YOU may have noticed strangers working at Tarset Castle recently when archaeologists from Durham University moved in to dig some initial excavation trenches.

Tarset Archive Group is reportedly delighted that, after lobbying for eight years and experiencing a few false starts, something is at last being done to see if this important piece of Tarset’s heritage can be protected.

Most critically at risk is the slope itself. So, while the archaeologists write up their findings about the top site – in the hopes of more extensive work going ahead next year – the Tyne Rivers Trust has started work on the bank where the Tarset Burn has been steadily eating into the slope.

Hopefully, this work will lessen the impact of the strong flow of the burn and slow the rate of erosion.