk about the Titanic Disaster.
There will be a farewell supper at the Crown Hotel in the evening.
Frank Wherrett, company secretary of the Clan Armstrong Trust Limited, said: “It is an annual gathering and interest certainly has grown over the years.
“Frustratingly, we never actually know how many will turn up, we do have a core of folk who come annually but there are always fresh faces who just appear and who thoroughly enjoy themselves, many of whom become regulars thereafter.”
Fiona Armstrong, who is a director of the Clan Armstrong Trust Limited, said: “We have a newly married couple coming along. The wife is called Melinda Rae Lofgren and they are coming from Pennsylvania.
“It’s always good to have the annual gathering. It’s a great event. I think we’ve had bigger ones but the world economy is not in a great state right now and I think that has an effect on numbers.”
Published by http://www.eladvertiser.co.uk
