The next Borders Music and Arts Society concert will be held in Mellerstain House at 7.30pm on Thursday, May 16.

Performing will be Huw Wiggin on saxophone, accompanied by Joseph Houston on piano.

Huw studied in Cologne and also at the Royal College of Music.

He is currently performing with the Sirocco Saxophone quartet.

Earlier this year the group were invited to perform for Prince Albert of Monaco at the Hotel du Paris.

The music they will play includes Marcello’s c oncerto, Debussy’s Rhapsodie and de Falla.

See www.bordersmusicandartssociety.co.uk for more information, or to book, phone Pauline Walker on 01750 21687.

Galashiels Inner Wheel Club president Rosemary McCosh presented a cheque to Guide Leader Alison Henry as a donation towards the activities for local Guides completing the Baden Powell Award this year.

The planned speaker for the club’s April meeting, held at St Peter’s Church, had to call off at short notice. President Rosemary McCosh gave a report on the friendship lunch the previous week with adjoining club members and the proposed change of venue

for district meetings.

Secretary Vi Romanis advised members of her invitation, along with district chairman Jenny Barker, to speak at Jedburgh Rotary club and, hopefully, pick up more donations for the charity Tools For Self-Reliance” which the Galashiels club has been supporting this year.

The Inner Wheel District 2 Rally and club birthday dinner (to be held in the Kingsknowes Hotel) are on May 14 and 21 respectively, while a table-top sale and afternoon tea was a sell-out, raising more than £200.

With each week that passes, there is abundant evidence that the railway is coming closer and closer.

Driving up and down the A7, I see BAM entry point signs, and trucks going up and down the track bed. Most recently I visited the Borders Rail site offices – just past Asda Walmart – which will be a bit of a nerve centre for the development. Good to see.

High Hedges

Parliament has passed the High Hedges Bill which will enable people suffering from a neighbour inconsiderately and sometimes deliberately allowing an adjacent hedge to grow to monstrous heights to call in the local authority to have it cut down to size.

The maximum allowable height will be 6ft 6in. This law should be in force next year, but it would be preferable if people with such a high hedge got the electric hedge cutters, loppers and so on out now.

Ambulance HQ

I think the decision to build a new ambulance depot in the grounds of Borders General Hospital is quite sensible and also frees up the Galashiels site for a much-needed medical centre at that end of the town.

But like most planning decisions, not everyone will agree, and why should they?

Planning

Following on from that, many constituents come to me with concerns about planning, whether it be a wind farm, housing development or neighbour’s extension.

I am always surprised that so few have ever heard of Planning Aid Scotland. This organisation – and it has a website – gives free and professional advice to communities and individuals faced with the labyrinth that is the planning process.

They can help as they have planners who give their time freely to advise. Use them if you need to and let me know how you get on.

Wee courin’ timorous beastie

Is nae mair. I fear it has migrated from the Garden Lobby to Mouse Heaven.

As someone who detests traps and poison, I suggest we –and this is the only time I would wish to mimic Westminster – adopt a parliamentary cat, preferably a rescue kitty.

I would offer up my two – they are, after all, a team – Newt (Newton) and Bossie (Boswell), and they came into my life almost to the day I entered parliament, so there is a certain connection there.

But after 14 years together I think I would miss the bird and mouse debris they deposit in the hallway, as some kind of offering to that lesser animal – me.

Two local MSPs have entered a war of words over the planned closure of Peebles Sheriff Court by the Scottish Courts Service, writes Adam Drummond.

Jim Hume launched the initial attack, aiming at the SNP’s Christine Grahame.

The Liberal Democrat said Ms Grahame had toed the party line and backed the justice reforms in the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Hume said: “Christine Grahame tells her constituents in Peebles that she opposes the court closures, and yet she continues to toe the SNP party line in Edinburgh by endorsing her own government’s closure plans.

“Is this the kind of backtracking Borderers should come to expect from Christine Grahame?”

He also called on Ms Grahame to stand up for both Borders courts faced with the axe.

“As convenor of the justice committee, Christine Grahame can object to these plans and force a vote of the full parliament, so the future of the Peebles and Duns sheriff courts is entirely in her hands.”

Mr Hume believes that, by the slenderest majority, the justice committee back the proposals to close courts around Scotland in a cost-cutting scheme. However, if the committee supports a motion to annul the legislation, the decision will then be pushed to a full vote of the Holyrood legislature.

Responding to Mr Hume, Ms Grahame came out fighting.

She said: “I recall it was under the Liberal/Labour coalition that Peebles was threatened with the axe before and I fought hard for its retention, so the Liberals have ‘previous’ on this issue.

“I have consistently opposed the closure of Peebles court and said so in my submission to the Scottish Courts Service and in parliament, as is well publicised. Mr Hume must not have been there or indeed listening.”

Once again she reiterated her call for a justice centre to be established in Galashiels should the closure of Peebles goes ahead.

She added: “If it is to close then I have made it plain to the cabinet secretary that there must be a court in Galashiels which, being where the bus terminus is located and indeed the train station will be, makes sense.

“I know the Peebles solicitors see this as a reasonable option. In the transition, if this is to take place, cases will go to Selkirk and not Edinburgh. Borders justice will continue to be delivered locally.”

Following the Scottish Parliament’s approval of the closure plan last month, a draft parliamentary order putting in place the necessary legislation to close the courts was produced.

The court service has to consult various organisations before consenting to the draft order by May 17, which will go before the justice committee.

The Scottish Courts Service is trying to save £11million by 2015 and estimates £4million a year can be saved by the closures.

If given final approval, Peebles and Duns courts would close in January 2015.

THE CRAFTERS will be at pop-up shop, ‘forty eight’, (48 Market Place) on Friday and Saturday.

The craft co-operative numbers 13 creatives who run a shop in Melrose, and one explained: “As some of our members work in Selkirk, we wanted to support the town and show people what we do.”

Pop-up shop project manager Margaret Sweetnam said: “This booking is a great example of what we’re trying to achieve.

“We are really keen to give valuable high street profile to creative businesses ‘hidden away’ in workshops, including the Riverside Mills, where I met (exhibitor) Deborah Fallas of Out of the Blue Kidswear.” The Leader-funded project has a Facebook page.

Disabled campaigners fighting to save Gala’s Ability Centre, the Borders’ only centre for the physically disabled, celebrated triumph last week.

And now their next mission is to recruit new members, an “absolutely overjoyed” Isobel Ness from Darnick told The Southern.

“I could hardly believe we’d actually won,” wheelchair-bound Isobel said. “We got more or less what we wanted, which is to keep it open two days a week with a full service,one day a week as a social centre, and the other two days in the community.

“It means so much to those of us who use the centre and our carers. It’s been a hard slog for the whole management committee, and I can only take my hat off to Bill Calder, who worked tirelessly throughout.”

Thanking MSPs Jim Hume, John Lamont and Christine Grahame for their support, Mr Calder added: “Andrew Lowe, director of social work, and his senior managers are to be congratulated on the imagination and vision.

“Not only are they retaining the social work service in the centre, it will be expanded to include a social centre, an outreach service throughout the Borders, and renewed focus on recently disabled Borderers and their families. All of this is being achieved within the current budget.

“For the first time in months there is a genuine sense of optimism around. I can’t stress how important the coverage in The Southern has been. Without it I suspect the centre would have closed without a murmur.”

POLICE are looking to establish ‘No Cold-Calling Zones’ in towns and villages in Tweeddale.

Members of Innerleithen Community Council, meeting on Monday, were told by PC Chris Burnside that officers had received several reports recently about door-to-door sellers in West Linton and cold callers elsewhere in the area.

PC Burnside said he and PC McNair, the community beat officer for Tweeddale West, were working on establishing zones in Peebles first, before looking at extending the scheme, if successful, to other local villages.

He also urged residents to report anyone carrying out doorstep selling, or offering to carry out garden, roofing or driveway work, providing a description of them and their vehicle where possible.

The tall biennial cardboard-covered booklet of complementary therapists is no more, replaced with an annual guide, a new website and a new name.

For the Borders Integrated Healthcare Group - now called Borders Therapies - have rebranded and are launching a new-look directory at the Chaplaincy Centre of the Borders General Hospital later this month.

The group’s Gisela Stewart, a reiki practitioner, said: “The core aim of promoting integrative healthcare in the Borders and helping people access resources for optimal health remains the same.”

The local complementary therapists came together 14 years ago to produce a directory of qualified and insured practitioners to help people and provide a reference guide for the medical and caring professions, she said.

Along with a new annual directory, the new website will be more user friendly, giving health tips through a blog and allowing searches for help with specific conditions and help finding a practitioner by name or location, she said. The group have also joined Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn,

Funding and help to make the changes came from Scottish Borders Council, Business Gateway and Scottish Enterprise

For more information visit www.borderstherapies.co.uk

Musician and fitness enthusiast, Cherie Vinter-Lindsay is a coach at Curves ladies fitness and weight loss centre in Galashiels.

Originally from London, the Kelso flautist and violinist played ice hockey for Newcastle University where she studied music. She was also the UK winner of a worldwide competition for a new flavour of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in 2009! Here she talks of her love of the Borders and a healthy lifestyle.

“The Borders is nature’s own personal trainer. Having lived in Kelso from the age of seven, it is only now (18 years later) I’ve discovered how versatile our surrounding terrain can be. Growing up, I would spend my Sundays perfecting three-turns and triple salchows at Kelso Ice Rink and summer holidays walking the stunning hills or battling against the driving winds of our beautiful coastline.

Having returned to the Borders after four (somewhat un-healthy) years at university I thought it was time to embark on a challenge to accelerate my healthier eating and training routine. And what better place to do it.

After a few months of struggling with salads and very short runs along the road where I live, you can now find me hiking the Cheviots on the windiest days, running up the Eildons for a pre-work energy boost, horse riding through the Bowmont Forest or wet and windburnt after a day’s surfing or sea-kayaking at Coldingham Bay.

As a weight management and circuit coach at Curves in Galashiels I spend my days encouraging and helping women realise the life and health benefits that exercise brings. With the ever increasing obesity statistics and health risks we now face it’s important that we do make an effort to take care of ourselves. Whether you’re a competitive gym bunny, an Olympics hopeful or if the thought of having to exercise makes you perspire, there are many enjoyable ways to spend your time improving your quality of life through many forms of activity 
happening on a daily basis in the Borders. We live in
 a region that’s constantly offering us a variety of fitness on our doorstep whether you want to spend money or not. It’s time to get outdoors and start exploring the many ways 
our beautiful land can 
help improve your quality of life.”

Members of the British Driving Society participated in a fun ride around Mellerstain estate with their ponies and a variety of gigs on Sunday.

The society meets again at the same venue on May 19 from noon when there will be a display of covered carriages and demonstrations of traditional driving skills.

Priorsford’s Alex Jones, Ross Millar, Jack O’Hara and Emily Wright won the area final of the Rotary Primary School Quiz.

The Peebles pupils were accompanied by their head teacher, Sandra Macgregor, who treated them to a meal as a reward for their efforts.

The competition was held in Galashiels, sponsored by local Rotarians who provided the venue and a soup and sandwich lunch for the teams and their supporters.

Galashiels Rotary Club president Andrew Brown rounded up the event by congratulating the winners. Other teams taking part were Broomlands (Kelso), Channelkirk , Duns, Langholm and

St Margaret’s (Galashiels).

The Priorsford team now goes forward to the district final which will be played before the end of term.

THE Central Borders Citizens’ Advice Bureau is urging local people to stand up to scammers and report them as part of a national campaign.

Kathryn Peden, bureau manager, said: “We want everyone in the Scottish Borders to join in a huge national effort to beat the scammers. That means being more vigilant, spreading the word and reporting any scams you do come across.

“Research has shown that while half of us have experienced some kind of scam, only five per cent of us report it. That’s a shocking figure and if we are prepared to give them that sort of free ride, it’s no wonder scams keep happening,” she added.

The campaign is part of Scams Awareness Month. Visit www.actionfraud.police.uk to report scams.

Selkirk thumped Melrose 27-7 in the final of their own sevens tournament to lift the title for the fifth time in six years.

Tries from Angus Duckett, player of the tournament Darren Clapperton, Callum McColm, skipper Gavin Craig and Rory Banks saw the Souters home in a superb final showing. Graeme Dodds scored Melrose’s only try.

Selkirk had been poor in the early stages but found their form against Melrose, who looked tired after an extra time win in the semi finals versus Watsonians.

Melrose still lead the DS Dalgleish Kings of the Sevens table by four points from Watsonians, who are the only side who can catch the Greenyards men heading into Jed Forest Sevens next Saturday.

Full report in Southern Reporter on Thursday.

First round: Gala 24 Heriot’s 19 (after extra time); Edinburgh Accies 24 Hawick 19; Selkirk 24 Falkirk 10; Watsonians 33 Hillhead/Jordanhill 5; Ayr 55 Berwick 0; Melrose 35 Peebles 12; Jed-Forest 36 Langholm 7.

Quarter finals: Gala 24 Edinburgh Accies 5; Selkirk 19 Glasgow Hawks 15; Watsonians 35 Ayr 0; Melrose 21 Jed-Forest 17.

Semi finals: Gala 10 Selkirk 12; Watsonians 14 Melrose 19 (after extra time).

Final: Selkirk 27 Melrose 7.

Selkirk: A. Duckett, F. Harkness, M. Kissick, D. Clapperton, C. McColm, G. Craig, S. Hendrie, E. Macdougall, M. Davies, R. Banks.

Melrose: G. Dodds, R. Mill, R. Ovens, B. Colvine, A. Skeen, A. Dodds, C. Anderson, A. Nagle, J. Helps, L. Mallin.

A mother says her two

daughters will not return to Gala Academy until it expels the bullies she claims have made her girls’ lives a misery.

Karen Birrell, from Galashiels, has now removed daughters, Natasha, from the secondary school’s first year, and Bethany, from its third year.

She alleges Natasha, who is 12 and sometimes needs the use of a wheelchair, was recently assaulted by five girls in an ongoing hate campaign stretching back to September.Ms Birrell says she has complained to the school since the bullying began and even reported this latest incident to police, but says she was told it was a school matter.

According to Ms Birrell, the most recent incident saw Natasha being punched and hit, while between 15 and 20 other girls stood around jeering.

Bethany, who is 15, has also been the target of bullying, and Ms Birrell last week attended a meeting at the school with the head and deputy head teachers.

“I was told the school is taking this very seriously, but they don’t seem to have a clue as to what’s really going on – I think they’re burying their heads in the sand,” Ms Birrell told The Southern.

“I have friends whose kids have also been bullied at the academy. My daughters will definitely not be going back to the school until this group of girls is expelled.”

Scottish Borders Council said it takes allegations of bullying very seriously and that its education department is working closely with the academy to investigate these claims, and take appropriate action.”

Councillor Sandy Aitchison (Galashiels & District, BP), is SBC executive member for education and said he had been unaware of this case.

“Bullying is something we take very seriously and have a policy developed in conjunction with young people to tackle it.

“That comes into effect officially in August, but it’d be fair to say it’s in place now,” Mr Aitchison told us.

“This is the first I was aware of this and my understanding now is that Ms Birrell has spoken with the head and deputy teachers at the school and I have every confidence the head teacher will deal with this.

“I spoke to the senior education officer at the council and she was as concerned as anybody.

“Our understanding was that Ms Birrell had been spoken to and given assurances this would be dealt with. But if she has lost confidence in the responses she has received, then she needs to get back in touch with us and we will do everything we can to deal with this matter.

“I know this school quite well and bullying is not a culture which is present.

“It is also not a culture I would condone in any shape or form at any school.”

Best-selling author of smash-hit Labyrinth, Kate Mosse, says she loves book festivals.

It is, she revealed, because such events help break the solitude a writer must cloak themselves in when working and lets them actively engage with their readers.

Many writers probably dread being buttonholed by fans of their work at events, but not so Mosse, who this week told us: “I’ve never been to the Borders Book Festival, but I’ve heard a lot about it and it sounds really good fun.

“I think events like this are a great way for readers to engage with writers they really enjoy, and they provide writers with a fantastic chance not just to meet readers, but also your peers and friends.

“And it’s great because writing is a very solitary business – by its very nature it is something private and personal.”

In Melrose, Mosse will talk about her work, life and new book Citadel.

The final instalment in her Languedoc Trilogy that began with 2005’s massively-successful Labyrinth, Citadel will be published just a few days after Mosse’s appearance at Melrose.

Citadel tells the story of Sandrine, a young woman drawn into the French Resistance.

Mosse and her family own a home in Carcasonne in south-west France, where the trilogy is set, and she says living in the region increased the burden she felt to faithfully depict events from a time that still provokes raw emotion in France.

“I never before had the experience of writing and weeping at the same time. There are still cafes in Carcasonne which certain people will still not go into because of choices made by their parents or grandparents during the German occupation.

“One of my anxieties was that the people of Carcasonne would be saying ‘who is this Englishwoman that thinks she can write our history’.”

But before she progresses on to anything else, however, Mosse is boning up on the novels of Rider Haggard for the festival’s Melrose Mastermind event.

“My subject is the Allan Quartermain books. Now that’s going to be really nerve-wracking,” she laughed.

The recent Scottish Hotel Awards proved particularly successful for some of the Borders’ leading accommodation providers.

Dryburgh Abbey Hotel took home five awards from the ceremony in Glasgow.

Manager Mark Wallace won a Manager Gold Medal, Julie Hyde won Wedding Planner of the Year and the hotel was named Country Sports Hotel of the Year, and won the dog friendly award.

It was also confirmed as the regional winner in the wedding hotel category.

Mr Wallace said: “We are delighted to have won these awards. It is great recognition of the efforts of all our staff.

“They will also help other Borders businesses. This is particularly true with the country sports award, with many local people, gamekeepers etc, employed in this field.

“It is the fourth year in a row we have won the Country Sports Hotel of the Year award, and it demonstrates that we are being viewed as a sporting provider and not just an accommodation host.”

He added: “The wedding awards are also extremely important to both the hotel and area generally.

“The spin-offs from weddings are great, for example florists, car hire, and accommodation for overflow. Local food and drink suppliers also benefit.”

The Buccleuch Arms Hotel took the award for Inn of the Year and was named regional winner in the informal dining category for its Bloo Coo Bistrot.

Rachael Hamilton, co-owner, said: “I want to pass on most of the credit for this award to our dedicated staff, without whom we wouldn’t be in a position to win anything.

“We feel strongly about using local produce and supporting other local businesses, and I think this is important for the hotel sector in Scotland.”

The Tontine in Peebles was regional winner in the small country hotel category, while The Roxburghe was joint regional winner in brand hotels.

The Macdonald Cardrona was named the region’s best golf hotel, and Caddon View Guest House in Innerleithen was given the dining award in the guest house awards.

INSPIRED students who created clothes made with bin bags and bottle tops have been rewarded with an exhibition of their work.

The Futures Gallery at Borders Textile Towerhouse in Hawick is showing the work of S5 and 6 pupils from the Creative Fashion course at the town’s high school.

The exhibition is part of the Vision 2014 initiative running in Hawick’s schools, which encourages young people to be proud of, and work towards, excellence in their community.

As part of the programme, 2013 is the Year of Industry, and the fashion students were inspired to come up with the title “DIY” and then the strap line “The Fashion House that Hawick Built” for their fashion show this year.

A number of the outfits on display at the exhibition reflect this theme.

Other garments are influenced by the trend for recycling, such as a dress made out of black bin bags and another which is covered with scraps of paper torn from magazines.

However, all the garments in the exhibition demonstrate how the pupils used their imagination and ingenuity to create unique outfits.

The exhibition, which is free and runs until September 29, also features eye-catching photographs taken by John Parris of the pupils modelling the outfits.

After more than 10 years at Hawick High School, the rector has announced he is to leave to take up a new post in Midlothian.

Alan Williamson revealed last week that in August he will take up the post of head of the first Scottish Futures Trust school centre, at Lasswade.

Rector at Hawick for the past seven years, Mr Williamson rejoined the school in 2002 as depute, having taught there during the late 1990s.

Reflecting on his time as rector, Mr Williamson said: “It has been very good. The school has had lots of success – School of Ambition was a highlight, as was the Vision 2014 programme in the community.

“There has also been lots of sporting and musical success too, and positive inspection reports.

“I believe school leaders should change, because I feel it is good for a school to have a fresh pair of eyes looking at it.”

The post at Lasswade will see Mr Williamson head up community learning, a library, sports centre and 1,400 pupils.

“It is a bigger job all round and will be a huge challenge for me,” he said.

Despite the change of job, Mr Williamson said he plans to continue to live in Hawick.

“My heart is still in the Borders,” he said, adding: “I think Hawick has a far worse reputation than it deserves. There are brilliant pupils here and we have got a really strong community spirit.

“I have had great staff, teachers and a supportive senior management team. It has been a pleasure to work here.”

Christine Brown, council senior education officer, said: “Alan Williamson has worked very hard to develop the school and work with the local community over the past seven years. He will be sadly missed by parents, staff and pupils.”

The future of a service which has helped more than 1,600 Borderers affected by cancer since August 2009 is in doubt due to funding concerns.

Almost £5million of financial gains have been secured by the Borders Macmillan Welfare Benefits Partnership, which is partly based at the Macmillan Centre in the Borders General Hospital and is staffed by two council employees.

However, despite the local authority and Macmillan agreeing to split the costs for a further three years, its future after March 2016 is uncertain.

A report to councillors last week said Macmillan is unlikely to be able to provide further funding after 2016, and that funds from within the council or partner organisations may not be available in three years’ time.

A council spokesman told TheSouthern: “At this stage it would be the intention to continue working in partnership with Macmillan and other partners after 2016, but it would be necessary to develop the knowledge of cancer-related issues and benefit matters among partners and stakeholders across the Borders to allow for greater sustainability of advice to people affected by cancer in the longer term.”

The service has exceeded initial targets for financial gains, set at £800,000 per year. In the first year it actually achieved £1.5million, and it has remained similar since then.

Tom McInnes, Macmillan development manager, said: “Services like this are essential for helping to ensure that people access everything they are entitled to. The service has had a remarkable impact in the three years it has been running.

“Macmillan are in continual discussions with the council around the sustainability of such a vital service,” he added.

An anticipated rise in the Borders’ older population and an eight per cent increase in cancer cases up to 2020 is expected to increase demand for the service.

Two exhibitions of work by Howdenburn Primary School pupils are now in Jedburgh’s museums.

Items inspired by Burke and Hare are in the jail, and a project on Mary, Queen of Scots is in the house’s visitor centre.