This weekend is the annual Hawick Common Riding, which celebrates the ancient custom of riding the boundaries of the town and its surrounding common land and the capture of an English Flag in 1514. For a more detailed explanation read this.

This video from last years festival is just a small slice of what goes on at the Common Riding. I have never missed a Common Riding in all my 26 years, it is my favourite time of the year. Growing up in Hawick as a youngster the Common Riding was the main highlight of the year, burst of colour and activity in the grey old town I called home. As an adult I still love it, a chance to catch up with friends and family, the sense of belonging, history coming alive and the holiday atmosphere in the town. As the saying goes in Hawick “its better felt than telt”.

I’ll be tweeting from the Common Riding over the weekend with the hash tag #HCR10 (Hawick Common Riding 2010)

To any one following me on Twitter I hope this post will go some way to explaining what on earth I’m on about as the festivities progress though out the weekend.