HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER

Cairn2

In 2014 I set up Hands Across The Border, a bipartisan group for people dedicated to the preservation of the precious union between Scotland and the United Kingdom. Throughout the summer of that year we built a cairn on the English-Scottish border in honour of the Union. These stone structures have been created by Britons since ancient times, as the physical expression of the values of a community.

Our cairn was a striking and lasting testimony to the Union, built by people from across the United Kingdom, who were brought together by their desire to construct a visual display of the bonds of friendship that bind us. Figures from across the four nations, including Joanna Lumley, Simon Schama, Anthony Beevor, A. C. Grayling and Max Hastings, participated and around 100,000 stones were laid.

Further details can be found on the Hands Across the Border Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/handsacrosstheborder/ – and website – http://handsacrosstheborder.co.uk/.

“THE CAIRN REMAINS A POWERFUL SYMBOL OF THE TIES THAT BIND US'”

As one of the most prominent pro-union campaigners during last year’s referendum on Scottish independence, Rory Stewart this week revisited the ‘Auld Acquaintance’ cairn at Gretna, as he continued on his tour of The Penrith and The Border constituency, for which he is seeking re-election. Erected in the months preceding the Scottish referendum last year […]

RORY RESPONDS TO UNION CAIRN VANDALS

Penrith and The Border MP, Rory Stewart, has expressed his sadness and disappointment upon learning that a number of people, apparently opposed to the Union have carried out acts of vandalism on the ‘Auld Acquaintance’ cairn at Gretna, which was erected in the months preceding the Scottish referendum last year, as a symbol of unity […]

Gretna becomes focal point for Scottish independence No vote

Article first published in the Financial Times on 24 August 2014. In a field not far from Gretna Green, a place long associated with weddings, a monument to the sense of Britishness felt by people on both sides of the border is growing day by day. With less than a month until Scots vote on whether to […]

Celebrating Scotland and the Union at the ‘Auld Acquaintance’

Hands Across the Border has launched a new film to celebrate the ‘Auld Acquaintance’ and the thousands of volunteers who have traveled to the cairn to lay a stone. There is still a month to go before the referendum, and we are encouraging anyone still eager to show they care about Scotland ,and who want […]

RORY’S PRO-UNION CAIRN ATTRACTS THE STARS

Some of Britain’s best-loved public figures threw their support behind Rory Stewart MP’s Hands Across The Border initiative last week, with actress and activist Joanna Lumley and explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes visiting the Auld Acquaintance cairn at Gretna to add their support to a campaign celebrating Scotland’s place in the Union. Crowds thronged Sir Ranulph’s […]

JOANNA LUMLEY LIGHTS UP THE UNION CAIRN

In a spectacular boost to the project to create a giant cairn of friendship with Scotland, actress and campaigner Joanna Lumley has committed to working alongside volunteers on the English-Scottish border. She will be driving up from her house in England on Thursday 31st July bringing stones from her garden to help build The Auld Acquaintance Cairn […]

SIR RANULPH FIENNES TO JOIN RORY AT AULD ACQUAINTANCE CAIRN

Rory Stewart is inviting all to join him on Monday 28th July in welcoming Sir Ranulph Fiennes and some great British climbers, from Alan Hinkes OBE to Doug Scott OBE, to help build the Auld Acquaintance Cairn at Gretna. People are invited to muster from the morning, with Sir Ranulph joining in the afternoon. Rory Stewart said: […]