Tapestry bid on a wing and a prayer

However, the rift between the two sides of the debate about the Tweedbank site is as polarising as that in the independence referendum.

And this week, we are told that the site clearance has begun at Tweedbank, despite the fact that the Scottish Government is still reviewing the business case for the centre, key to its funding of £2.5million towards it.

The robustness of that business case is one of the main points of contention between the two camps.

While tapestry trustees revel in the fact that more than 200,000 people have seen the tapestry on its travels around Scotland, their opponents say that only means that the 200,000 people who most want to see it have done so for free, and they won’t be likely to want to pay £10 to see it again.

The council says the trees at the site had to be felled before the bird breeding season.

However, if the Government funding stalls, there may not have been a need to fell them at all.