Prospective tenant farmers were viewing hill farms in the Cheviot foothills near Yetholm yesterday (Wednesday, August 20).

Landowners Roxburghe Estates hope to let the two productive units on long-term tenancies said a spokesperson last week.

Neighbours Cocklawfoot Farm, at the end of the Bowmont Valley, and Swindon Farm, on the way up the valley, are both being let on 15-year minimum Limited Duration Tenancies.

Roxburghe Estates factor Roddy Jackson said: “These farms are both very productive hill farms and, as an estate committed to supporting the tenant farming industry in Scotland, we are pleased to offer the units on long term tenancies.”

The farms can be rented individually or together. The well-equipped Cocklawfoot is 1,917 acres with farmhouse and steading and currently stocked with 1,160 breeding ewes and 260 hoggs.

And Swindon Farm is a 739-acre hill farm currently with 588 breeding ewes and 188 hoggs. An estates spokesperson added: “It has a useful range of buildings and a cottage can be provided if required.

“The sheep stock have the benefit of being hefted and would therefore require to be taken over at the entry date.”

The closing date for tenders is September 17 and the date of entry to the farms is expected to be in November this year.

For more information and further particulars, contact Roxburghe Estates Office on telephone number 01573 223333.

Galashiels motor dealer Clelands Jaguar organised a sponsored bike run on Sunday when 51 riders left its Melrose Road premises for an 88-kilometre ride through the Ettrick Valley via St Mary’s Loch.

One cyclist will be chosen at random to participate in a national final where a winner will then be chosen to train with the Sky Cycling Team at its winter camp in Majorca.

The event was in aid of Brake, a national charity dedicated to making roads safer by preventing road accidents from happening and also providing support for people bereaved or injured as a result of crashes.

Brake co-ordinates national Road Safety Week each November and provides free community training on different road safety topics, including young driver safety.

Borders SNP MSP Christine Grahame has branded Tory independence referendum leaflets distributed locally as “dishonest”.

The flyers issued by John Lamont MSP and David Mundell MP, and colleagues up and down the country, feature questions posed by local people and a case study from a family on why they will be voting No.

However, the questions, answers and family piece are identical, despite being attributed to different people.

Mr Mundell’s leaflet featured Conservative councillor Keith Cockburn and family, while Mr Lamont’s was attributed to former Tory candidate Rachael Hamilton.

Ms Grahame said: “I was astonished to discover that different people from different areas of the country asked identical questions.

“However, I was even more astounded that the Tories being questioned, including two Borders politicians, gave exactly the same responses.

“All it has done is highlight the dishonesty of the No campaign and the lack of respect they have for their constituents.”

Ms Grahame added: “Did they really think nobody would notice? Surely they think more of people in the Borders than that?”

Responding, Mr Mundell said: “This is a bizarre and quite frankly astonishing claim from a Yes campaign who repeatedly refuse to give local people even the most 
basic facts about independence.

“Our leaflet was distributed to give people the information they need after the SNP refused to tell us what currency we will have, how they will secure our pensions and how our schools and hospitals will be funded under separation.

“Given they have no credible answers on any of the big issues, it doesn’t surprise me they are trying to use this issue as a smoke screen.”

Mr Lamont told us that Mr Mundell’s statement covered his position on the matter too.

Gill Orde in Catering has been given a Healthy Living Plus Award for its food at the Harestanes cafe.

The achievement recognises the commitment to supporting healthier eating.

A special Healthy Living Day is being held there on Sunday, from 1pm to 4pm, with zumba dancing, power hooping and a treasure hunt for children. There will also be free food available.

Such an event is part of the award criteria.

Small tourism businesses must be at the centre of efforts to grow the industry, a new Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) report suggests.

However, the study shows that while two-thirds of Scotland’s tourism enterprises want to grow, most are not looking to the public or private sector for support.

As a result, the FSB is arguing that organisations such as Scottish Enterprise, VisitScotland, councils, Business Gateway and the Scottish Tourism Alliance need to pool their resources to get the message through to hard-to-reach small businesses.

Andy Willox, the FSB’s Scottish policy convener, said: “There’s no doubt that there’s some good public-sector support on offer for Scottish tourism businesses, but our report shows that businesses are confused about who does what.

“While, of course, it’s up to businesses to look for the help they need to get the edge, publicly-funded bodies need to work more closely together and deliver a consistent joined-up message to busy, hard-pressed local tourism businesses.”

Based on contact with more than 500 businesses, 30 Scottish local authorities and a range of other public bodies over 12 months, the report confirms that the country’s tourism industry is not just about providing beds.

It found that about half of Scotland’s small tourism businesses provide accommodation, but many restaurants, bistros, bus, coach and taxi firms, activity providers and retailers also identify themselves as tourism businesses.

Scotland aims to grow annual visitor spending by £1billion by 2020, from £4.5-£5.5billion, and the FSB says smaller businesses are key to meeting this target.

However, the report identified that energy costs and poor digital connectivity are holding businesses back.

Mr Willox said: “Governments at Westminster and Holyrood say that they’re tackling the problems of 
spiralling energy costs and poor digital connectivity, but small Scottish tourism businesses say that big bills and bad broadband are holding back their plans for growth now.”

An in-depth review of adult care packages and out-of-area child placements will be carried out by the council in an attempt to cut costs due to new financial pressures.

At a meeting of the executive committee on Tuesday, chief financial officer David Robertson predicted a balanced position at the end of the financial year.

However, he added: “There are significant pressures within the ‘People’ department, with the management team having identified options to ensure a balanced position is achieved.

“At this early stage in the financial year there is a continuing demand in children’s out-of-area placement presenting a pressure of £1.255million above base budget and demand-led pressures within adult services of £429,000. This is being offset from transformation savings in primary schools from changes in class composition and reducing school rolls, together with a range of in-year savings measures.

“These include reviewing a range of high-cost care packages to older people, adults with learning disabilities and people with physical disabilities, reductions in spend in residential care homes and extra care housing, and redesigning some day services.”

In response, Councillor Stuart Bell said: “We are struggling to get our budgeting right for complex needs, children, adult, disabilities and care packages.

“I understand that we made significant provision in the budget for this year to try and get us out of the difficulties of previous years, yet we are talking about hundreds of thousands of pounds here.”

Mr Robertson said: “The budgeting was based on the estimates of demographic pressures faced across the council – but at that time it can only be an estimate.

“In June, we have seen significant additional pressures which were not predicted when we set the budget.”

He added that SBC put “significant resources” into assessing demographic pressures and is not alone in having to face new challenges throughout the year.

“The reality of the demographics is that we are facing an uphill battle in terms of demand on social care services and I’m not convinced any council is managing it any better,” Mr Robertson said.

However, he did accept SBC needed to review the demographic estimation techniques.

Leader David Parker said: “This is the third year we’ve had challenges at this point of the year, but the challenges are getting smaller.”

A hearing is to be held after a complaint that Alastair Cranston breached his role as a councillor for Hawick and Denholm to promote his business interests was upheld by the Standards Commission for Scotland.

The hearing will be heard on October 10 at 9.30am in the council’s headquarters an Newtown St Boswells.

A St Boswells family firm is planning for the future with the introduction of the next generation into the agricultural business.

G. Marshall (Tractors) Ltd was founded in the 1970s by George and Sheila Marshall, but their 26-year-old son David has now joined at an exciting time for the firm.

A significant investment has been made in taking on a Case IH franchise, with the company becoming the new dealership for the Borders and north Northumberland, and new staff also recruited to provide a sales, service and parts back-up.

The introduction of David, a former Hawick High School PE teacher, and associated succession plan will enable him to become a shareholder and director, eventually taking over the business.

He told The Southern: “Joining the business was always a possibility, but my parents let me do what I wanted. But when the opportunity arose I thought it was too good to turn down. I have always been around the business and worked here when I was home from university or when my dad needed a hand.”

David added: “It is a logical time to come into the business and we have an exciting time ahead, but if you excuse the pun, every day is like a school day for me just now.

“It is a case of learning the ins and outs and getting to know people and building relationships, but the guys here are vastly experienced in the trade, so I’ve got some good teachers.”

On the new franchise, George Marshall said: “We are delighted to have been appointed by Case IH.

“In this area we have a strong base of farmers who understand the value of investing in new technology, where knowledgeable dealers with the right advice and products play an important role. The farming area is one of the best stock areas of the country and we also have some of the best arable land in the UK, mainly operated by larger farming units.

“This represents a very strong base of existing and potential customers who will benefit from the fact that we now handle the full range of Case IH products.”

A building-repair grant of £370,000 from Historic Scotland will help continue restoration work at The Haining in Selkirk.

The award is the second largest issued in the latest round of funding through the scheme, announced on Tuesday.

Susan Edington, chair of the Haining Charitable Trust (HCT), said: “We are delighted that further funding has been granted to restore the Haining House and appreciate this immense contribution from Historic Scotland to ensure the future of this significant mansion, which reflects the stalwart efforts now being made to develop the estate as an important heritage venue.

“HCT has been working solidly on developing The Haining as an important centre for the advancement of education, arts and heritage, and to strategically position it, regionally and nationally, as an emerging venue of importance within the Scottish Borders.” She added: “Our task now is to investigate opportunities for match-funding which will allow us to spend the needful on the fabric of the building, bringing it into a state of repair that will ensure its benefit to the community for a long time.”

The project has been awarded a commendation in Regeneration and Conservation by the Edinburgh Architectural Association, and the house will be open on September 6 and 7 as part of Bygone Borderlands festival.

A planning appeal for eight wind turbines near Roberton has been dismissed by a Scottish Government-appointed reporter.

The Barrel Law scheme for 125m-high turbines was rejected by Scottish Borders Council in March 2013, but developers ABO Wind UK appealed that decision.

On Tuesday, Michael Cunliffe issued his judgement, ruling that the wind farm’s contribution towards renewable electricity targets and reduced carbon emissions did not outweigh its “unacceptable adverse impacts on the landscape and on aviation”.

Mr Cunliffe said the turbines would “significantly compromise the safe and effective use of the Deadwater Fell PSR (Primary Surveillance Radar)” and therefore the safe use of airspace north of RAF Spadeadam managed by RAF air traffic controllers.

In his decision notice, Mr Cunliffe added: “Alemoor Reservoir has recreational importance for anglers and walkers. There is a sense of tranquillity which would be lost if the landscape were dominated by large moving turbine blades.

“The wind farm would intrude an industrial feature into a peaceful rural setting, and diminish the enjoyment of the reservoir and its surrounding area by recreational users.”

The reporter went on: “I recognise that Barrel Law would not introduce an entirely new feature to the landscape, since 10 slightly smaller turbines are already being built at Langhope Rig.

“However, while the landscape does not enjoy protected status, I regard it as an attractive area of local importance, and consider its landscape character would be seriously damaged by the scheme.”

Duncan Scott, project manager for ABO Wind UK, said: “We are, of course, extremely disappointed with the outcome of the appeal. We believe Barrel Law is a very good location for a wind farm and we worked very hard over two years on the design submitted, confident it met all relevant planning and design criteria.

“While the decision to refuse is clear, we are at a loss to understand how the factors relevant to our application were balanced in reaching the conclusion.

“Taking all factors into account, we believe the planning balance was strongly in favour of allowing Barrel Law to proceed.”

Saturday, August 23: Eildon Ramblers circular walk – Peel-Yair-Neidpath Hill. Meet at 10am at Glenkinnon car park, Caddonfoot (NT436350). 6.6 miles, Grade B. To register, contact leader on 01573 224223.

Sunday, August 24: Scottish Borders Hill Walking Club – Sourhope (74 & 80) 845203. Meet at Council car park, Newtown St Boswells, at 8.45am. Contact secretary Evelyn Horsburgh on 01750 76214 for more information.

This week, courgettes. Lots of them. Lots and lots. A veritable glut, in fact. What an amazing summer for growing stuff. Especially courgettes in the Kelso area, it seems.

Off we went to Londonshire, with flowering courgettes and one or two teeny green pencils. Baby courgettes.

We returned from Londonshire after our holibags and found courgettes the size of marrows. Yes, marrows. Or at least, that’s what they looked like.

In the picture, the small ones on the top are almost normal size, the rest are hee-yew-mong-ous.

I weighed one or two, and they tipped the scales at 3lb, 3.5lb, 4lb. But what to do with this unexpected green bounty?

Cue frenzied Googling. Courgette recipes, courgette drinks, what to do with 30 tonnes of courgettes, that sort of thing.

As a result, we have just tucked into courgette cake at tea-time, which the Young Mistress made for Gamford. How delicious, how moist, how amazingly good courgettes can taste. Especially when they are cake-shaped and slathered in a whole tub of chocolate buttercream with ickle chocolate hearts on top. Yum.

Courgette wine next. Another 50 tonnes of courgettes chopped and boiled in a big pot of water and left to cool.

Once cool, such delights as yeast, orange juice, lemon juice, root ginger and sugar are to be added. Sounds like another yummy courgette winner, until you get to the bottom of the recipe and it states that the result will be drinkable in six months, but will greatly improve after 12. Note to self: make sure and label bottles with ‘Do Not Drink Before 2015’.

Then courgette and parmesan soup, pronounced by the Young Master as his most favourite ever soup ... this week. How fickle are our youth?

Next up will be courgette and cumin soup. And stuffed courgettes. Pan-fried courgettes. Stewed courgettes. Curried courgettes.

This is beginning to sound like a post-Christmas ‘what to do with the leftover turkey’ list. After the next few days chipping away at Courgette Mountain, I am sure it will begin to feel like a ‘what to do with the left-over turkey’ list.

Surely, a single vegetable which can feed a family of six must have some value?

Sadly, you can’t sell them on eBay, or put them as an ‘Offer’ on Freecycle, or otherwise I would. I have tried to offload them on to friends and acquaintances who either a) hate courgettes, as a result of over-exposure to soggy ratatouille as youngsters, or, b) have cupboards full of the things themselves as they have a glut too. And, no, they don’t have any recipes I haven’t already tried. Ho hum.

I have even thought about having a ‘courgette-by’. Inspired by an American gang ‘drive-by’, but without the shooting, of course. This would involve driving along, identifying the ‘victim’, then stopping the car beside them with a reassuring smile (so they don’t think I’m a total fruitloop) and handing out a free – yes, free – courgette. Or maybe two. Or three.

Then I would drive off, probably to the sound of the ‘thwack’ of a courgette thrown in anger against the back windscreen.

At least, I console myself, that by planting my tomato seeds quite late – waaaaay later than recommended on the packet – I feel smug that I have avoided a second glut.

Or is that just my ‘glass half full’ way of looking at the fact that my tomatoes may never, ever ripen? Green tomato chutney, anyone?

The Scottish Borders Walking Festival, starting at the end of the month, is 20 this year.

Based around Jedburgh and Denholm, the week-long event combines guided walks of varying lengths and difficulties, plus folk nights and a ceilidh, as well as other events.

One of the organisers, Charlie Young, hopes locals as well as visitors will enjoy the reasonably priced walks (which covers transportation) and non-walking entertainment of the festival.

The 20th birthday celebrations start with a Meet and Greet night for walkers entertainment in the gardens of Mary, Queen of Scots’ House, Jedburgh, on August 30.

The following day hikers have choices of five to 10-mile walks in the Jedburgh area, including Carter Bar, the Pennine Way, Harestanes and Ferniehirst Castle. Monday’s options include walks in the Cheviot foothills and two nearer Jedburgh.

On Tuesday, September 2, there are Kelso-to-Jedburgh and Cessford Castle-to-Jedburgh walks, a route east of the town and a shorter Harestanes-to-Ancrum circular led by council rangers and archaeology officer, Dr Chris Bowles.

Walks centre around Denholm on the Wednesday and Thursday and include options featuring the Minto Hills and the restored Fatlips Castle, Ruberslaw and Drinkstone Hill. And Friday’s options include routes from St Boswells to Jedburgh, Denholm to Jedburgh and a shorter circular at Harestanes. Hikers on the Saturday can choose from walks at Pennymuir and from Towford to Chew Green, a hike along the Teviot and a short route including Hundalee.

The children’s walk on September 4 will see senior pupils from Denholm and Hobkirk walk a three-mile route from the village.

Non-walkers may enjoy the guided walk, led by Ken Fotheringham, taking in historic and notable sites in Jedburgh on September 1.

Other entertainment includes folk music, quiz night, curling and carpet bowling and the ceilidh with the Jock Thomson Ceilidh Band. For more information visit www.borderswalking.com

It is with great sadness that we record the death in July of Richard Hawkins of Eden Hall, Kelso. He was 84.

Mr Hawkins was born in Cambridge. He was educated at Eton and read law at New College, Oxford.

He went through Pirbright Army Training College and Sandhurst before serving in the Coldstream Guards in Malaya and Aden.

After his call to the Bar, he embarked on a career in industry as an in-house lawyer.

Many tributes have been paid that recognise his pioneering work over many years as one of the leading environmental lawyers and he was closely involved in the reshaping of waste management in Britain.

He was extremely widely travelled with a well- stocked mind.

In music, his great passion was the operas of Wagner. He also loved (and wrote) poetry. He particularly enjoyed Robert Browning, WB Yeats and his favourite, TS Eliot, all of which he could recite at length.

He enjoyed sport and was a formidable player and opponent when playing racquets, cricket and tennis, and he was a member of the Lennel Tennis Club in Coldstream.

Mr Hawkins and his wife, Lady Sylvia Loch, the well-known author and expert equestrian, have lived in the Borders for the past 18 years.

He always regarded himself first and foremost as an Englishman, and is buried at Cornhill in accordance with his wishes. However, he also took immense pride in being a Coldstreamer and in ‘coming home’ to his regiment.

Everyone who knew him will have very personal memories of this complex and multifaceted man.

He was very funny, with a great sense of humour, immensely generous and always kind and helpful. He was also a lover of good food and wine, and enjoyed the company of his friends.

Mr Hawkins died at Kelso Hospital where he had been looked after both by his doctor, Sandy Morris, from Kelso Health Centre, and through several years of illness by many cherished local carers and nurses.

To Sylvia and Allegra we extend our deepest sympathy and condolences at his passing.

Galashiels-based Merlin Vet Exports are on course to double their sales to £1million this year.

The business has been exporting veterinary supplies to overseas vets, mainly in Hong Kong and Singapore, since 2007.

However, orders have now started coming in from vets in the Netherlands, Lithuania, Germany and Kuwait.

Managing director David Taylor said: “Our clients are attracted by the price and the quality of the pharmaceuticals that we offer.

“All of the drugs are licensed here in the UK, which ensures that they are safe and that they work – in other countries this is not always the case.

“The Far East, in particular, has an appetite for UK-branded products and this extends to our pharmaceuticals.”

The company’s growth has been helped along the way by Business Gateway, who Mr Taylor first approached in 2012 for advice on taking the business to the next level.

He said: “Business Gateway has been fantastic. We approached them because although the business was growing, we were keen to properly focus our export strategy and target new markets in the Far East, such as Singapore and South Korea.

“We were referred to the Scottish Enterprise Smart Exporter Programme and, as a result of this, recently went on a Scottish Development International-funded trip to a trade fair in Singapore, which meant we were able to establish important links over there.”

The firm currently employs four members of staff, including Niki Kinghorn, who began working as a receptionist in a Merlin veterinary surgery 16 years ago before working her way up to deputy managing director.

“We have three members of staff in the UK and another out in Hong Kong, and as well as being managing director, I’m also dispatch manager and head packer – we all pitch in, plus I’m still a practising vet,” said Mr Taylor.

With the business continuing to grow, and plans to target new markets, Mr Taylor is searching for bigger premises from which to be based.

There was a rise in visitors to Peebles Show, Nether 
Horsburgh, last Saturday, despite a daunting weather forecast.

Father and son team, Gordon and David Gray of Sunnycroft, Lindean, Selkirk, took the champion of champions with a Texel gimmer on her first outing.

David, who scooped the Border Union’s top accolade with another gimmer last month, said: “It was great to win such a strong interbreed contest. The champion of champions is down to the judge’s preference: thankfully we were in favour again.”

Horse entries were up by more than 100 as organisers introduced new classes, including working hunter (WH).

Show secretary Jacqui Campbell said: “The show went really well. While it was blustery, the rain mostly held off. There was a really positive feeling round the showfield all day.

“Attendance was up on the year, as was the number of trade stands. The new WH classes were huge and it was nice to see them so well supported.”

The show’s inaugural south east Scotland’s young handlers competition saw the top two young handlers from nearby shows vie for the new title. The winner was Blainslie’s Hamish Weir.

Breeder John Green of The Craggs, Lilliesleaf, took reserve champion of champions with his Charolais bull, the cattle interbreed champion. The show’s 2012 champion of champions, Masquerade owned and ridden by Clive Storey of Halterburn, Yetholm, took the light horse championship.

Other results – sheep: Blackface – W Renwick, Blackhouse, Yarrow, reserve – Burncastle Farming Co, Burncastle, Lauder; Border Leicester –Jennifer Brown, Millmoor, Lanark, reserve – Duncan Whyte, Whitelee Gate, Newton Mearns; South Country Cheviot – WJ Douglas and Son,Upper Hindhope, Jedburgh, reserve – B & M Cockburn Stirkfield, Broughton; Suffolk – S. & G. Brown Woodhead Farm, Gorebridge, reserve – Elaine Wilkie, Shaw Cottage South, Berryscaur, Lockerbie; Blue Face Leicester – J Wight and Sons, Midlock, Crawford, Biggar, reserve – J Bell Whelphill, Crawford; Scotch Mule – J Wight and Sons, Midlock, Crawford, Biggar, reserve – J Warnock, Dreva, Broughton; Texel (Registered) – Gordon Gray, reserve: Robert Laird, Cambwell, Skirling; Texel (Unregistered) – J&P Anderson Headshaw, Oxton, reserve: Philip White, Shepherds Cottage, Boreland, Eddleston; Beltex – M. Dunlop Corstane, Broughton, reserve: Richard Wood, Kingledores, Broughton; Zwartbles – Gill Smith, reserve – Gill Smith; Shetland, White – P., D.&A. Playfair, Stichill Eastfield, Kelso, reserve – Mr and Mrs A. Bain, Boggs Holdings, Pencaitland; Shetland, Coloured – Messrs Arbuckle and Meikle Fordun Place, Winchburgh, reserve – Lorna Carruthers Cronklea, Eaglesfield, Lockerbie

Any other breed – Lewis Runciman, Allanshaws, Galashiels, reserve – Gavin Brown; commercial sheep – J. P. Campbell and Sons, Blythbank Blyth Bridge, reserve – David A. Anderson Nether Falla, Eddleston.

More results online at www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk

Berwick’s winning run came shuddering to a halt on Friday when they lost by 25 points at Armadale in the Premier League.

Sam Masters was unbeaten for the home side, who dominated from start to finish as Edinburgh extracted revenge for the defeat at Shielfield 10 days earlier.

Berwick were livelier than on their recent KO Cup visit to Armdale and had three different race winners, but they didn’t really threaten to put Monarchs under pressure at any stage.

The home side lost Aaron Fox, who felt dizzy after his second place in heat 2. He was withdrawn as a precaution but felt OK later in the evening.

Three 5-1s in the first five heats put Monarchs 21-9 ahead, though they lost a surprise 4-2 in heat 6 when Berwick’s Kevin Doolan beat Craig Cook in the race of the night.

Cook made a poor start but gradually made up the ground, going ahead down the back straight on the final lap. However, Doolan regained the lead on the final corner for a great win for the Bandits.

Advantages in the next three heats stretched Monarchs’ lead to 20 points, and only their two one rider heats, allied to race wins in heats 10 and 12 for Steen Jensen, slowed the home team’s progress.

Edinburgh Monarchs: Masters 14+1, Worrall 12+1, Fricke 9+2, Cook 8+2, Sedgmen 7+1, Sneddon 5+1, Fox 2.

Berwick Bandits: Doolan 9, Jensen 7, Kus 5, Edberg 5, Vissing 3, Bellego 3.

Volunteers from Borders Voluntary Older People’s Services organised a big lunch – billed as a celebration of the Commonwealth Games – at Springwood Hall in the Border Union showground, Kelso.

Some 250 elderly Borderers were coached in for an afternoon of entertainment which began with the Lesley Macfarlane Highland dancers, followed by “Borders Still Game” – comedy and dancing by the Hawick Panto Group – which was finished off with The Proclaimers’ classic song, “I would walk 500 miles”.

The popular Spirit of Scotland duo completed the entertainment with a host of old Scottish songs.

A Hawick firm has secured a major contract worth almost £1million to design and build a heating system for a Tayside hospital.

Turnbull & Scott (Engineers) Ltd, based in the town’s Burnfoot Road, have won the contract from NHS Tayside to be the main contractor for the design and build of a 990kW wood pellet biomass steam boiler heating system at Stracathro Hospital.

The 50-bed general hospital near Brechin currently operates three traditional gas-fired boilers. However, these are subject to the high and volatile costs of fossil fuels.

The contract will see Turnbull & Scott design, install and commission these major works with completion scheduled for October.

The biomass boiler complete with fuel storage and delivery system will be integrated to the existing gas-fired system and NHS Tayside will be eligible to receive Renewable Heat Incentive payments from the UK Government for up to 20 years.

Peter Murphy, Turnbull & Scott’s Managing Director, told The Southern this week: “We’re delighted NHS Tayside has chosen Turnbull & Scott for this important project. 

“Given our decades of experience with steam systems and our recent success in growing our biomass boiler capability, it is the logical next step for us.

“We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver an outstanding quality of product and service to customers and we will be continuing to focus on growing our business in the 200kW to 3Mw biomass market.”

Turnbull & Scott has 80 years’ experience in the design and installation of boiler systems for agricultural, commercial, industrial, leisure, local authority, NHS and retail properties across the UK.

Prospective tenant farmers were viewing hill farms in the Cheviot foothills near Yetholm yesterday (Wednesday, August 20).

Landowners Roxburghe Estates hope to let the two productive units on long term-tenancies said a spokesperson last week.

Neighbours Cocklawfoot Farm, at the end of the Bowmont Valley, and Swindon Farm, on the way up the valley, are both being let on 15-year minimum Limited Duration Tenancies.

Roxburghe Estates factor Roddy Jackson said: “These farms are both very productive hill farms and, as an estate committed to supporting the tenant farming industry in Scotland, we are pleased to offer the units on long term tenancies.”

The farms can be rented individually or together. The well-equipped Cocklawfoot is 1,917 acres with farmhouse and steading and currently stocked with 1,160 breeding ewes and 260 hoggs.

And Swindon Farm is a 739-acre hill farm currently with 588 breeding ewes and 188 hoggs.

An estates spokesperson added: “It has a useful range of buildings and a cottage can be provided if required.

“The sheep stock have the benefit of being hefted and would therefore require to be taken over at the entry date.”

The closing date for tenders is September 17 and the date of entry to the farms is expected to be in November this year.

For more information and further particulars, contact Roxburghe Estates Office on telephone number 01573 223333.