The Duke of Roxburghe, pictured second from left, planted a blueberry bush last week to mark the official opening of new allotments on the outskirts of Kelso, with the help of Matty and Lewis Fleming.
Representatives of the Kelso Allotments Society, from left, Norman Anderson, Jim Fleming and Christine Henderson also attended.
Around 60 plots have been leased to the society for 10 years, with some set aside for young people to encourage them into horticulture.
SCOTLAND have tasked Scott Johnson and Sean Lineen to scour the world and unearth new Scottish talent, but judging by the latest round of debutants selected for Test duty the programme is already working.
• In the latest South Africa tour video, Glasgow hooker Fraser Brown and Glasgow prop Gordon Reid talk about their call-ups to the South Africa tour
While last week four of Scotland’s six debutants against Samoa – Alex Dunbar, Pat MacArthur, Peter Horne and Stevie Lawrie – were products of the Scottish system, the trio of Glasgow Warriors players named in the starting line-up to face the Springboks tomorrow have enjoyed circuitous routes to the Scotland jersey.
None can outdo Tommy Seymour, who takes over this week from the Dutch-reared Tim Visser as Johnson seeks to enhance the competition for wing berths while Kiwi Sean Maitland is with the British and Irish Lions.
Seymour was born in Nashville and raised in Tennessee, Dubai and Belfast, and admits his early dreams never involved playing for Scotland against the Boks. “Growing up in the US and Dubai, rugby wasn’t a well-known sport,” he said, “so I played everything else that I could.
“Moving to Northern Ireland brought rugby into my life, and when I started to pick it up I hugely enjoyed it, but never would I have dreamed that I’d have ended up here with the opportunity to play for Scotland.”
Seymour qualifies for Scotland through his Scots-born mother Susan.
Scotland caps were not in the thoughts of Peter Murchie either when he left the Bath academy for London Welsh, but a move to Glasgow provided an opportunity and over the past 18 months he has been one of the most consistent performers in Scotland. He spoke yesterday of a surprisingly large following of Scots in his home village of Fontmell Magna in Dorset likely to join his father Finlay, who hails from Ayrshire, and mother Louise around a television tomorrow. There is rugby pedigree in his family, his father’s cousin Ian having played centre against Argentina on the infamous 1969 tour.
Murchie warmed the bench against the Springboks last year without being called upon, but he was told by Johnson before coming out here that he would play against South Africa this time. He said: “It is a huge honour and Scott telling me gave me that ‘I’m going to play’ moment, so I knew I had a week or so to knuckle down and really work hard.”
The third Warrior preparing for his Test bow is Tim Swinson, whose career has taken him from Oundle School to the Australian Grand Final with Sydney University, from university in Newcastle to a call to the Falcons, and then a move to Glasgow last summer.
Johnson has wound up Swinson by claiming he is an atypical independent schoolboy, in that he knows how to play rugby yet has a “big chip on his shoulder”. But what grabbed Johnson’s attention was Swinson’s ability to hit hard.
“I’ve had plenty jokes about my upbringing and the way I play,” Swinson said. “It was the way I was taught to play by my school coach at Oundle [former England hooker John Olver], and it’s something that seems to have worked well for me during my professional career.”
SCOTLAND TEAM TO FACE SOUTH AFRICA
15-Peter Murchie, 14-Tommy Seymour, 13-Alex Dunbar, 12-Matt Scott, 11-Sean Lamont, 10-Ruaridh Jackson, 9-Greig Laidlaw, 8-Johnnie Beattie, 7-Ryan Wilson, 6-Alasdair Strokosch, 5-Jim Hamilton, 4-Tim Swinson, 3-Euan Murray, 2-Scott Lawson, 1-Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements: 16-Stevie Lawrie, 17-Jon Welsh, 18-Moray Low, 19-Alastair Kellock, 20-David Denton, 21-Henry Pyrgos, 22-Peter Horne, 23-Duncan Taylor
SCOTLAND SOUTH AFRICA TOUR VIDEOS
{http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/video-inside-the-scotland-camp-in-south-africa-1-2963117|• Video: Inside the Scotland camp in South Africa video|Title text}
{http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/video-scotland-coach-scott-johnson-on-samoa-loss-1-2961531|• Video: Scotland coach Scott Johnson on Samoa loss video|Title text}
{http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/south-africa-tour-video-preview-scotland-v-samoa-1-2960182|• South Africa tour video: preview Scotland v Samoa|Title text}
{http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/ryan-grant-called-up-to-british-irish-lions-tour-1-2959360|• Ryan Grant called up to British & Irish Lions tour|Title text}
{http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/johnson-grant-s-lions-call-up-a-boost-for-scotland-1-2959988|• Johnson: Grant’s Lions call-up a boost for Scotland|Title text}
{http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/scotland-south-africa-tour-video-matt-taylor-1-2958922|• Scotland South Africa tour video: Matt Taylor|Title text}
{http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/johnnie-beattie-france-move-saved-scotland-career-1-2958855|• Johnnie Beattie: France move saved Scotland career|Title text}
WEST LINTON PGA Professional golfer Gareth Wright has been called into the 2013 Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup team.
The Borders-based pro, currently defending the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship, has been drafted into Russell Weir’s side after Irishman David Higgins announced his withdrawal due to European Tour commitments.
Wright capitalises by virtue of being the next player in line on the basis of last year’s Titleist PGA Play-Offs, where he lost out on an automatic place in the team in a shootout with fellow Scot Scott Henderson. Higgins was runner-up and qualified by right.
A delighted Wright said: “It was a nice bit of news before I went on to the first tee as it settled me down and I didn’t have to worry about doing anything stupid.
“Making the team was my goal at the start of last year. Winning this tournament a year ago made that a lot easier, but I know it didn’t get the job done entirely.
“It’s a fantastic honour to be representing The PGA. It means lot of things as I can plan my year a bit differently and I can relax a bit more on the course this week.”
Weir, currently at Northumberland’s Slaley Hall where the PGA Cup will be hosted in September, said: “It is disappointing to lose David as he’s a quality player but I am fortunate that I can replace him with an equally strong player in Gareth.
“He won the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship last year and still was not guaranteed a place in the team, while he was equal third at the PGA Play-Offs and missed out in a play-off there.
“I know Gareth reasonably well and he’ll be a strong player. He’s long off the tee and got good methods.”
Six other members of the squad will be determined at the conclusion of this week’s championship based on points accrued this week and at last year’s tournament. The final member of the team will be determined by Weir, who has a captain’s pick.
GB&I are looking to regain the Llandudno Trophy having last won the trophy in 2005.
The PGA Cup is the Ryder Cup equivalent for PGA Professionals and competed for biennially.
THE Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival at Harmony House in Melrose is most definitely under way, writes Kevin Janiak.
Kicking off proceedings tonight (Thursday) was legendary golf commentator Peter Alliss, whose voice, like velvet covered gravel, entranced the audience at the Festival Marquee.
Alliss talked of his previous visits to the Borders and reminisced on his early golfing career.
His successes as a player were not minute, by any means. in fact, he is the only player to win the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Opens one after the other in the space of three weeks - a feat unlikely to be beaten.
But he found life as a commentator a little bit more lucrative.
One of his early jobs was to commentate on the popular Pro-Celebrity matches, which ran on the BBC for 14 years.
Alliss had the audience in fits with his tales of the derring-dos (and derring don’ts, and in the case of Leslie Neilsen, derring cant’s) of the assembled celebs.
If this first show is any indication of how this festival is going to pan out, then it is undoubtedly going to be one of the best.
Jedburgh pupils Hannah Wyness, left, and Eryn Rae have triumphed in the Robert Burns World Federation National Schools Competitions.
The national secondary and primary schools events were held in Dunfermline.
In the primary event, Hannah (P7 Parkside) was awarded best instrumentalist (P6 and P7) and then went on to lift the title of best overall instrumentalist. Following this she had to compete in a packed school hall against the best poetry reciter, bagpiper and singer. Her fiddle playing and smile won the audience and judges over and she was awarded the honour of Scottish Junior Burnsian 2013 – the first child in the Borders to win this much- coveted prize.
In her competition, for her fiddle performance, Eryn (Jedburgh Grammar School) was chosen as best instrumentalist (S1 and S2).
Last week the Queen celebrated 60 years on the throne since her coronation in 1953.
She has been a dedicated servant of the nation throughout these years and I am sure everyone in the Borders will want to join me in congratulating her on reaching this milestone. It was a real pleasure to meet representatives from the Borders in Dover House who had travelled to London for the thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey.
Referendum
As the independence referendum debate gathers pace, I have taken part in a number of discussions locally and nationally in recent weeks.
First of all I had the debate with Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on STV and then I attended the Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce discussion at the end of last month. With the first I was extremely disappointed that it was not aired on ITV Border, and have raised this with ITV and STV at the highest level.
It is vital that the two broadcasters work together to ensure we get the best possible coverage in the Borders, and I am glad to see that ITV is currently showing STV’s Road to Referendum series.
As part of the referendum discussion, the UK Government also recently produced the third paper in our “Scotland Analysis” series which, this time, outlines the implications of Scottish independence on financial services and banking.
The financial services sector remains one of the most important industries in Scotland and the rest of the UK, and the paper sets out that as part of the UK, firms and individuals benefit from a strong tax and regulatory environment and a large, integrated domestic market.
It is clear that the current arrangements allow Scottish firms and individuals to benefit from this shared risk and shared market, while being able to benefit from the historic strengths of the Scottish financial sector.
The paper therefore sets out that in an independent Scotland this position would be put at risk because it would split this integrated domestic market into two separate markets, subject to separate legal and regulatory regimes. This could create additional difficulties for financial services firms and increase costs for Borders households and businesses in areas like pensions, ISAs and insurance.
Surgeries
I continue to hold regular advice surgeries across the Borders which are an opportunity for my constituents to come and discuss any concerns they wish to bring to my attention.
My next surgery is in Galashiels on June 22. If you would like to attend please phone my office on 01896 663650 to make an appointment.
THE changing face of South African rugby could not feature a more engaging and quietly ambitious individual than Heyneke Meyer. And the fulfilment this week of a childhood dream will mark another milestone for the Springboks coach.
The 45-year-old was born and bred in Nelspruit, the country town where agriculture and rugby are the dominant industries, so it is little surprise to hear that he has fallen in love with the Scottish Borders after numerous trips to Scotland. He has even talked his wife Linda out of a holiday in Paris this year to return to the south of Scotland.
After naming his Springboks side to face Scotland yesterday, fielding questions in English and Afrikaans on how much his side would beat Scotland by, he agreed to spend time with the small band of Scottish journalists. He spoke openly about his struggles with South African expectations of beating every nation by a cricket score, his love of Scottish rugby under Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer and how he no longer cared whether his side dominated possession in a Test match.
The former Blue Bulls coach seemed relaxed but insisted it was a facade, that a Boks coach can rarely relax while he carries the hopes of a nation working hard to pull disparate communities together. Meyer showed concern for the trials of his counterpart Scott Johnson in moulding a competitive Test squad from a small professional base, but is nervous ahead of the first Test match played in his home town.
“As a youngster there was a lot of rugby here but never a Test match,” he said, looking out of the team’s Hazyview base towards Nelspruit. “I am trying to take the emotion out of it this week, but it’s difficult because I was born here and grew up here, and, as a young boy, you always think the people in the cities were more bright and more equipped. But I grew up with the ambition to be the Springbok coach one day and to one day come back here with my team.
“But, you need to be clinical and take emotion out, and focus instead on what you need to do. There is a lot of pressure in South Africa because everyone here believes that you should smash every team that you play, but I totally believe that the gap between the countries in the top ten is not big anymore.
“Most countries have professional coaches at club level, players play abroad and the fitness and conditioning levels are all the same, and while Scotland do not have the population base, in my experience they are always difficult to beat.”
After his side beat Italy 44-10 immediately after Scotland had gone down 27-17 to Samoa in Durban Meyer has decided against exposing more players to Test starts and made just two enforced changes, Ruan Pienaar returning for the injured debutant Jan Vermaak and Marcell Coetzee, the belligerent Sharks flanker, replacing Francois Louw, whose wedding is on Sunday.
Meyer studied sports psychology at the University of Pretoria and went on to make a name for himself in the ultra-competitive world of schools and age-grade rugby in South Africa. The Southwest District Eagles hired him as assistant coach and it was with them on tour that he first came to Scotland and linked up with Scottish coaches.
He was part of the Springboks coaching team in 1999 and 2001, coached the Stormers and then the Bulls to four consecutive Currie Cup wins and the Super 14 title in 2007 but was overlooked more than once for the Boks job, notably in 2007, when Peter de Villiers became the first black coach.
Meyer briefly quit the game, frustrated, but, persuaded to return, was last year handed the role he coveted. South Africa lost three games in his first 12 last year, twice to New Zealand and once in Australia, beating England, Argentina, Ireland, Scotland and the Wallabies, but the pressure steps up a level in the second year.
Want to get under his skin? Ask him if he sets his teams up to score tries. Meyer came into the role with a reputation for typical South African forward-orientated rugby, around kicking stand-offs such as Morne Steyn, but he insists that he likes his teams to move ball and score tries, as they did against Italy.
“We’ve done a lot of research and a strange thing came up in the last five years, and I know this doesn’t make sense,” he said, “but it was that the team that kicks the most, that gives away the most penalties and has least amount of ball usually wins games. The reason is that defences are so good nowadays that, whenever you have the ball and make a mistake, that’s the only time when defences aren’t set and you score from them.
“A lot of commentators in South Africa want us to keep ball all the time but sometimes it’s not good to have too much ball. If you send one guy into the ruck with three cleaners to compete on the ground, and then at the next one you send three guys in again with the ball-carrier and they [opponents] send one in, then you run out of numbers and, if they get a turnover, you don’t have a defence.
“So what we’ve seen in the last five years is that you don’t need to have the ball all the time to win, but ball at the right time in the right areas and be able to execute.”
Before he stands up, shakes hands and strides back into the highly expectant world of Springbok rugby, he adds: “People here forget that we’ve lost to Scotland in recent years and Scotland is a proud nation so I expect them to come out with all guns blazing.”
South v Scotland at Nelspruit
Saturday, kick-off 4:15pm (BST)
15 W le Roux
14 B Habana
13 JJ Engelbrecht
12 J de Villiers (c)
11 B Basson
10 M Steyn
9 R Pienaar
1 T Mtawarira
2 A Strauss
3 J du Plessis
4 E Etzebeth
5 J Kruger
6 M Coetzee
7 A Botha
8 P Spies
Subs
16 B du Plessis, 17 T Nyakane, 18 C Oosthuizen, 19 F van der Merwe, 20 S Kolisi, 21 P van Zyl, 22 P Lambie, 23 J Serfontein.
{https://twitter.com/davidferg|Follow David Ferguson on Twitter for the latest from Scotland’s South Africa tour | Follow David Ferguson on Twitter for the latest from Scotland’s South Africa tour}
The visitor centre at Abbotsford has been awarded a prestigious architectural prize in this year’s Scottish Design Awards. The building, which opened last August, was designed by Edinburgh firm, LDN Architects who picked up the award for Sustainable Design. The building was also commended in the public building category.
The centre is built partly into the hillside and is constructed from timber, both internally and externally. It is highly insulated and has a flat, sedum roof that reduces rainwater run-off, enabling the water to be collected and used to flush the toilets. Under-floor heating is provided by a ground-source heat pump and the lighting controlled by motion detectors.
The council will today consider a petition for a new section of pavement at Mossilee Road, Galashiels.
But SBC’s director of infrastructure Rob Dickson has warned that a footpath would require agreement from the landowner.
The inclusion of a 2G pitch in the new £4.8 million sports hub at Peebles High School is the correct decision, according to Councillor Catriona Bhatia.
Monday saw a sod cutting ceremony take place at the biggest school in the region as work began on the development, which includes a four-court games hall, fitness suite, sprint track and long jump track.
The 2G synthetic pitch will be built instead of a 3G surface which can be used by both football and rugby but Councillor Bhatia backed its inclusion in the scheme, which is due to be completed by April next year.
She told us: “There were extensive discussions about the pitch and the preference from the school and community was for a surface that would facilitate hockey.
“The good news is that Peebles is also going to get a 3G pitch and a feasibility study into the best location for that pitch is underway.”
The facilities, which also include a new classroom, changing rooms and general purpose hall, have been designed by Scottish Borders Council’s architects and will be built by Graham Construction. SBC have provided £4.3m, with sportscotland providing the remaining £500,000.
SBC’s education representative, Councillor Sandy Aitchison, said: “I know that the staff and pupils at Peebles High School are looking forward to using the new facilities and will benefit greatly in terms of their sports education and health.”
Proposals have been unveiled to build a community hub and nursery at the site of The Burnfoot Road House which closed a number of years ago.
Burnfoot Community Futures has received £50,000 from The Big Lottery Fund to develop the plans.
Stow Sports Week president Andrew Riddell hopes villagers turn out in force for the annual festival, which begins on Sunday.
The fun starts and ends at Stow Park, which has benefited from the recent dry weather and looks ready to host the majority of the Sports Week’s packed schedule.
Andrew said: “The park has had a lot of bad press recently due to flooding, but it is looking really good at the moment.
“We welcome more entries for our football tournament on Sunday which is always keenly contested, and the good state of the park should mean a successful Sports Day on June 22.
“I really hope the village gets behind the Sports Week in their hundreds and we can have a great seven days.”
As ever, the entertainment is varied, from Superstars competitions to traditional boules contests and, of course, the Friday night fancy dress and Sports Week dance to round off the week.
Schedule (June 16 to 22)
Sunday
noon – Family football day, Stow Park. Boys and girls’ seven-a-side tournament; barbecue and refreshments available.
Monday
6pm – Basketball for primary five to seven and S1 to S6, Primary School multi court.
7pm – Men’s football, Stow Park. Stow v Killochyett.
Tuesday
6.15pm – Superstars competition for primary one to under-15 years, Stow Park. Followed by treasure hunt (bring your own pencil).
Wednesday
7pm – Hillheid race, Primary four to seven, S1 to under 15, adults, Stow Park. Competitors should meet at 6.30pm. Followed by adults’ sheaf tossing and children’s tug-o-war.
Thursday
6.30pm – Traditional boules contest, primary school, courtesy of Stow Parish Archive.
Friday
7pm – fancy dress competition, Stow Park. Entrants should meet at 6.30pm.
8-11pm – Family fancy dress disco, Town Hall; cheese and wine night, lower rooms of Town Hall.
Saturday
12.30pm – Sports Day, Stow Park. Competitors and spectators parade led by Stow Pipe Band from Town Hall via Townfoot, Station Road and Mill Road to Stow Park; 1pm – sports start, adults and children’s races and novelty events.
8pm till late – Sports Week dance, Town Hall. Music by Ian and Ben’s Ceilidh Band. Tickets (£7.50) from Stow Post Office.
The charity fundraising MoonWalk Edinburgh attracted local walkers on Saturday night.
An estimated 10,000 participants left Leith Links at midnight to tackle the new New Moon (6.55 miles), Half Moon (13.1 miles), Full Moon (26.2 miles) and, also new this year, Over the Moon (52.4 miles) walks organised by grant-making breast cancer charity, Walk the Walk.
Full Moon hiker Caroline Pilcher raised about £800 and completed the route with Joanne Ayling and Jill Wight. She said: “Now that the pain in my feet has subsided, it was a brilliant experience! Having not sustained any blisters in my training, I got two nasty ones at about mile 18. It’s the last six or eight miles that are the true killer and you have to dig deep. The only comfort was that everyone was walking like penguins at this stage!”
Completing the New Moon were Peebles mum Karen Turton with her daughter Iona Fox and her daughter’s friend, Ariana Harris, both 10 and among the youngest there.
Karen said: “It was a power walk and it was very good. It was the girls’ idea – we were at the outdoors pursuits exhibition in Edinburgh in April and they were attracted to the Walk the Walk stand and we pretty much signed up then.”
A crowd of around 100 gathered for the recent opening of the James Hogg Exhibition in its new home in the mothballed Ettrick Primary School.
The exhibition was reopened earlier this month in its new home, which is located just next to the famous writer’s birthplace and the churchyard where Hogg, known as The Ettrick Shepherd, is buried.
The exhibition, which belongs to the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust, is now open to the public every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday until the end of September.
The opening itself was scheduled to be performed by a mystery guest, who turned out to be none other than ‘Hogg’ himself, albeit played by actor Donald Douglas.
The 100-strong crowd which had gathered for the opening, was also addressed by Judy Steel on behalf of the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust. She spoke on the history of the exhibition and brought a message from Scottish author and Inspector Rebus creator, Ian Rankin, one of the current crop of contemporary Scottish writers greatly influenced by Hogg.
Also in attendance was local Scottish Borders councillor Vicky Davidson, who spoke about the forthcoming James Hogg creative residency at the school and thanked all those who had made this possible.
Among those present was the veteran artist Anne Carrick, creator of the costumed figures illustrating aspects of Hogg’s life and work.
Guests were later treated to refreshments at the Boston Hall, along with entertainment from Angus Reed and Henry Douglas.
John Lamont has written to transport minister Keith Brown to complain about delays caused by traffic lights on the A68 south of Jedburgh.
Mr Lamont claims little work has been carried out since the landslip two miles south of the town, and says BEAR Scotland has written to local residents to say funding has not been made available for the repairs.
BEAR has said funding will not be considered until investigation work is completed.
That is ongoing after ‘survey monitoring points’, installed during a repair at the location earlier this year, uncovered further ‘settlement’ in the road surface.
Mr Lamont said: “I have had several local residents write to me in recent weeks to complain about the length of time it seems to be taking the Scottish Government to repair this stretch of road.
“As soon as the landslip occurred, traffic lights were erected, but to date little has been done to carry out the necessary repairs.”
He added: “With it being one of the busiest times of the year for tourism it is essential that the repair work is carried out as soon as possible so that the traffic lights can be removed.
“With some residents being told by BEAR Scotland that the money to do the repairs has not even been made available, their anger is totally understandable.
“Concerns have been raised that priorities are being given to other projects, but it is important that the SNP know how important it is to maintain a free flow of traffic on the A68.”
Jedburgh councillor Sandy Scott said the lights caused significant tail backs at times.
He added: “I am very frustrated because local residents seem to think that the council can rectify this situation when in reality it is the responsibility of the Scottish Government and their contractor BEAR.”
A spokesperson for BEAR Scotland said: “The traffic signals have been installed as a safety precaution whilst investigations are completed. Once investigations are complete a report will be submitted to Transport Scotland and solutions will then be considered.”
Book Festival favourite Tom Conti was another big name gracing the annual four-day literary extravaganza’s opening night.
Speaking to The Southern in a sunlit Harmony Garden in the shadow of Melrose Abbey, the Paisley-born star of stage and screen said he enjoyed coming to the festival.
“I like everything about it, it’s a really nice place to come and there’s a very friendly and easy atmosphere,” Conti, 71, told The Southern ahead if his sell-out festival show.
“You don’t feel a lot of tension here. It’s a pleasure to do it really.”
There could hardly have been a better week for St Boswells to hold its annual festivities, as the sun shone almost the whole time.
The first of many events kicked off a week past Saturday with the inaugural 10km race, won by Jonathan Taylor and Liz Taylor, and concluded with the annual village race and sports on Sunday.
Kate Warner, chairperson of the Village Week committee, told TheSouthern: “It was yet again another fantastic week, bringing together young and old, fur and feathered.
“Whether people played sports, dressed up, performed on stage or just enjoyed the sun and atmosphere, this was the best Village Week St Boswells has seen in years.”
Mrs Warner added: “The Village Week committee would like to thank all the groups and organisations for the events and activities, and to everyone who supported those events.”
There was a packed programme throughout the eight days, ranging from coffee mornings to a tennis fun day and guided walks to live music.
And – no doubt boosted by the fabulous weather – a number of the annual events reported attendances at record levels. A large number of villagers also enjoyed a talk by Atlantic rower Leven Brown at a special event in the middle of the week to launch the Village Hall Refurbishment Project.
Ongoing fundraising efforts and money raised on the night have taken the running total to £100,000. It is hoped that other funding will be found from various sources, but much of this will need to be match-funded, so the push is on in the village to raise as much as possible towards the works.
A number of the village’s clubs and organisations took the opportunity during the week to hold their own fundraising and membership events, with both the golf and tennis clubs putting on special family-friendly afternoons of sport, and the cricket club hosting the rounders competition and a barbecue.
The good weather was also a huge bonus for the outdoor church service on Sunday, and for Melrose Pipe Band beating the retreat on the Green on Thursday evening.
fancy Dress (Theme - Something beginning with B)
Pre-School – Zak Williams (Bob the Builder); Primary 1-3 – Harris Fox-Robertson (Basil Brush); Primary 4-7 - Melissa Taylor (Bertie Basset); Others - Louise Taylor (Barbie); Pairs - Mimi and Panda Pitman (Bubblewrap Ballerinas); Group and overall winners - Jordan and Emily McEwan, Nicola Ferrier, Ellie Anna, and Sadie and Tilly Clapperton (Boswells)
St Boswells’ Got Talent
Judges’ choice – Mimi Pitman singing Skyfall; People’s choice – William Taylor, Ross Taylor and Christian Townsend as WRC ‘Football Rappers’
Potted Sports
Under-8s - Matthew McRae; 8-11 - Ryan Mann; 12-15 - Luke Todd; Overs-16s - Malcolm Pow
Village Race
Male: Under-8s - Jack Murray; 8-11 - Callum McGowan; 12-15 - Ruaridh Campbell; 16-40 - Russell Hunter; Over-40s - Steven Martin (Overall Champion)
Female: Under-8s - Emily Tweddle; 8-11 - Amy Shepherd; 12-15 - Isobel Folan; 16-40 - Lisa Dalgleish (Overall Champion); Over-40s - Margot Black
Pet Show
Large dogs - Callum McGowan (Lucy); small dogs - Oliver Dalgleish (Lottie); fur group - Hannah Low (guinea pigs Holly and Poppy); feather group - Fletcher Falconer (Ginger - chicken); other - Harry Riddell (Albert - lamb); obedience/agility - Peter Warner (Badger); Overall winner - Oliver Dalgleish (Lottie)
The Mansfield House Hotel in Hawick has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.
The award is only given to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews on the site.
A former shooting manager for a top hotel has set up his own business in the Borders, offering rural sporting packages to visitors.
Ian Hendy established Exclusively Scottish to offer tailored holiday packages for small groups looking to enjoy high-quality accommodation and the best shooting and fishing available.
Ian, who used to work at the Hilton Hotel in Dunkeld, said: “I’ve always worked in the shooting industry and people tend to associate further north with good stalking, game shooting and salmon fishing, but that simply isn’t the case.
“Instead of just driving through the region, Exclusively Scottish will keep people within the Borders where they will experience some of the best shooting and fishing opportunities in the world.
“I’m offering high-end packages that provide guests with access to the best estates and accommodation the area has to offer.”
When looking to develop the enterprise, which he hopes will bring in visitors from round the world to the region, many for the first time, Ian sought advice from Business Gateway Scottish Borders.
“After attending a number of the free seminars, such as search engine optimisation, I was linked with my adviser, and with the tourism adviser, Phil McCreadie, both of whom have been very helpful, and are working to help me secure funds that will allow me to attend some of Europe’s biggest industry trade fairs.”
Sandra Campbell, Ian’s business advisor, said: “As well as helping to support the local shooting and tourism industry, his business aims to provide spin-off benefits for other activities and events in the region – already one group has booked to shoot in October and attend Kelso races.”
Alongside promoting the field sport opportunities, Ian also sells Harris Tweed accessories through his website.
“Our ultimate aim is to establish a lifestyle brand that celebrates the region’s rich textile history as well as the diversity and history of field sports in Scotland,” Ian said.
NHS Borders chief executive has stuck the boot into the BBC for its interpretation of the health board’s spending on private healthcare.
Former footballer Calum Campbell said the corporation “misrepresented” the information provided to them by combining two different categories to come up with a figure of £3.75 million for 2012/13.
The seven-figure sum dwarfs that of neighbouring board NHS Dumfries and Galloway (£1.59m) and leaves NHS Borders as the fourth highest spenders on private health services in Scotland.
BBC Scotland uncovered the figures for all 14 Scottish health boards via Freedom of Information requests and found that, following the waiting lists scandal, overall spending on private healthcare had increased by 60 per cent last year to more than £40m.
However, Newstead bosses argue that the majority of the cash is spent on residential care, such as for Borderers with learning disabilities or challenging behaviour, rather than sending patients to non-NHS facilities to reduce waiting lists.
NHS Borders says spending on acute care in 2012/13, which includes patients needing specialist treatments not provided by NHS, addiction services, specialist mental health care, therapies, as well as cutting waiting lists, stood at £168,264.
But residential care expenditure was £3,587,122, producing a grand total of £3,755,386.
An NHS Borders spokeswoman said: “Our response to the FoI request submitted by the BBC clearly split the figures into the two categories. However, the figures published are the total of these two sums. This gives an inaccurate picture of NHS Borders waiting list funding.”
Mr Campbell added: “I am disappointed that the BBC chose to misrepresent the information provided to them.
“NHS Borders staff work extremely hard to manage our waiting lists and ensure our patients receive the best care that we can offer.
“The implication that we have simply increased the number of patients being sent to non-NHS services to achieve this is very unfair to our staff.”
The biggest spenders on private healthcare in 2012/13 was NHS Lothian at £12.52m, up from £3.06m in 2011/12.
The health board was at the centre of the waiting times controversy after being found to have labelled patients who refused to travel to England for treatment as unavailable for social reasons. The BBC had not responded to a request for comment when TheSouthern went to press.