Beloved railway campaigner dies at the age of 95

For almost half a century, Madge Elliot campaigned tirelessly against the closure of the Edinburgh-Hawick-Carlisle Waverley line in 1969 and was a founding member of the Campaign for Borders Rail.

On December 18, 1968, she hand-delivered a petition calling for the rail route to be saved to the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson at 10 Downing Street.

Her efforts came to fruition when the line reopened to Tweedbank in 2015 and Madge had a Class 66 diesel locomotive named after her in recognition of her brilliant work.

Despite a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s, Madge continued to fight for worthy causes.

Just weeks ago she was invited to reopen the Teviot Day Service for the elderly in her hometown of Hawick, which had been closed by Scottish Borders Council.

The campaign to restore the service was led by Madge’s son, Sean, who has described his mum as “inspirational”.

He said: “After a 10 year battle with Alzheimer’s, our inspirational mum, Madge, succumbed to a combination of old age and this awful disease on Saturday morning.

“Truly a life well lived, she gave so much time to the community, not just in terms of the railway campaigning (well documented elsewhere), but a huge contribution to tennis (in partnership with our dad, Bob) and a whole host of other campaigns and volunteering roles over her lifetime, too many to list.

Madge was honoured in 1999 when was awarded an MBE for her services to lawn tennis and contribution to local life.

Sean added: “She loved Wilton Park and spent so much time at the tennis courts, playing, coaching, organising juniors, matches and competitions, as well as managing the courts when the council would no longer provide a court attendant.

“She loved to see young people playing sport. We’re very glad she was able to attend the re-opening of Teviot Day Service a few weeks ago, the last campaign she was involved in.

“We will certainly miss her.”