WATCH: Extending the Borders Railway would muck up my garden - but I welcome it

An architect who converted a derelict station on the former Waverley Line into a home for him and his late wife is welcoming funding for a study into the feasibility of extending the Borders Railway - even though, he says, it would "muck up" his garden.

Tom Pyemont - who runs self-catering accommodation on the site at Hassendean, just north of Hawick - believes Center Parcs plans for a new 700-lodge holiday village nearby could help boost the business case for completing the line, between Tweedbank and Carlisle.

He told Greatest Hits Radio: "I think it's a tragedy it ever ceased. Not withstanding the money, it was the social aspect of it all. It gave employment, it gave encouragement, it gave connection for people, and it's just such a pity that it went. I got a nice house out of it but, hey-ho, let's have our railway back - please."

In February, it was announced the UK government has finally agreed to release its share of the £10 million first pledged for a feasibility study four years ago, with the signing of the Borderlands Growth Deal.

It means Scottish Borders Council can now push ahead with plans to appoint a manager to oversee the project.

WATCH: Click on the link below to view our video with Tom at Hassendean Station...

"I really wish they'd have got their act together much earlier," Tom continued, referring to both governments. "(When they reopened the first section of line 10 years ago) they shouldn't have stopped at Tweedbank, they should have carried on properly at least to Hawick and, hopefully eventually one day, to Carlisle."

He added: "Center Parcs is just over a mile from us. They could actually run a dedicated electric bus service from here (if the railway is restored)."

Tom describes the conversion of the station into a home as a "labour of love". It had sat derelict for nearly two decades before he bought it in 1989.

While a lovely lawned area now fills the gap between the platform, where the tracks once lay, there are plenty signs pointing to the building's past.

"It's been really, really great," Tom smiles. "There was absolutely nothing here at all, just the basic structure of the building, which was pretty derelict. And we've managed to collect all sorts of memorabilia - and we're still collecting.

"The waiting room, which is my architectural practice office, was the original waiting room for the 'down line to Edinburgh'. And the 'up line to London' was where we lived in the restored Hassendean Station."

The footbridge linking the platforms has also been lovingly preserved.

Tom explained: "We managed to get some reclaimed materials to actually build them with. As we understand, it's the last actual example of that style possibly in the UK, but certainly in Scotland."

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