Fun and Games in Historic Melrose

Author: Lorna Smith

Posted: 23 Oct 2019 | 14:48

Set in the heart of the Scottish Borders and home to Melrose Abbey and Melrose RFC, a visit to Melrose is always a pleasure. Organised by St Mary's School, Bang Goes the Borders (21st September 2019) is a science festival aimed at families. Entirely free, the festival has loads of workshops and drop in sessions.  The ARCHER team and Wee Archie​ were sat alongside workshops and activities around lego robots, apple juice making, plaque busting, bees, birds, and much, much more.

We took along a range of activities for children, aiming to showcase the relevance of computing and supercomputing in a fun and interactive way. In addition to Wee Archie, our suitcase-sized supercomputer, we had an activity around binary numbers, computing hardware and sorting algorithms. Bean bags, bracelets, colouring sheets were all the order of the day. 

The event was aimed at families and we had a busy and full day, with children ranging in age from toddler to teenager. At last count over 1000 people attended Bang Goes the Borders, a great achievement for the organisers.  

We have participated in this event for many years now and always find it an excellent way to engage with the local community. Roll on next year!