Friday saw the Spurs Night meeting of Braw Lad Daniel Whitehead and Braw Lass Lucy Black with Selkirk Standard Bearer Martin Rodgerson.

They met at Gala Foot and drank a stirrup cup in Albert Place before the traditional dinner.

Hope sprang at last for Jedburgh folk, as the Market Place’s Jubilee Fountain finally flowed with water after four years of repairs, and decades running dry.

Jedburgh’s fountain, constructed to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, was given an £18,000 restoration two years ago, which paid for electric lighting and renovated plumbing, but stopped short of reconnecting a permanent water supply.

To commemmorate Flodden’s 500th anniversary, immediately after he was declared 2013 Jethart Callant on Friday night, Garry Ramsay opened the new fountain by bussing the unicorn on top in Jed’s colours of blue and red.

The red sandstone Jubilee Fountain was designed by George Bell of Glasgow, and consists of an ornamental Gothic column with ermine carvings, surmounted by a rampant unicorn bearing a heraldic shield with town crest. At the base lies alternating bronze plaques and profile busts of Queen Victoria, and a four-cornered pool with pedestal cups made of polished pink Peterhead granite.

Jedburgh’s Common Good fund approved a grant of £8,537 towards the costs of refurbishment, with the balance of more than £10,000 provided by Scottish Borders Council and the Scottish Government. Commissioned by the council, the project was plagued by problems and delays. The original contractor, David Rumble of Greenlaw who recarved the spout heads, was followed by local building firm, John Laidlaw & Son, to finish the work.

Behind scaffolding and wooden hoarding, the contractors spent months rejuvenating the fountain back to its former glory, with electricians Scott & Foggon fixing the lighting and Jim Purdie the plumber laying the pipework, until it was revealed in May 2011, almost a year behind schedule. Now the last stage has been completed, with a 1,000 litre tank sunk underground to recirculate the water – which means it’s not safe to drink.

“Things have happened, but not as quickly as people would like,” mused Jed Community Council chairman Richard Gordon. “Moffat’s Ram was restored with water put back after four months. Jed’s fountain took nearly four years. But it’s great it’s working again. I felt if you’re doing up the fountain, it seemed daft not to spend a bit more money to get it going.”

The fountain has long been a source of controversy due to delays. Some two years after the official Jubilee celebrations, in 1889, The Building News pithily remarked that “an ornamental pillar-lamp and fountain are about to be erected ... as a tardily realised memorial of the Jubilee.”

It was finally inaugurated on May 24, 1890.

POLICE in the Borders are hosting a series of events to raise public awareness about so-called ‘legal highs’.

The events, which will take place in various locations between June 5-24, are aimed at providing information on the risks of these new drugs to parents, those who work with young people and members of staff from the licensing trade.

While people may believe it is legal to buy these items, one fifth actually contain illegal substances and can have serious health implications if consumed.

Drug and alcohol awareness officer PC Gillian Oliver will host the session and would encourage anyone wishing more information on these new drugs and the associated risks to come along.

PC Oliver said: “Police Scotland is committed to keeping people safe and protecting young people from the harmful effects of substance abuse.

“I am keen to hear from anyone who has questions or concerns relating to legal highs.”

Seminar dates

Volunteer Hall, Duns, June 6, 6-7pm

Tait Hall, Kelso, June 10, 6-7pm

Town Hall, Jedburgh, June 13, 6-7pm

Corn Exchange, melrose, June 17, 6-7pm

Galashiels Academy, June 18, 5.30–6.30pm

Victoria Halls, Selkirk, June 19, 6-7pm

Town Hall, Hawick, June 20, 6-7pm

Community Centre, Eyemouth, June 24, 7–8pm

The Tenant Farming Forum (TFF) is best placed to come up with solutions to land tenure issues, says the Land Reform Review Group (LRRG) in its interim report out on Monday.

The LRRG of 12 advisors was set up last year to look at the 2003 Land Reform (Scotland) Act and how communities could benefit from further reform.

The interim report is based on evidence received through visits, meetings and more than 475 submissions.

In their study, LRRG’s Dr Alison Elliot and Dr Sarah Skerratt say: “We are aware of the complexities of farming tenancies. This aspect of rural Scotland is clearly problematic and requires sensitive and expert attention.

“For the LRRG to address these issues would be to interfere with the work of the TFF and to stray considerably away from our remit which focuses on communities rather than relationships between individuals.

“We urge the TFF to respond constructively to the tenants’ concerns and proposals.”

NFU Scotland will be discussing land tenure at a seminar in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Union chief executive Scott Walker said: “Scotland requires access to flexible and fluid arrangements for landlords, tenants and owner-occupiers to take advantage of and our seminar in Edinburgh next week will look to establish how we achieve that.”

Part of LRRG’s next phase of work will look at how to better encourage more communities to have a stake in owning and managing land. The LRRG recommendations are expected in April next year.

Since the State Opening of Parliament a few weeks ago, there has been much discussion surrounding its content and what it means for families and businesses across the UK.

One of the most important reforms announced in the speech was a new single-tier pension which will benefit women, carers and savers, and provide Borderers with a secure and decent pension when they retire.

Introducing fairer pensions has been one of the Lib Dems’ top priorities in government and I am glad to say we have already restored the earnings link to ensure we never again see the paltry 75p rises we had under Labour. In fact, we delivered the largest-ever increase to the state pension last year worth £5.30 per week.

In another step towards fairer pensions, the Westminster Government outlined its plans in the Queen’s Speech to introduce a bill for a simple, flat-rate pension. This will give people confidence to know what they will be entitled to when they retire and stop penalising savers.

The changes will also ensure that Borderers who have taken time out of work to care for children or elderly or disabled relatives will no longer lose out because they will be able to build up credits towards their pension.

Over the years as local MP, I have met many Borderers who have been stung by means testing for the state pension or faced a reduced pension because of caring responsibilities. This new state pension will end this unfairness and mean that people in these situations can look forward to a decent pension on retirement.

Vince Cable’s visit

A couple of weekends ago, Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, visited the region to speak at our local Lib Dem annual dinner and meet businessmen and women from across the area.

During the meeting with local farm businesses we covered issues from bank lending to red tape, and Vince and I will be sure to take forward the concerns raised in the months ahead.

Before this, Vince and I toured John Seed’s farm near Duns and it was interesting to see the work he and his partners are doing at Woodend with the biomass boiler to make the farm self-sufficient in energy terms. The boiler provides the energy to run egg production at the farm as well as heat the farm cottages, saving the business thousands of pounds a year in energy costs.

This means that money is kept in the Borders, rather than being spent on energy bills, and can be used instead to invest in the business as well as provide jobs for local people.

HYDRO POOL

‘Temporary’ move proved permanent

Away back in 1988 the people of Selkirk were hoodwinked by the then chairman of Borders Health Board, a Dr Peters, when he told us that our cottage hospital at Viewfield Home would have to be closed “temporarily” so that staff could be moved to the new Borders General Hospital to allow all wards, including palliative care ones, to open at the same time in the replacement for Peel Hospital.

An assurance was given that the staff would be moved back to Selkirk as soon as possible when the funding allowed. Of course that never happened and Selkirk was the first town in the Borders to lose its own cottage hospital, which had been provided by public subscription.

The Souters fell for it in 1988, but the people of the Borders have that experience to fall back on in 2013.

Last week we were told that NHS Borders was moving the much-used and valuable hydro pool out of the BGH, resiting it at Jedburgh’s Laidlaw Memorial Pool. That statement was totally erroneous and although health chiefs said that the plans were in place for this, no such proposals have been submitted and Jedburgh Leisure Facilities Trust, a private body, has not confirmed that any deal has been done, apart from an exploratory meeting.

The chairman of the Jedburgh pool, former councillor Lenny Wyse, has gone on record to say that any plans to provide a hydro-pool facility at Jedburgh is several years away at least, and as a priority it does not rate in the top three places.

So where does that leave NHS Borders chairman John Raine and, more particularly, chief executive Calum Campbell who told us that the BGH pool was closing soon and they hoped the new facility would take over? I’m afraid it leaves them both with the proverbial egg on their face, but more than that it puts them in the same category as the late Dr Peters.

I would also remind both gentlemen that they should be looking at the bigger picture. Borders General Hospital was built where it is to make it central to all Borderers. That was the reasoning behind resiting the excellent Peel Hospital near to Caddonfoot.

Why move bits of it now, a quarter of a century later, to outlying areas where many folk most in need cannot reach easily?

The hydro pool is for people who need therapy and may be less mobile than most. Why make them drive or go by public transport from Peebles or West Linton or even Galashiels or Selkirk to Jedburgh? Who pays for the extra mileage?

Time to reconsider, gentlemen, or maybe even consider your own positions.

Kenneth Gunn

Selkirk

PARTY POLITICS

Voters remain estranged

As a Scot who is proud to be British, I, like many of my fellow Brits, see much despair in the state of our political class, both in Scotland and throughout the Western world.

I wonder if our national apathy on things political is the result of party politics, which reek enough to ensure that the majority of voters remain estranged from the political process.

What has changed so much since the days of working class and female enfranchisement (right to vote), or following the French and American revolutions, when the great minds of their day engaged to ensure that government was sufficiently restrained from effecting tyranny against the people? It is no secret that the American constitution was used to enshrine a constitutional republic to limit government and to protect the people from the politicians. Would our politicians do this today?

Thomas Paine was an Englishman granted asylum by French and American governments in those days of revolution. He was in hiding from our king who, with his government in Westminster, had accused him of treason for writing a book titled “Rights of Man”. The basis of the charge was that he wrote of how a monarchical system of government can only be a corruption of the natural order of sovereignty; as it seeks to bestow privilege through order and rank, while it removes sovereignty, liberty, freedom and equality from the individual.

One of the interesting points that is often overlooked in Paine’s famous text is that a democratically-elected government can become as corrupt as a tyrannical monarch when an entrenched party system dominates a country’s political process.

With this in mind and as much as I would normally object to First Minister Alex Salmond displaying a lack of support for both freedom of speech and for all political parties engaged in legitimate political activities, I will simply note my concern at the attitude coming from all of our old political parties

It would seem that the entrenched progressive political parties have suggested that there is a wrong way of thinking – what next, re-education centres?

In the normal course of things, legitimate political debate from a political party comes from both within the party and, by extension, from the voters who it has listened to when formulating policies. This is what UKIP does and I would suggest that perhaps what our First Minister and those party leaders who claim that UKIP’s policies are “not wanted in Scotland” mean is that they do not want to listen to the legitimate concerns of the voters they represent in the same way that UKIP has.

I would encourage the electorate to engage in the voting process to show that they have had enough of the consensus party politics with inherent cronyism and a patronising “do-as-I-say” attitude.

Voting for the party with the principles most closely aligned to your own will ensure that whichever party it is, it will not be a wasted vote.

Steven McKeane

Ellwyn Terrace

Galashiels

BORDERS LINE

Railing against rising costs

It is great to see progress on the new, much-needed Borders railway line, but there are already warning signs that the project will cost a whole lot more than the estimated figure.

No surprises there. Let’s hope it is not another Edinburgh trams disaster.

It never ceases to amaze me that government projects, be it local or national, always go over budget. Not by 20 or 30 per cent, but by mind-boggling amounts.

I ran a small garage, in a wee village in deepest Aberdeenshire, for a number of years and would have been run out of town if my customer’s bills had been even 20 per cent over estimate. If you are a small builder and estimate a job, not only are you competing with other bidders, but you are also stuck with your estimate. You take the hit if you have not done your sums right.

Not so with government project bidders. It is a licence to print money. Penalty clauses just don’t appear to exist with these projects. It could be argued that the company who gave the original estimate should be sued for incompetence, as there is no convincing reason for a 100 per cent increase in the project’s final cost.

Don’t hold your breath that it won’t be much more. Having said all that, I would like to be on the first train.

Ian Smith

Craig Brown Avenue

Selkirk

speed limit

Councillor makes a point

I refer to the article in last week’s paper about the proposed speed limit for Yarrow Feus.

I am the community councillor for Ettrick and Yarrow who attended the area forum and I certainly did not say that nobody wanted the limit. What I did say was that the community council was unanimously opposed to it, as were most of the people I had spoken to.

I did acknowledge that there were two people in Yarrow Feus who had attended at least one of our meetings and were fairly vociferous in their support for the idea. These two people being the two mentioned in the article.

Brian Roberts

Yarrowford

HOMeCOMING

Celebrating Scotland

Home. One of my favourite words. The mere mention makes me want to be there, conjuring up a feeling of warmth in my mind – a blazing fire, comfy slippers and a cup of tea.

Home is somewhere you look forward to going to and no matter what type of day you’ve had, or how far you have to travel to get there, once you arrive all seems right with the world again.

In 2014, I’m encouraging the great Scottish public – yes, that’s you – to celebrate your home of Scotland in all its breath-taking glory. I want every person within the 5.3million people who inhabit our beautiful shores to come together and celebrate what makes our home the most magnificent in the world.

Homecoming 2014 begins as the clock strikes midnight on December 31 this year.

From the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn to a celebration of the iconic Forth bridges, to whisky, music, dance and storytelling festivals galore, there is something to inspire all to get out there and discover more about Scottish history, culture and entertainment.

Events will fall into five themes: creative, active, natural, ancestry, food and drink. So if you prefer feasting on seafood to throwing yourself down a mountain on a bicycle, we don’t mind as long as we can inspire you to get involved.

And for those that think that Homecoming is not for them? Well, as you recline on the sofa in your own home tonight, I want you to think of one thing about Scotland that you cannot wait to get back to – the thing that you miss most when you dare to venture from these shores.

Because beyond the fireworks, pomp and spectacle, that’s what Homecoming is about. It is a time to remember why we love our small, but perfectly-formed country so much.

Events are being added by the day to the Homecoming 2014 programme. For more details on events in your area or how to get involved, visit www.homecomingscotland.com.

Mike Cantlay

(chairman)

VisitScotland

Ocean Point One

Edinburgh

Family history

Galashiels gathering

On May 11, the Borders Family History Society (BFHS) hosted the annual conference of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies (SAFHS) in Galashiels.

This event is the largest genealogy event in Scotland and this year attracted more than 170 delegates from the UK, Australia, Canada and the USA, and over 80 stall holders from as far afield as Exeter and Inverness. Many took the opportunity of spending a few nights in the Borders as tourists.

Our theme was “Scotland and Migration” and each of the speakers, who had travelled from as far south as Harrogate and as far north as Thurso, provided interesting and appreciated insights about the theme subject as well as droving and drove roads in Northumberland, emigration and immigration records on the internet, researching the Buccleuch land records, Borders families who moved to Caithness and migration stories in the National Portrait Gallery.

Visitors also took advantage of an advice room where BFHS members provided assistance and information to those researching their family history. The society also thanks the businesses and individuals who donated raffle prizes and other goods and services, all of which helped support the event.

BFHS is run by a small team of volunteers. It would not have been possible to host this event without the enthusiasm, knowledge and skills of society members.

Elma Fleming

(SAFHS 2013 Conference, Borders Family History

Society)

EPILEPSY

Founder’s alarm appeal

Purple is the colour of Epilepsy Week (May 19-25). It was also one of my son Muir’s first words when he was learning to speak as a toddler.

Sadly Muir has Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that causes loss of language, profound learning disabilities and behavioural problems.

What has been vital for us and many other families is an epilepsy alarm. Its piercing noise is activated if a child is having a seizure during sleep.

A good-quality and reliable epilepsy alarm costs £750. For the last 10 years the Muir Maxwell Trust has raised funds to provide alarms for children with epilepsy and their families struggling to cope.

Please help us by donating at www.muirmaxwelltrust.com/fundraising.

Ann Maxwell

(founder,

Muir Maxwell Trust)

Musselburgh

childminding

Kelso group’s thanks

Kelso Childminders are a non-affiliated group of registered childminders who meet regularly to network and give the children in our care the opportunity to play within a social environment.

We would like to thank Kelso Football Club for the use of its clubhouse and facilities, and are grateful to Sainsbury’s in Kelso for supplying us with tea, coffee and snacks.

If you are a registered childminder within the Kelso area, we would love you to come along, so please contact us at kelsochildminders@hotmail.co.uk for details of our next meeting.

Gwen Bennet

Abbotseat

Kelso

CHESS CLUB

Earlston coffee morning cash

Earlston Chess Club would like to thank everybody who attended and supported its coffee morning in Hanover Lounge, and to those who gave a donation towards the club.

A sum of £300 was raised which will help to pay for a playing venue next winter.’

G. Birbeck

(Earlston Chess Club)

COMPANY bosses have formed a new organisation that will be used to make their voices heard.

The Scottish Borders Business Forum wants to be seen as a single, powerful voice.

It was formed at a meeting last week which was chaired by James Aiken, convener of the Borders Chamber of Commerce.

He commented; “While individual organisations will look to the detailed needs of their members, this Forum is designed to create more clout when approaching opinion formers and political leaders on issues that concern all of us.”

It has the backing of the local authority, and the councillor with responsibility for economic development, Stuart Bell, pledged: “This forum will reflect the interests of its business members – not of the council.

“I welcome and applaud this initiative.”

Mr Aiken added:“I am convinced that this collective voice will ring louder in the ears of politicians than each individual organisation can hope to do.”

The forum’s first major event will focus on transport, with input from both the council and the Road Haulage Association.

As an army officer, Matt

Maynard led military

operations in some of the world’s most dangerous places.

But the former major withThe Rifles, who left the army after 20 years in 2012 and settled with his family in Kelso, is now using that logistical expertise to help one of the country’s leading service charities.

Help for Heroes (H4H) was launched in 2007 to provide better facilities for servicemen and women wounded since September 11, 2001.

Matt and wife Jo moved to Kelso as Jo has family connections in the area and Matt, 40, now works in the North Sea oil and gas industry.

It was a link via friends to H4H which saw Matt appointed as a local area co-ordinator.

“There’s been quite a few events locally that raised money, but not many volunteers that could be called on for support,” he explained.

“So I was very happy to step in and help. I did eight tours and came through with 
nothing worse than a broken finger.

“But I know guys who weren’t so lucky. I had a reasonably good friend killed, one of my soldiers was killed in Iraq and others received horrific life-changing injuries.”

As regional co-ordinator, Matt gets notified of any local events raising funds for H4H.

One of the first events he is involved with is an Edinburgh to London bike sponsored ride by 15 injured soldiers, which stops off in Lauder and Jedburgh on May 28.

z Matt can be contacted at www.helpforheroes.org.uk

It may not be everybody’s way of spending a Sunday but the man who oversees the only crematorium in the Borders is confident his first open day will be a success.

George Bell has been in the business more than 20 years and took charge of the Borders Crematorium next to Wairds Cemetery in Melrose when it became operational in December 2011.

By the end of this week he and his staff will have handled 860 cremations. He believes that number will rise and they expect to oversee 900 services each year.

He told TheSouthern: “There is now a trend to move away from traditional burials and across Scotland, 64 per cent of people now go for cremation rather than burial.”

A stroll around a cemetery can be relaxing and therapeutic for some – but what about a guided tour of crematorium?

Mr Bell says it is not as unusual as some might think.

He told us : “Up and down the country they have become popular events. They allow people to see the facilities and, if they want, they can see how the final journey of the coffin ends – although, it won’t obviously be operational.

“The public will meet the staff and we will explain properly what happens, including the codes of conduct within which we have to operate.”

In 1981 when Mr Bell began work, the split between cremations and burials in Scotland was 50-50.

He believes the change to 64 per cent cremations can be explained by a lack of burial space in cities and the high value of land.

He went on: “Crematoriums in cities were often large to cater for high numbers. But there has been a move to smaller ones in the communities.

“That’s what we have in the Borders and I think that will account for more change.”

Mr Bell knows the question he and his staff will be asked most often on Sunday. He revealed: “People always ask if they will get the right ashes back.

“And the answer is, yes. We only cremate one coffin at a time. It is physically impossible to do anything else”

The Borders Crematorium is operated by the Bristol-based Westerleigh Group who built the Melrose facility at a cost of £2.6million.

It’s birth wasn’t without controversy. The company faced major planning objections because of its site below the north Eildon.

During the tour, staff will explain environmental advances now in use.

The open day is between 10am and 2pm and includes the grounds as well as the 98-seater chapel.

A TEENAGER struggled violently with police officers after becoming abusive when refused entry to a Kelso nightclub.

Cameron Lyon wanted into the Gemini 1, but was turned away because he did not have suitable identification.

Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard last Friday that the 18-year-old’s mother appeared from inside the club to vouch for his age, but he was still not permitted entry.

Depute procurator fiscal Kate McGarvey said: “He became abusive to members of staff.

“He also made it clear to police officers in the locus that he was not happy about not being allowed entry.

“He then became aggressive towards the police officers and several by-passers had to cross the road to avoid him.

“He had a number of chances to leave. One of the officers put his hand on him to arrest him, but he pulled away and started struggling with the officers.”

Lyon, of Cheviot Road, Hawick, had been of good behaviour during a period of deferred sentence for the November 18 offence.

Sheriff Derrick McIntyre, pointing out that Lyon was on an ASBO (antisocial behaviour order) and already had a previous conviction for police assault when he committed the offence, fined him £100.

BOTTLE ATTACK ALLEGATION

A HAWICK teenager has denied carrying out a bottle attack to another male’s severe injury injury and permanent disfigurement.

Steven Gorman, of Wilson Drive, pleaded not guilty to striking his alleged victim on the head with a bottle in North Bridge Street, Hawick, on September 22. He also faces a second charge of uttering threats and violence, and challenging others to fight.

The case was continued until May 31.

JUNE TRIAL FOR KELSO WOMAN

A WOMAN claimed more than £26,000 in disability living allowance while working at two jobs, it has been alleged.

Sharon Anderson is charged with failing to notify officials at the Department of Work and Pensions of an improvement in her fitness condition.

It is alleged she continued to receive disability living allowance totalling £26,025 over a five year-period to which she was not entitled, working as a taxi driver and steward at a Kelso nightclub.

Anderson, 41, of Sprouston Road, Kelso, pleaded not guilty and a trial date was set for June 13.

BACKGROUND REPORTS

A SHERIFF has described the malnourished condition of a Rottweiler as an “absolute disgrace”.

Derrick McIntyre was looking at the pictures of the dog which was left in the care of 39-year-old Amanda Hartness while her partner was in prison.

Hartness, of Croft Road, Hawick, was found guilty at a previous hearing of failing to provide the dog with adequate nutrition at her home on August 28 last year.

Rory Bannerman, defending, said she had no experience of looking after animals and thought one bowl of food per day would suffice. When the dog lost significant weight she put it down to the Rottweiler pining for its owner.

Sheriff McIntyre said: “I have never seen a Rottweiler in this condition. It is an absolute disgrace.”

After being told background reports had not yet been prepared he warned Hartness she could be remanded if they were not ready for the sentencing hearing on June 28.

KNIVES CHARGES CASE CONTINUED

A KELSO man has been charged on indictment with being in possession of two knives in the town’s Orchard Park.

Daniel Murdoch, 20, is also accused of presenting a knife at a property in the street and acting in a threatening or abusive manner. He also faces a third charge of possession of a knife in Croft Road, Kelso.

All the offences are alleged to have been committed on October 6.

Murdoch, of Inchmyre, pleaded not guilty to all three allegations and the case was continued until May 31.

NEIGHBOUR’S DOOR DAMAGED

BACKGROUND reports have been ordered into a Jedburgh man who spray painted the word “beast” on a neighbour’s door.

George Anderson, 44, admitted causing £100 worth of damage to the property in Bountrees on April 19 and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.

Kate McGarvey, prosecuting, said: “It was about 5pm and the complainer was watching television when the accused appeared and started shouting and swearing, and this continued for several minutes. Another witness saw him staggering about intoxicated. She saw him wearing black gloves which she thought was strange due to the fact it was a sunny day.”

Ms McGarvey said that, under police interview, Anderson denied spray painting the door.

But, representing himself in court, Anderson admitted spray painting the door. He explained he had bought a computer from the complainer and was unhappy at some of the things he found on it.

Sheriff Derrick McIntyre deferred sentence for a criminal justice social work report until June 28 and told Anderson to bring £100 with him to pay for the damage.

ARREST WARRANT

A WARRANT has been issued for the arrest of Kevin Clarke, 20, of Eildon Road, Hawick, who failed to appear in court on an assault charge allegedly committed in the town’s High Street on December 23.

ASSAULT ACCUSATION

DALE WHILLANS, 16, of Longcroft Road, Hawick, will stand trial on September 23 accused of assaulting a male by head-butting him in the town’s High Street on December 27.

BUS DRIVER FACES CHARGE

A BUS driver faces a carelessdriving charge after an accident involving a cyclist.

Kevin Richardson is accused of causing his vehicle to collide with the bike, ridden by Philip Bett, which resulted in him being seriously injured, and the bike and bus damaged.

The offence is alleged to have happened on the A6089 at Kelso on March 29.

The 35-year-old, of Huntshaw Place, Earlston, pleaded not guilty to the charge and the trial was set for June 13.

NOT-GUILTY PLEA

A JEDBURGH man will stand trial accused of thefts from a JCB mechanical digger parked overnight at Cessford Farm in November.

Steven Edwards, 31, of Howdenburn Court, pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleges while acting with others.

The trial was set for September 19.

PUBLICAN FAILED TO APPEAR

A PUBLICAN has been accused of allowing alcohol to be sold at his bar while the drinks licence was suspended.

Frank McFarlane, 64, of North Bridge Street, Hawick, denies a breach of the Licensing Scotland Act 2005.

The offence was allegedly committed at Frankie’s Bar in Hawick on September 21.

McFarlane failed to appear in person and the Crown stated they would be raising proceedings over that matter.

The case was continued until May 31.

MOTORIST ACCUSED

A MOTORIST faces a dangerous driving charge.

Glen Miller, 25, who lives at Wilson Drive, Hawick, is accused of driving when both his front tyres were so badly worn it resulted in his car going out of control and colliding with a fuel tanker on the A698 Hawick to Kelso road on November 8.

A trial date was set for September 26 with an intermediate hearing on August 30.

More young people in the Borders are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) than compared to Scotland and Britain.

Figures for April show 7.7 per cent of those in the area aged 18 to 24 were claiming JSA. For Scotland this was 7.2 per cent and Britain 6.7 per cent.

The total number of JSA claimants in the region fell last month to 2,130, with more than 25 per cent having claimed for over a year.

IT TAKES courage to start up a business at any time, and particularly when the economy is still depressed. But – and this may sound counter-intuitive – now is actually a good time set up on your own.

One of the positive aspects of an economic downturn is the number of new businesses which emerge. However, experience shows that the success rate of new ventures can be enhanced by heeding the following tips:

z Time. There’s never enough of it. So have a written plan and prioritise what needs done to achieve the things critical to success. And expect it to take twice as long as you thought to get your business really motoring.

z Cash. Cash is king in any business and especially when funding is scarce. Don’t spend on anything that won’t contribute directly to business success.

z Funding. Be realistic about your needs and know where the funds are going to come from.

Craig Little, director of Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce (SBCC), warns banks are unlikely to provide it all, so be prepared to look at other sources such as grants, personal capital and loans from family.

z Advice. As Mr Little says, “you simply can’t get enough good independent advice. Don’t believe family and friends, because they’re biased.” Your accountant and industry bodies, such as SBCC, Business Gateway and the Federation of Small Businesses, are all good sources of information. Also, get advice from other business people who’ve been there and got the T-shirt.

z Minimise risk. Look at different business models, including franchising. The success rates for new franchise businesses are four times those of other new enterprises.

Remember, Business Gateway also runs free start-up workshops and can also help with loans and grants.

Email me: simon@simon-mountford.co.uk

THE Borders is well represented in the regional section of the Scottish Thistle Awards this year, after the shortlists were announced on Monday.

The awards, organised by VisitScotland, celebrate excellence across the tourism industry, with the emphasis on quality and enhancing visitor experiences.

The nominated local businesses and events are: Kingsmuir House B&B in Peebles, Glenacre B&B in Jedburgh, The Roxburghe Hotel and Golf Course, The Tour of Britain, TweedLove Bike Festival, and Bowhill House and Country Estate.

Each will battle it out with other finalists from across the Lothians and Fife for a place at the national awards final, to be held later this year.

Paula McDonald, regional director for VisitScotland, said: “We are delighted that so many Scottish Borders tourism businesses have reached the regional final of the Scottish Thistle Awards.

“The Borders offers a great visitor experience in terms of the quality of things to see and do and places to stay, and these businesses have an excellent chance of securing a place at the national Scottish Thistle Awards which will take place this November.”

Miss McDonald added: “Next year Scotland welcomes the world with several key events such as the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and Homecoming Scotland 2014, putting this country in the international spotlight, and everyone needs to do their bit to help make the Scottish Borders shine.

“The local tourism industry as a whole needs to be as polished as it can be and this drive for quality is really important, with now being the time for businesses to do all they can to stay at the very top of their game and reap the rewards.”

Kingsmuir House and Glenacre will have to fight off The Bridge Inn at Ratho if either are to take away the Best Guest House/B&B award.

The Roxburghe is a finalist in the Best Hotel category, while Bowhill is in the running for the Best Visitor Attraction award.

Tweedlove and the Tour of Britain (Stage 3 started in Jedburgh) will go against each other in the Best Sporting Event category.

FOLLOWING significant pressure from politicians across the south of Scotland, ITV Border will show coverage of the ongoing independence issue.

Last week STV broadcast a debate between local MP Michael Moore and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – however, this was not shown in the ITV Border region.

But ITV later confirmed the Borders would receive future coverage.

Michael Jermey, ITV director of news and current affairs, said: “ITV Border viewers will be able to watch extensive, high-quality impartial political programming on the independence issue in the run-up to September 2014, together with a rich range of discussion on this important debate.” ITV also confirmed that there will “extensive coverage” of the issues surrounding independence within its weekday evening news programme Lookaround.

Borders MSP John Lamont said: “The referendum on whether or not we should separate from the rest of the United Kingdom will be the most important decision that Scots have made in 300 years.

“As such it is vital that voters are given the information they need to make an informed decision. That is why I am delighted that ITV have pledged to offer full and extensive coverage of the debate over the coming months before the vote.”

A probe has been launched in Kelso to try to uncover the

origins of a stained-glass

window which has lain under a bed for more than a decade.

It was recent coverage of plans for a ceremony at the local war memorial to install a plaque, marking links between Polish soldiers and Kelso during the Second World War, along with another plaque marking the deaths of three Polish soldiers who died in a nearby tank training exercise, that saw news emerge of the window’s existence.

It had been stored in Innerleithen by a member of the family building firm which carried out the work during the early 1990s to convert the former Kelso Cottage Hospital into private homes.

And that was that for almost 20 years until Murray Charters, of Innerleithen, whose father and late brother worked on the hospital conversion project, spotted the story in The Southern about the plaques and contacted community councillor Harry Tomczyk.

“It was the family firm of R. W. Charters which did a lot of the building work,” Murray Charters told The Southern.

“There was a nice stained- glass window in the old mortuary, but it wasn’t the sort of thing someone would want in their living room or bedroom once the hospital was converted into homes.

“However, it wasn’t the sort of thing you’d want to throw into a skip either, so it was stored at our yard in Innerleithen and then pretty much under a bed for 15 years.”

Mr Charters said he was told the window was originally intended to honour the three soldiers who died as a result of the tank tragedy.

Mr Tomczyk, who revealed the window’s existence at a recent community council meeting, is keen to find out more.

“A lot of people have given different versions as to its origins, but all we know for certain is that the window came from the mortuary of the old hospital,” he said

Retired sister midwife Alison Brunton started her training at the cottage hospital in 1948 and says the window was already in the mortuary then.

“There was never anything mentioned in my time that the window was to do with the Polish soldiers.

“But it was a lovely window and I’m delighted to hear it has been stored safely for all of these years. It would’ve been a great shame if it had been lost.”

Concerns are being expressed that the creation of a justice centre in Galashiels will be the death knell for every sheriff court in the Borders.

The Scottish Parliament’s justice committee heard evidence on proposed court closures on Tuesday from Eric McQueen, the chief executive of the Scottish Court Service.

Mr McQueen said a feasibility study is to be considered, looking to see if a justice centre could be created to ‘serve the whole of the Borders’.

John Lamont MSP said the news was a ‘bombshell’.

He added: “This is a thoroughly disappointing statement from the Scottish Courts Service, and shows that despite having already shut half of the courts in the Borders they are still looking to close more.”

Mr Lamont added: “It will only lead to a further restriction on access to our courts and will cause further delays in an already overburdened system.”

Various parties, including the council, are due to meet early next month to discuss a justice centre.

Tracey Logan, SBC chief executive, said: “The council is aiming to protect local access to justice and we are actively working with the Scottish Court Service to achieve this.

“One option is a proposal to develop a state of the art Borders justice centre and we are setting up a joint project to consider feasibility and options.”

Peebles and Duns sheriff courts are currently proposed for closure.

Christine Grahame MSP, convener of the justice committee, has opposed the closure of Peebles Sheriff Court, but has equally been vocal in her calls for a justice centre in Galashiels.

Just last week, Ms Grahame told TheSouthern: “The principle that there will be a justice centre in Galashiels has been agreed and I have been assured that the funding is available through the Scottish Court Service to ensure that Borders justice remains in the Borders and will be delivered in a justice centre in Galashiels.”

She added that there was ‘no question’ that it would be created if Peebles Sheriff Court closed.

Mr Lamont has now called on Ms Grahame to explain her rationale for supporting a justice centre if it means Jedburgh and Selkirk courts will also face the axe.

Mr Lamont said: “It is time for those in the SNP who have voiced support for having a justice centre to come out and explain why they think it will be beneficial.

“It is now clear that it will only lead to the closure of more courts and I know that many local residents will be totally against the idea.” Local solicitor Iain Burke said the money that would be spent on a justice centre would be better used to improve the facilities in the existing courts in the Borders. He added that a justice centre in the Borders would not solve any of the problems associated with the closure of Peebles and Duns.

If a majority of the committee oppose the closure plans then the full Parliament will get to vote on the issue.

Ten sheriff courts across Scotland are facing closure.

Kevin Drummond has hit out at the plans to shut Peebles’s court after it was described as a ‘model’ for the way forward.

The Borders sheriff appeared before the Scottish Parliament’s justice committee on Tuesday, giving evidence on his views about the Scottish Court Service’s (SCS) reforms.

At Tuesday’s hearing Eric McQueen, chief executive of the SCS, said: “Peebles could be a good model for a justice centre, but it simply doesn’t have the business.”

The building in which Peebles Sheriff Court sits is council-owned and also houses the police station and social work and child welfare staff, something the SCS is seeking to replicate in justice centres.

At the hearing, Sheriff Drummond said Peebles was the ‘classic’ example of how rural justice could be provided effectively.

Speaking to TheSouthern, he added: “If this is the position of the Scottish Court Service in relation to Peebles then there is only one decision, and that is that it should remain open.”

He added that the impact of the closures on other agencies, such as the police, had not been examined.

He said: “The Scottish Court Service should be looking at savings from the public purse, not moving the costs from one pocket to another.”

Speaking to MSPs on Tuesday, Sheriff Drummond said: “Instead of having people travelling to a central court, we should have the sheriff travelling to the people.”

He also called for the decision on ‘contentious closures’ to be put on hold until at least indicative costs were worked out and alternatives explored.

Local solicitor Iain Burke echoed the sheriff’s view. He said: “Peebles and Duns courts are very efficient, and are effective ways of delivering rural justice.

“Closing them may make savings in the SCS budget, but with police time and legal aid, the costs of providing rural justice will increase.

“They are simply shuffling the costs around.”

Painting and decorating students from Borders College are helping to give the Rowland’s youth facility in Selkirk a whole new look.

They are carrying out the work as part of their placement.

Student electricians from the college have also helped install new light fittings in the upstairs area of the West Port property. This work will ensure the new craft area is well lit and fit for purpose.

Border writers’ group The Eildon Tree stands to lose their decade-old, free magazine, unless readers feedback to St Mary’s Mill arts service.

The council-funded, biannual magazine showcasing new Borders poetry and prose faces becoming another victim of Britain’s culture funding cuts.

“This is the best issue so far, but with massive cutbacks on arts, there’s vast pressure to justify expenditure,” Eildon Tree’s co-editor Carol Norris said. “You’ve got to battle to keep this going, because it’s a vanishing thing. It’s a little vestige of a public service doing good for the population.

“As far as I’m aware, the Borders is the only UK council with a publically-funded arts magazine. We’ve the second highest number of residents registered as artists in Scotland, so there’s a huge amount of talent out there, and we want to make them and their work better known. We’re open to all new submissions.

“If people want to keep The Eildon Tree magazine, write, email or phone St Mary’s Mill. Contact details are in the magazine, which is available in libraries, health centres, dental surgeries, and in Selkirk’s Forest Bookstore and Jaz Rose cafe.”

There was no monkeying around for Galashiels art student Alistair Kerr when it came to designing a poster for Edinburgh Zoo.

HND Graphic Design student Alistair was part of a team from Edinburgh College that were given just one week to devise and pitch a new creative campaign for Edinburgh Zoo, focusing on boosting visitor numbers within the notoriously difficult 18-36-year-old market.

The students involved were tasked with pitching their concepts to the zoo’s marketing team in the lecture theatre in the Budongo Trail at Edinburgh Zoo.

During the pitch, the marketing team was treated to an array of inspiring ideas to promote the zoo to the target market, including a guerrilla marketing campaign with a ‘Spot the Onesie’ monkey competition around the city and a ‘Clean up after your Rhino’ advertisement.

In the end, the winning team was Alistair and Team Rapp who impressed Edinburgh Zoo with their gaming app for smart phones.

Alistair, 22, told us: “Our idea was to turn the experience of being in the zoo into an augmented reality game for the visitor called ‘Zoo Island’. The main aim of the game is to capture poachers as they explore the zoo.

“We really wanted to tie in an entertaining game with interesting facts you can pick up at the zoo.

“It was a great project to work on. We answered the design brief perfectly and managed to integrate education and the ethical ethos behind the zoo into a fun game.”