The management from Tweeddale Millennium have been in talks since last year about taking over another well established fishery. But due to various unsuitable conditions, have now withdrawn their intrest.

that,s a pity was looking forward to fishing the watch again,with some quality troot in it.

You're not alone. The Watch has great potential but IMO seems to have gone downhill in the last few years

Haven't fished the Watch for about 4 years but used to do really well there.
Is it still run by the same people ?

WE RECIEVED A OFFER TODAY TO TAKE OVER THE WATCH RESERVOIR FROM THE SCOTTISH WATERS AGENT, BUT THE LEASE IS ONLY FOR A YEAR. THIS IS NO WAY VIABLE AS THE BOATS NEED TO BE REPLACED, THE CABIN REQUIRES TO BE REPAIRED INSIDE AND OUT, IT WILL NEED TO BE STOCKED ACCORDINGLY ETC ETC, THE RESTOCKING CONSENTS HAVE TO BE OBTAINED, INSURANCES ETC ETC. HOW CAN ANYBODY BE EXPECTED TO MAKE THIS PAY WITH THE DURATION OF THIS LEASE. IM SURE NOW THAT THE WATER BOARD WILL PUT THIS ON THE OPEN MARKET, BUT FOR ANYONE TO TAKE THIS OVER WITH SUCH A SHORT LEASE MUST BE MAD.

Does this mean the Watch is now closed, or is Bill continuing to run it for the time being?

Quite right to walk away from that. SW's agent should (and probably does) know better. I come across quite a lot of commercial lease deals, and not that this qualifies me to comment on the commerciality of a fishery, but it looks to me like SW really don't care about letting it at all. It's obvious that nobody will make an investment for any kind of business on such a short term lease.

I wonder why they only wanted to grant a lease for 1 year. Have they got their eye on some more profitable development and were just looking for something short term to fill a gap till that happens? A short lease lets them keep their options open about future usage.