A chance meeting and a gift for Fogo

Hilary (Session Clerk) and Tom (Elder) were delighted to be given a most unique and unusual gift recently - an oil painting of the church and graveyard, painted by artist and photographer, Walter Bell. It’s yet another strange story of happy coincidences that seem to occur around this very special part of the Borders. Sisters, Fiona and Elspeth lived in the Schoolhouse while their father, Hamish Turner, was Head teacher of the school, from 1955-61. Elspeth writes,

“The painting of Fogo captures the view from the upper floor window of Fogo Schoolhouse, where we lived, but it wasn’t until much later, in 1976, that I found out about the painting. I had moved into a shared flat with a school friend and 4 others. During a chance conversation over dinner about strange place names, my flatmate Carolyn said, “I lived at a place called Fogo.,'“ to which I replied, “so did I.” Not only had we both lived in Fogo, we had both lived in the Schoolhouse. Carolyn’s mum, Jenny Dow, was the Headteacher who preceded my Dad, and we remembered we had met the day we were moving in. I remember her as being a tall girl, peering over a white gate, and she remembered leaning over to see me, a tiny girl, on the other side. She was 6 and 1 was 3.

That was the start of a close friendship that endured until 2022 when Carolyn sadly died. During COVID she had reread her childhood diaries and found she had recorded visits to Fogo and that she had played with me and Fiona while our parents caught up with local news. Over the years we shared many memories of our lives in Fogo and the people and places we had known. We visited the church on many occasions, sometimes visiting friends, sometimes together but often on our own.

In a further curious coincidence, Annie, another flatmate, had a close friend called Elaine who visited with her boyfriend, later husband, Walter Bell. Walter was originally a chemistry teachers from St Boswell’s. On a visit to their flat years later, I spotted the paining and asked if I could buy it to give to my parents as a golden wedding anniversary present. They had always said the happiest years of their lives were those they spent at Fogo, so it was a particularly apt gift.

Landing up in a flat with Carolyn in 1976 is not the only chance meeting iwht others who lived in Fogo - there are 3 others - but each of these is another story…”

We cannot wait to hear more!