Melrose triumphed in last week’s playing of the John Laing Sevens tournament at Poynder Park.

Results – First round: Berwick 12 Jed-Forest 0; Peebles 12 Kelso 38; Selkirk 5 Melrose 15; Gala 14 Hawick Linden 26.

Semi-finals: Berwick 26 Kelso 0; Melrose 19 Hawick Linden 7.

Final: Berwick 15 Melrose 29.

Edinburgh Rugby have invited Gala RFC prop Ewan McQuillin to train and provide front-row cover for the squad.

Interim head coach Stevie Scott has handed the 21-year-old the opportunity following a leg injury to elite development prop Alex Allan. Scott, said: “It’s a chance to push for a place in our squad for the remaining games.”

Hawick Wanderers nipped back into the top spot in the Semi-junior Sevens Series by winning their own event on Saturday.

Playing at the Volunteer Park, the hosts beat Jed Thistle in the final 53-0. Wands B and Selkirk Youth Club both made it to the semis. Go to www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk for more on this story.

A huge crowd turned out on Saturday to watch the East League Two table top clash between Hawick Linden and Hawick Harlequins.

In a close match, Quins were ahead on four occasions and Linden, who ran out 33-28 winners, five.

Linden try scorers: Blaine Willison, Shaun Fairbairn, Stuart Williams, Penalty try. Barry Sutherland landed three penalties and two conversions.

Quins try scorers: Neil Douglas, Graeme Lothian (2). Scott Peffers kicked two conversions and two penalties while Gavin Douglas slotted a drop goal.

STARS of the Borders sevens circuit are preparing to hone their skills against the best players from central Scotland.

A special match of seven-a-side rugby, celebrating the club game and two of Scotland’s most established sevens tournaments, will take place at this year’s Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s.

The exhibition match between the Kings of the Sevens Select and the Legacy Sevens Select will be played on the second day (Sunday, May 5) of the eighth leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series, at 1.26pm.

Coaching the Borders side will be none other than Gala rugby stalwarts Richie Gray and Scott Nichol, while Richie Maxton (Hamilton) and Kenny Murray (Ayr) will be in charge of the Legacy outfit.

Gala RFC assistant coach Nichol, whose team currently head the Kings series, is looking forward to this latest challenge.

He said: “I was really pleased when I got the phone call from the president of the Border league, Jim Wood, to take on the role, as I have been involved with sevens for a long time.

“The match is a fantastic idea and a chance for the players we select to play in front of a huge crowd, and maybe even catch a coach’s eye.

“Selection will be tough as there are a lot of quality players in the circuit. It’ll definitely be an exciting game of sevens.”

Legacy coach Maxton added: “It’ll promote a good rivalry between the two sevens circuits to see who has the best players. We’re a much newer tournament than the Kings circuit, which is steeped in tradition, so we want to show what we can do.”

Scottish Rugby’s head of clubs and schools, Nick Rennie, said: “This match will be an opportunity to showcase some of the great seven-a-side rugby that takes place throughout Scotland in the spring and summer and help promote two of the most established circuits that our clubs run.”

Play will be seven minutes each way with a two-minute half-time, and if the score is drawn at the end of the match the winner will be decided by the first team to score a try.

PEEBLES Rovers have come under fire due to the cancellation of their home league match last Saturday, writes John Slorance.

The finger of suspicion has been pointed, with rumblings that the Whitestone Park club were unable to raise a team.

However, Peebles manager Jason Girdwood swept these allegations aside and told The Southern: “The match was postponed because Whitestone Park was unplayable.

“This has been a massive problem all season and many other games have been off. The council has been trying hard to get things right, but there are still problems.”

Following an inspection by two officials, the match was put off for safety reasons, and Girdwood added: “A few of our games this season have been played at Kerfield Park this season.

“However, it was unavailable as there was another match being played on it on Saturday. We could have got Kerfield on Friday evening or Sunday afternoon and put this to Eyemouth, but they declined the offer.”

This Saturday, Rovers face Gala Fairydean at home, while 10 of the Hawick Royal Albert players who missed last week’s match with Coldstream return for Royalists’ away meeting with Berwick Rangers Reserves.

More on page 70.

ON Saturday, Melrose take the road to Murrayfield to go for glory in the Scottish Cup for the sixth time in the club’s history.

And, having played in five, plus another one with Gala in 1999, player/coach John Dalziel knows more than most what winning the national competition means to the players.

This year is different, however. For the legendary back row man will hang up his playing boots after the game and concentrate on his new head coaching role at the club, and one more victory would cap off his outstanding career beautifully.

He told The Southern: “This is our fifth final over the last six years which is a proud achievement, but cup finals are always about the winners.”

Indeed, supporters would have to go back to 2008 to relive memories of the last time Melrose managed to win the competition and 1997 before that. Having played Ayr in their last two finals, however, Dalziel and his men are looking to make it third time lucky on Saturday.

“As this will be our third cup final against Ayr, we will be doing everything possible to make it a successful one,” he added.

“Although it is nice to be involved in finals, we know that winning is everything and we want to be the ones going up the steps at the end to collect the trophy, not standing watching others.”

Teams are not being named until later today but Dalziel will almost certainly be in the mix.

He said: “We are fortunate not to be carrying any injuries and are able to select a settled squad. There is genuine competition for a few places still to be decided and we have a lot of players who have been here before, so we want to draw on that experience to get the right performance.

“It’s a big day for the club and the players are desperate to end the season on a high.”

Melrose president John Reed added: “Ayr have been almost unstoppable in this season’s campaign and our recent Cup Final history against them does not make good reading.

“However, another day and another battle, any result is possible. With a big Melrose support in the stands and a monumental effort on the field, the black and yellow colours might prevail.”

The final kicks off at 4pm, while supporters’ transport to Murrayfield will leave the Greenyards at 1pm.

There is never a dull moment in the Coltherd household and this week the attention is 
focusing on young Sam, writes Fiona Scott.

For next month the Selkirk teenager is heading south to the Royal Windsor Horse Show, where he, and his pony Galaxy, will compete for Scotland in the Prince Phillip Cup Mounted Games.

The event sees young riders from across the country give their all, racing against rival teams, to win the historic Prince Philip Cup – which is likely to be presented by the Duke of Edinburgh himself, who still takes an active part in the carriage racing event.

Riding under the Duke of Buccleuch Pony Club banner, Sam, 14, made the selection after travelling to Glasgow for trials along with several other Scottish pony club members. He told The Wee Paper: “I was really pleased when I found out that I had been selected.

“This will be the last year that I qualify for selection because of my age, so I was really hoping we would get through.”

The Games themselves involve a high degree of athletic ability, hand-to-eye coordination and a competitive spirit is needed, alongside the ability to work as a team. The skill and expertise of the riders, vaulting on and off their ponies often at high speeds, is incredible to watch. For each race, the atmosphere is electrifying as crowds cheer for their favourite team.

Sam and Galaxy are no strangers to the mounted games circuit, having competed for several years.

And, playing rugby for Selkirk Cougars and being quite a hotshot on the local carpet bowling scene also means Sam has all the credentials he needs to make an impact.

“I enjoy most sports and just like to be out competing in various events,” he added.

“Galaxy and myself picked up a second last year at a mounted games championship and we both know exactly what we are in for, so hopefully we can go one better this time.”

Sam’s ultimate aim is to be a jockey and the plan is to work for his dad, horse trainer Stuart Coltherd, at the family yard near Midlem.

He told us: “That is all I have wanted to do for a while. I have been riding horses for about as long as I can remember and I now want to take it up as a career.

“I know it won’t be easy, but hopefully with my dad’s experience and help from other local jockeys as well as our other contacts in the sport, it should go ok. I am aware of what I am letting myself in for and still want to do it.”

The 2013 70th Anniversary Royal Windsor Horse Show takes place from May 8-12, and Sam will travel down for the whole week, accompanied by his dad and mum Lesley, while older sister Amy and younger sister Millie will be cheering him on at home along with his grandparents.

“I get good support from all the family and hopefully I can do everyone proud when I am down there, he added.”

Teenagers ignored police warnings

TWO drunken teenagers, told not to return to Saturday’s Melrose Sevens after earlier rowdy behaviour, ignored police warnings and went back to the town.

His defiance cost Dean Brown his liberty for a week after the 18-year-old was remanded in custody by Sheriff Kevin Drummond at Selkirk on Monday.

Brown, of Hall Street, and his 18-year-old co-accused, Jordan Cunningham, of King Street, both Galashiels, pleaded guilty to challenging each other to fight in Melrose High Street and committing a breach of the peace.

Brown also admitted failing to comply with a bail curfew to remain at his home on March 9/10.

Prosecutor Tessa Bradley told how Brown had been watching rugby with friends in Galashiels and decided to get a bus to a party in Coldstream.

His curfew required him to be at his home address by 8pm, but Brown didn’t return until the next day.

“He said he was aware of his curfew, and was supposed to be back in Gala by 8pm, but got a bit too drunk,” explained Ms Bradley.

She said the second offence happened when the Melrose Sevens was ongoing and the town’s High Street was extremely busy.

Brown and Cunningham were “loud and aggressive” and warned by police.

“They were taken back to Galashiels and told not to go back to Melrose. They ignored this and immediately returned to Melrose, and were warned again about their drunken behaviour in the centre of the town,” the prosecutor told the sheriff.

Ms Bradley said officers were alerted to a confrontation in the High Street and found the two accused facing up to each other.

Both were detained, with Cunningham making no reply and Brown responding: “I want to make a complaint.”

Mat Patrick, representing Brown, said his client had a serious alcohol problem.

He said the first offence happened when Brown went to a party with friends in Coldstream, adding: “He had always intended to return home before 8pm, but he drank far too much.

The lawyer said Brown had been injured and was later found to have sustained a fractured jaw.

Referring to the Melrose incident, Mr Patrick conceded: “Again drink plays a factor and too much was taken.”

He said Brown had made steps to attend alcohol counselling.

Ed Hulme, for Cunningham, said his client thought the police meant he was not to return to the sevens, rather than the town of Melrose.

Brown was remanded in custody, while Cunningham was released on bail, to appear for sentence on April 22.

Sheriff Drummond told a disgruntled Brown: “This court does all it can to keep young men out of custody, but you were on five bail orders and a curfew, and have five deferred sentences. Every effort has been made and you will be remanded in custody for all your cases to be dealt with together.”

Lorry driver was over limit

A LORRY driver, transporting water from Strathclyde to Peebles in an articulated tanker, was more than twice the alcohol limit when caught on Monday.

Forty-four-year-old Mark Kelly was asked at short notice to make the journey and agreed, despite drinking earlier in the evening.

Kelly, of Glen Street, Paisley, admitted driving a lorry on the A72 with a breath/alcohol reading of 89 mcgs – the legal limit being 35.

Prosecutor Tessa Bradley said Kelly had been contacted around 10pm and asked to make an early start as part of a convoy travelling to Peebles, adding: “He left the depot in East Kilbride, driving a tanker filled with water.”

Police received an anonymous early-morning call suggesting the accused was driving under the influence and found the lorry at Hay Lodge car park in Peebles.

“The engine was warm and he was found at the water treatment depot in Bonnington Road. There was a strong smell of alcohol and he confirmed he had been driving the lorry. It was a fully-laden articulated tanker, weighing 44 tons,” added the prosecutor.

Greig McDonell, defending, said his client, who appeared from custody, would lose his employment as a result of the conviction.

“He was contacted at 10pm and had been drinking during the early evening, so should not have accepted the work,” he added.

Sheriff Kevin Drummond, describing the offence as highly irresponsible and a danger to other road users, fined Kelly £400 and banned him from driving for three years.

Man caught with cocaine

A GALASHIELS man found with cocaine was fined £400.

Iain Crawford, 35, of Douglas Place, admitted possession of the class A drug at the town’s High Street on February 2.

Tessa Bradley, prosecuting, said police, acting on information received, stopped the accused as he left a pub, adding: “His eyes were dilated and he was evasive when police spoke to him.”

Crawford told the officers he had cocaine in his pocket and a search revealed half a gram of the illegal drug, worth £20.

Defending, Greig McDonell said Crawford, a self-employed builder, had the cocaine for his personal use and had not used drugs since.

Payback order for shoplifter

A 50-YEAR-OLD who stole a bottle of wine from Tesco’s Galashiels store was sentenced to a six-month community payback order, with a condition he completes 40 hours of unpaid work.

Eric Haig, of Gala Park, Galashiels, admitted stealing alcohol from the Paton Street supermarket on March 13. He was stopped as he tried to leave the store and the wine, worth £5, was recovered.

The accused told police: “I was on Valium and don’t know where I’ve been for the last few days.”

His lawyer, Mat Patrick, said his client suffered from a “long-term alcohol problem”, adding: “When he is trying to wean himself off alcohol, he will take Valium, as he has had some success with that in the past. He is making an effort to detox.

“His father died and his son was deployed to Afghanistan, so he reverted to drinking.”

Haig also had sentence deferred for six months for good behaviour after he pleaded guilty to stealing alcohol from Keystore, Eastgate, Peebles, on April 10.

Victim left unconscious

A DRUNKEN teenager who assaulted a stranger at Tesco’s, knocking him unconscious, has been banned from the Galashiels store for six months.

Seventeen-year-old Sean Keene was also placed on an ASBO (antisocial behaviour order) for two years.

Keene, of Station Road, Stow, was 15 years old when, along with another youth, he repeatedly punched the man at the Paton Street supermarket on July 19, 2011.

Repair bill for door damage

A DRUNKEN man who damaged a door with a hammer was ordered to pay £246.21 compensation for its repair.

Douglas Cruikshank was also sentenced to a 12-month community payback order, with a condition he completes 80 hours of unpaid work.

Cruikshank, 37, of Winston Road, Galashiels, admitted having an offensive weapon – a hammer – at Woodstock Avenue, Galashiels, on May 12 last year.

He also pleaded guilty to damaging a door there with a hammer.

Defending, Mat Patrick said his client had since “drastically reduced” his drinking.

Remanded

in custody

TWO Hawick men appeared in private, charged on petition with assaulting a man to his severe injury in the town.

Gordon Elliot, 27, and Lee Smith, 32, made no plea or declaration, were fully committed and remanded in custody.

Nightclub stabbing

STABBING a woman in a Hawick nightclub resulted in Louise Boughen being sentenced to an 18-month community payback order.

Boughen, 32, of Roxburghe Drive, Hawick, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at Base in Baker Street on September 15 last year, and assaulting a woman by stabbing her with a sharp instrument to her injury.

Ross Dow, defending, said his client had stabbed the woman on the leg and back with a pen, adding: “The Crown accepted this was retaliation for an earlier unprovoked attack by the complainer.”

Cannabis offender

HAVING more than £100 worth of cannabis, with intent to supply, cost Ryan Kennan a £550 fine.

Kennan, 22, of Wellfield Road, Hawick, admitted committing the offence at his home between February 12 and 16 last year.

A Hawick man who committed a catalogue of offending to fund his drug habit was jailed for 30 months at Jedburgh Sheriff Court last Friday.

Lee Smith, 32, of Mansfield Gardens, admitted a number of charges, including housebreaking, theft, possession of cannabis, threatening behaviour and breaching bail in Hawick between July 2011 and September last year.

He also pleaded guilty to, between July 28 and August 9, 2011, breaking into a house at Weensland Road, Hawick, and stealing a television, money, a safe and its contents.

The haul, worth £300, was never recovered

The householder, who suffers from learning disabilities, was on holiday at the time.

Smith admitted stealing biscuits and a bottle of children’s medicine at Lidl, Wilton Path, Hawick, on March 25, 2012. He was stopped as he walked out of the shop without paying.

The accused also admitted breaching a bail condition not to enter Weensland Road when seen walking there on April 1 last year, breaching a bail curfew to remain at his home between 9pm and 7am on May 11, and having cannabis in his possession at Hawick police station on May 12.

Smith behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting and swearing at Weensland Road on June 17, and demanding keys for his grandmother’s flat. He also admitted stealing a Louis Vuitton bag containing jewellery and £1,200 cash at a house in Howegate, Hawick, on June 23. There was no recovery.

Smith pleaded guilty to stealing a purse and its contents, a lucky charm and £50.57 at a house at Loan, 
Hawick, on September 9. 
The stolen goods were recovered.

“His long-standing drug problem has led to this catalogue of offending,” explained defence lawyer Iain Burke.

Sheriff Derrick McIntyre told Smith, who had previously been placed on a DTTO (Drug Treatment and Testing Order): “You have had a chance and it has not worked out.”

A DRUNKEN offender who broke another man’s jaw after assaulting him in a Jedburgh pub has been ordered to pay his victim £2,000 compensation.

Barry Wood, 24, of Springfield Terrace, St Boswells, appeared on indictment and admitted punching a man to his severe injury at Carters Rest, Abbey Place, on March 18 last year.

The victim sustained a double fracture to his jaw, which required surgery.

Defence solicitor Iain Burke told Jedburgh Sheriff Court last Friday: “This appears to have been situational and out of character, rather than any propensity for violence.”

Sheriff Derrick McIntyre, who previously heard a proof in mitigation, described the offence as a serious matter.

Sheriff McIntyre said: “You broke this person’s jaw, and he suffered a double fracture and required jaw surgery.”

He went on: “I accept there was a background here and that you don’t have any record, so am prepared to deal with it by a community disposal.”

Wood was also sentenced to a 15-month community payback order, with 240 hours of unpaid work.

As with many family catchphrases I can’t remember where or when our “Onward and upward!” started. But we trot it out in difficult times.

More precisely, we tend to use it when there is a hint that problems are easing and light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train coming in the wrong direction. So I got the “Onward and upward!” feeling at the weekend when after what seemed like six months, but might be a year, the weather improved.

The full benefit of a rise in temperature and the prospect, even if illusory, of compensatory growth for grass and crops was mitigated by the unpleasant and blustery wind. But even that was tolerable when the temperature was 14 or 15 degrees, compared with a steady four to six for the previous lifetime of hats, gloves, thermals and incipient frostbite, and the sun shone.

Humans, like animals, respond to the sun on our backs. Goodness knows it was needed as the full horror of late March snow for sheep farmers in parts of Ireland and the west of England and Scotland was revealed as snow melted, in the shape of hundreds of dead animals.

Nor will mid-April sun and higher temperatures alone reduce the knock-on effects of that snow and last summer and autumn’s miserable weather on crops, grass and livestock. The countryside looks brown, bare and wind-blasted, young lambs in plastic jackets is never a good sign and expectations for the main hill lambing now starting must be moderate at best.

There is also the thought that this late, cold and at times hellish, spring means cutting much grass for silage in May will be unlikely unless compensatory growth in warmer weather – assuming that continues – is remarkable.

But most farmers, whether they say it or not, always have an “Onward and upward!” approach to life and think more about what to do to get on than they brood on the past.

Fertiliser has been spread, spring crops are being drilled, potatoes planted, lowland lambing for those not hit by snow seems to have been reasonable. Healthy lambs now outside with their mothers look well, even if most of the feeding to keep ewes milking is coming, expensively, from bags or hoppers.

In these troubled times it’s good to see a success story and most farmers will have at least some experience and knowledge of JCB products. Turnover for the firm last year was £2.7 billion, profit £365 million, 6,000 UK staff, productivity per employee £69,000 compared with the national average of £42,300. It’s also an export leader – 75 per cent of its UK production goes abroad and last year sales of its farm machinery increased. Impressive, and it’s possible to develop affection for a JCB.

Our record was to buy one second-hand and use it for 30 years. It carried out a wide range of jobs and withstood a lot of rough treatment, as do most JCBs, whatever their age and condition. A company making durable products like that, and a family business too, deserves its global success. Onward and upward!

Eyemouth is to host a new walking weekend in June.

Local organisers have started the three-day event following the success of last week’s Scottish Borders Walking Festival held around the town. Walks are of varying lengths and difficulty, one including a boat ride, and there is an evening of Scottish music. For more information visit www.eyemouthwalking.com

Kelso horse whisperer Peter Neilson is taking part at a book festival in Ayrshire with his horse Hero next month.

Peter will be talking about their past lives – he believes he was horseman to Alexander the Great and Hero was once Joan of Arc’s warhorse – as Hero grazes in a field at Auchinleck House on May 18-19.

For more information visit www.boswellbookfestival.co.uk

Borders environmentalist Derek Robeson has joined the popular conservation charity Tweed Forum based at Drygrange Steading.

The Kelso-born conservationist worked for the now-defunct Borders Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group for 15 years and has been a consultant with SAC Consulting, part of SRUC, Scotland’s Rural College, for the past four years.

The senior project officer will be working on two areas initially: a Scottish Government land use strategy pilot for the Borders and flood management.

The dad-of-two, who has a doctorate in geology, said: “It’s an exciting opportunity. I’m very pleased at the prospect of working on these agendas.

“Tweed Forum is at the cutting edge of river management and is already demonstrating that by working closely with land managers, it is possible to achieve multiple benefits at the catchment scale.

“I’m looking forward to working in partnership with all the organisations active in the Borders. Local farmers are very good at producing food and at the same time we are required – legally and ethically – to look after the environment. It’s about getting balance.”

He said there is already a lot of pressure on the land, and, with the world facing climate change, an increasing population and extreme weather events, he hopes to help the region makes the best use of its land, such as producing food on the best land, growing trees on poorer ground, finding the right place for housing and implementing flood management measures.

He explained: “I have always been interested in the environment, since I was a child.

“Conservation, land use, farming, forestry, flood management – all these things are inter-related. Any one aspect has an impact on everything else.”

The land use strategy pilot is being managed by Scottish Borders Council and aims to see land-based businesses working with nature to contribute more to Scotland’s prosperity, responsible stewardship of natural resources, and urban and rural communities being better connected to the land.

Tweed Forum director Luke Comins said: “We are pushing the boundaries on a number of land and water management areas and Derek is very well placed to assist with these endeavours.”

Saturday, April 20: Eildon Ramblers walk – Mellerstain Circular (6 miles) Be ready to walk at 10am, walk should take from 3-3.5 hours. Contact walk leader by email: blackmore950@btinternet.com or phone 07790 658730 on April 19 before 6.30pm to register your intention to walk and get details of the start point.

Sunday, April 21: Scottish Borders Hill Walking Club – Coldingham (67). Meet at council car park, Newtown St Boswells, at 8.30pm. For further information, call secretary Evelyn Horsburgh on 01750 76214.

Chick, chick, chick, chick, chick-en! Lay a li’l egg for me – so I can earn a little ‘pin money’ as my late mum used to call it.

That’s one – and the only one, should you ask my husband his opinion – of the benefits of keeping chooks.

Farm gate sales. Tax free. I have your attention. It helps pay for the feed and offsets the costs (a wee bit) of my main obsession.

I take the selling of eggs very seriously. I have my regular customers, I buy in the egg boxes, and The Young Master designs the labels which are carefully stuck on with PVA glue (child-friendly, ye ken). And they are very ... original.

The latest label, just coming through features a rainbow-tailed cockerel (yes, a cockerel, not a hen) and the words ‘Award-winning Eggs’.

And they are. At the annual Peebles Poultry Show, no less. As they were last year, and the year before. Ahem.

I know Easter was the other week, but eggs are very much on my mind just now. I now believe – despite the fact the clocks have changed and the nights are much, much lighter – that Spring may actually be on its way at loooooong last.

I can confidently say this because I have ... a broody hen. Correction, a very broody hen. And as of this afternoon, she is sitting on seven eggs. Hardened hennies and proper smallholders will be scoffing over their 200-egg incubators at this tiny number.

But I am in possession of the World’s Smallest Goldtop (Light Sussex 
X Silkie) Hen with the 
biggest personality, the poultry 
equivalent of Tattoo from Fantasy Island (all together now: ‘Boss, Boss! De plane, de plane!’).

Titchy, feisty and a great bouffant hairdo. She bought a one-way ticket to Broodytown a few days ago and started hogging a nest box, repelling all attempts by other – much larger – hens to evict her to use it.

So now she’s in a big, comfy nest in a coop all of her very own. Sitting tight on seven mixed eggs like those below.

Try and move her and you’ll get a nasty nip. Leave her and she’ll happily sit, growling. Yes, growling.

Bet Tattoo never growled at Ricardo Montalban.

GARDENS are up for grabs thanks to an initiative by an environmental community group.

A Greener Melrose set up the garden share opportunity last spring, hoping to match unused land to keen but land-less gardeners and more experienced horticulturists with beginners.

Co-ordinator Pauline Langworth said: “There are people offering ground and people who desperately need ground. We see this as a win, win situation; it’s just being able to match them up and it’s not as quick a process as in the city.”

So far, she’s helped an allotment gardener find a plot closer to home and a gardener who had moved into the area find a new patch.

She has also found a plot for Earlston Orchard Town group to grow root stock for the community’s orchard project. “It’s really great to find them some workable land and it’s nice to make partners with them,” she said.

She has 13 gardens of varying sizes on the group’s databasein the TD6 area covering Melrose, Earlston, Newton, Drygrange and St Boswells .

The owners involved realise the share is not a garden maintenance service, she said, and each share only goes ahead if both parties are happy. And beginners can learn from the land owners or from other Garden Share group members.

She added: “There are the health benefits and enjoyment of growing your own food, you save food miles and you can swap local produce with other gardeners.”

A Greener Melrose hopes to extend the project further, taking on more gardens in the TD6 area, and encouraging similar ventures in other parts of the Borders.

For more information email greenermelrose@live.co.uk

Grand national winner Ryan Mania’s family have yet another reason to be proud of him – his win netted their friends £10,000.

The 23-year-old jockey was given a hero’s welcome when he returned home to Galashiels on Tuesday last week.

But the celebrations were even more exuberant at his father’s workplace .

Around eight of Kevin Mania’s colleagues clubbed together to put about £150 on Ryan winning the race, despite him being rated as a 66/1 outsider at Aintree.

Kevin said: “My colleagues rallied behind him and piled down to the bookies to show their support and loyalty, which is amazing, especially considering the high odds.”

The 48-year-old said his workmates at water firm Panton McLeod were hoping it was the first of many wins.

“My colleagues are already hoping he’s going to be fit and healthy to carry on the success and cheer him on at the Scottish Grand National on Saturday.

“It’s like having a celebrity around town.”

He added: “Seeing your son scooping the Grand National title in his first attempt and being the first Scot in living memory to win is one of the proudest moments of my life.

“The support he received in Galashiels was unbelievable.”

Kevin also spoke of his fear after Ryan’s fall at Hexham last weekend, which saw him admitted to hospital.

He continued: “His injury the next day was a real scare and the concern and support that came in from everyone at Panton McLeod was lovely and really appreciated by us all.

“Thankfully he’s a strong lad and came away with only minor injuries.

“It’s an exciting time in Galashiels at the moment; he’s single-handedly put the community on the map.”

Around 3,000 local residents lined the streets to toast the jockey’s return after he was given the all-clear for his hospital release following a fall the day after winning the Grand National on 66-1 shot Auroras Encore.

Shelagh Briggs, finance director at Panton McLeod, said: “Ryan wasn’t actually confirmed to be racing until the Friday but the excitement and support that flooded in last minute here was unbelievable.

“He had high odds, but it is a really tight community here and everyone wanted to show their support and faith with it being his first race and at the UK’s biggest horse racing event.

“It just goes to show that it pays off supporting the underdog and I hear the Borders bookies took a battering – no doubt thanks to our doing too.”

The rain spat in Galashiels and Melrose on Tuesday, but to the parading soldiers of 1SCOTS, the Royal Scots Borderers, it didn’t matter, because they were home, safe from six months in the desert.

Nor did the weather dampen the cheering crowds lining the streets to welcome their sons, fathers, and even strangers, back from danger in Afghanistan.

The soldiers marched in desert boots shouldering rifles and carrying swords behind thumping pipes and drum, and their mascot Shetland pony, Cruachan IV, who stood no higher than their proudly beating chests. A large group, 100, or more from Langlee Primary School clapped the battalion’s passage from Currie Road to Bank Street.

Head teacher Sandra Davidson explained: “There are one or two children at the school with parents in the armed forces, and the others are very aware of what’s going on in the world. There’s always conflict going on somewhere, and I think it’s important for them to recognise that, and appreciate there are people out there keeping the peace and really putting their lives on the line.”

Another onlooker, a former teacher, summed up why many Gala folk had turned up in the wind and rain. “These guys have been out there giving up lots of things, potentially even their lives,and I think the least we can do is support them,” he said.

One such person is 24-year-old Lance Corporal Fraser Pairman from Kelso, who was chuffed to see his mum amid the crowd. “It’s good to see everybody out supporting the guys, and it’s good to be finally home,” he told The Southern.

“We were mentoring the Afghan local police so they are ready to take over their own district and get on with the job themselves. We saw a lot of progress from the time we came to the time we left.

“This tour to Afghanistan was a lot quieter than
 the first time in 2012, and 
the threat was a lot lower.”

His relief was echoed by Galalean, Lance Corporal Graham Tait, whose 12-year-old daughter Naimh escaped Galashiels Academy for a day to see her father parade in their hometown.

“I just about had a tear in my eye,” he told us: “It was really emotional actually, getting past the Border Reiver around by the fountain on Bank Street.

“I thought about the Borders all the time, but I was getting The Southern Reporter and Hawick News sent out, so it was a wee bit like a home away from home.

“Every day I thought of my family, especially my son and daughter, and then they’re thinking about us out there anyway.”

Separation was also tough for Lance Corporal Bruce Taylor, 22, of Hawick, who was reunited with his mum, dad, wife Laura, and their 17-month-old daughter Grace. He told us: “It was really hard leaving the baby because she is young, but it was great to come home, and get cuddles.”

Laura described raising their daughter on her own, saying: “It was hard on her because she knew her daddy was leaving, and it was really hard bringing her up myself, but I just had to get on with it.”

But Tuesday wasn’t for difficult memories, it was for joy and thanks.

“I’m just happy to be back and seeing everybody,” said Lance Corporal Taylor, adding: “It felt good marching around, seeing everybody clapping and cheering.”

A new 18-track CD, When Duty Calls, to raise money for injured soldiers who served in Afghanistan, and featuring company tunes by 1SCOTS pipes and drums and the Fijian choir, is on sale for £10 at Turnbull’s in Selkirk, Spences in Hawick, Pipers in Galashiels, and Walk This Way army surplus store in Coldstream.