For the former Victorian mill is also emerging as an excellent venue for training and education.

And the health and care sector, which continues to experience staff shortages in the Borders, is the latest beneficiary.

“It’s a superb facility, well-appointed and centrally-situated, which is ideal when you are bringing people together from across a wide area like the Borders,” said Cate Smith, project officer of Access to Industry, which works with Scotland’s colleges and universities to recruit disadvantaged people to train for the jobs society needs.

Major works to renovate the third floor of what was known locally as the High or Co-op Mill have recently been completed along with refurbishment of the former engine house and weaving shed.

With 40 extra car parking spaces currently being created to the rear, total investment has topped £6million.

Ms Smith’s praise for the facility came last week when 20 students received certificates on the successful completion of a 12-week course, entitled Who Cares?

As they name implies, the programme was designed to recruit staff into the health and care sector in the Borders where demand for personnel outstrips supply.

The target group was motivated Borderers who were unskilled or unemployed. The course was also aimed at those in low-paid jobs in which they had no real interest.

Most of the students had responded to an advertisement which appeared in our sister paper The Southern Reporter late last year.