The nights, as they say, are fair drawing in. Darkness is descending earlier and earlier with each passing day. Summer is officially over and autumn is officially here.

And – weather-wise in the Borders – we can’t really moan about our lot over the past 12-plus months.

Last winter was indeed extremely kind to us. Shops were left with shedloads of snow shovels because most of us only saw a few flakes of the white stuff. Adults were happy, but the young ones were disappointed at not being able to get out on their sledges – or bogies as my generation knew them.

What memories. My age group was the probably the last that went sledging on public roads.

In my area of Galashiels, that meant Snyders (I never know how to spell that) Brae and over The Bump. The Bump especially became sledging territory. Motorists wisely gave it a miss. We turned it into a virtual downhill ice rink. And I don’t think there was one of us who failed to collide with the lamp post at the foot of the hill. It took some bashing.

But our winter fun run was much curtailed from that of my dad’s generation. They could start at the top of Meigle Street and – on a good day – finish up in Gala Park or even onwards down Bank Street Brae and into Bank Street itself. This was done on sledges in the winter and home-made wheeled bogies during the summer.

And, of course, this fun, laughter and enjoyment was repeated across the land.

Mostly now it is done in the relative safety of parks or out on the slopes of some hill. Safety is paramount and it would not be prudent to suggest we go back to the good old days. There’s simply too much traffic on the roads these days. So really, some of the fun has gone out of it.

When the nights had really drawn in, that’s when some of our fun really began. Crawling along dykes – some with glass embedded as a deterrent – to plunder for apples, pears and goosegogs. We didn’t eat many and, truth be known, it was a bit of a waste of good food.

One bite and then they became handy missiles, littering the streets – food for the birds.

Thing was, we were raiding from neighbours and friends who would willingly have given us the fruits from the labours of their toils if we had simply asked. But there was no fun in that.

Rap-door-run was another of our ploys.

A chap of the door knocker and off like the clappers to watch the result from a hidden spot. Sometimes, if the distance from the door to the garden gate was too great to ensure a safe retreat, thread would be tied to the knocker and tugged from behind a hedge. This was mischief. To us it was harmless, but it must have been really annoying for the victims – victims of our mischief.

Sometimes we would retreat to the sanctuary of The Whins – wild territory that was part of the Laird of Gala’s estate close to Balmoral Primary School. The aim here was to tease his dogs safely behind bars in their kennels.

At quieter times we played conkers and marbles.

But we liked the dark nights – and as we got older we sometimes liked them even better.

The amount of household waste recycled or composted in the Borders has fallen by five per cent since 2011, figures out this week show.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) statistics reveal 41 per cent of the 51,200 tonnes collected in 2013 was recycled, down from 46 per cent in 2011, when 53,800 tonnes of rubbish was collected.

Despite the overall fall in the total weight of waste, the amount sent to landfill has increased, both in weight and as a percentage of the total, up almost three per cent on 2011.

The figures buck the national trend, with more than 42 per cent of household waste in Scotland recycled last year, up two per cent on 2011.

A council spokesman said: “SBC remains committed to encouraging everyone not only to recycle as much as possible, to divert waste from landfill, but also to reduce the amount of waste created and to increase re-use activity.

“Reduced recycling levels are disappointing. However, this is a trend that a third of local authorities have seen over the last few years, the reasons for which could be numerous.”

He added that the council would continue to engage with the public to encourage waste reduction and recycling.

On Tuesday, Andrew Farquhar handed in a 7,765-signature petition to SBC calling for garden waste collections to be reinstated. It is set to be discussed by the council’s petitions committee later this month.

Staff from RP Adam in Selkirk raised £2,143 for The Lavender Touch charity from their fundraising walk, cycle and family fun day.

One of the organisers of the event, Alan Skeldon, presented the cheque to Jan Beattie and Janice Duff, from the local charity, watched by some of the staff who took part.

Mr Skeldon said: “We would like to thank everybody who sponsored us as, well as Selkirk Cricket Club, Booker Cash and Carry, Noon Entertainments and Barnett’s Catering.”

The firm’s employees have raised more than £12,000 for charities over the past five years.

Their latest challenge saw staff tackle a cycling route which was mainly off-road and took them on a 30-mile trek, crossing the summit of two hills and including more than 3,000ft of climbing.

Other workers put their hiking boots on and followed part of the Southern Upland Way on an 11-mile walk, which included a total of 1,700ft of ascent.

Initially, they set a modest fundraising target of £500, but were hopeful that they could raise significantly more – which they certainly managed to achieve.

The event, which took place in August, was rounded off with a family fun day at the cricket club.

When it comes to cooking up a winning formula for success in the kitchen, Kelso High School cook manager Kim Watts has the right recipe.

Because Kim has just been named Scottish School Cook of the Year after taking top spot in a competition to find the best of the country’s school kitchen specialists.

Held at The Cook School Scotland in Ayrshire, the event was open to catering staff employed by all 32 Scottish local authorities.

Each entrant was given 90 minutes to produce a healthy two-course meal designed to appeal to either primary or secondary school pupils, and which cost no more than £1.60.

The dishes were required to conform to minimum nutritional standards for school meals, but also needed to exhibit creativity and flair.

Kim’s menu consisted of Kelsae BBQ Beef Pie and a dessert of Coconut Delight Cake.

“I had great pleasure in devising these recipes which I did after talking to a number of children from both Kelso High and Sprouston Primary,” a delighted Kim told us.

“I asked them what they liked and from this information was able to create these dishes, all made from local produce. This is what I believe made these winning dishes.”

Praising Kim, Scottish Borders Council convener Graham Garvie added: “The standard of catering provided in all the council’s school kitchens is renowned for its quality and it is heartening to see this being recognised at national level.”

A councillor is steaming ahead with plans to ensure that Galashiels is on track to benefit from the new railway, writes Bob Burgess.

Bill White wants to establish a task force to prepare the town centre for next year’s opening of the rail link between Edinburgh and the central Borders.

He wants business bosses, campaign groups and the public to attend an open meeting he’s holding in the town’s Volunteer Hall on Tuesday. Councillor White says it is important that a co-ordinated approach is made when tackling town centre improvements.

The newly-formed Energise Galashiels group will be represented and they are urging as many organisations as possible to attend and become part of what they describe as a pro-active process.

Energise Galashiels was formed amid concerns about the large number of empty shops in the town. Its aim is to enhance , promote and reconnect the town through tourism, sport, music, theatre and the arts.

When the group was launched, a spokesman commented: “Our strategy is to fully understand the opportunities that will arise from a rail link in less than a year’s time.”

The Borders Railway is to due open next autumn. Tuesday’s meeting is at 6.30pm.

A 23-year-old former Peebles High School pupil is aiming to raise a final £2,500 to help increase production of his hemp sunglasses.

Sam Whitten, who grew up in Broughton, studied international product design at Glasgow Caledonian University.

It was while laid up with a broken leg last year and researching for his dissertation that he came up with the idea of using the sustainable material, which has a huge variety of uses, including biofuel, clothes and paper.

“The idea came after researching a special hemp composite material – hemp and flax fibres are combined with an eco-friendly resin to create a sheet material,” Mr Whitten said.

“After some market research I found there did not exist any hemp sunglasses, therefore creating a new application for the material.”

Working towards the prestigious New Designers 2014 exhibition in London in July, Mr Whitten finished making prototype glasses in a makeshift workshop at his parents’ home in Broughton.

“New Designers 2014 was a big success as the sunglasses received a lot of attention and Hemp Eyewear was featured in an article by the website ‘Cool Hunting’,” Mr Whitten said.

“After this, Hemp Eyewear snowballed and has been featured on hundreds of websites and blogs, as well as receiving thousands of pre-orders on hempeyewear.com”

In a bid to raise the funds to manufacture on a larger scale, Mr Whitten has taken to the Kickstarter crowdfunding website, looking for £25,000.He said: “I am confident we will reach our funding goal due to the amount of attention Hemp Eyewear has received from around the world, and the Kickstarter campaign is currently at £22,500.”

Mr Whitten added: “The long-term goal for Hemp Eyewear is to develop the product line by creating more styles of sunglasses, as well as a 100 per cent hemp clothing line.

In the future I plan to use hemp in furniture and also in architecture.”

Council officers are in “active discussions” with Zero Waste Scotland to see what support can be provided for the introduction of food waste collections, Councillor Davie Paterson has said.

Zero Waste Scotland and Cosla have been lobbying the Scottish Government for more help for councils to fund the collections.

Years ago I was stopped in a city street by a man who thrust a newspaper at me and demanded to know what odds a particular horse was running at.

He would have been pushed to pick someone who knew less about betting, but I found the name of the horse and told him it was 8-2.

As he rightly snorted, “No such bet!” because I’d given him the jockey’s weight, or something like that. I managed to find the correct odds and left him wondering whether to bet and how much he might win; I left wondering at someone who knew about figures and accumulator bets, but couldn’t read.

Many years on, in spite of educational advances, it’s still true that more people than we think have trouble reading. As someone who was lucky enough to have encouraging parents and books available, I grew to love reading for pleasure and knowledge. What is life like for those who can’t, because of, for example, dyslexia?We know there is a hard-core of those who can, but boast that they have never read a book. Others have proved on national and global scales that being able to do the sums doesn’t need an ability to read. But for more people dyslexia is the stumbling block. The difficulty this causes with reading and writing affects a higher percentage of rural families, including farmers and staff, than many other sectors of the population for no obvious reason. When the paperwork/computer side of farm businesses is vital to income, outgoings and success, suffering from dyslexia – a disorder of many definitions, but one that prevents fluent reading and makes writing difficult – is a big handicap.

Nor is it just an older generation, some of whom were treated as stupid or lazy at school for suffering from what is now recognised as a disorder. About one quarter of Scotland’s Rural University College students get dyslexia support and a united effort to tackle the problem is being made with formation of the Farming with Dyslexia Working Group.

Being able to do the sums is still vital to farm management and recording. But helping those with dyslexia and taking away an outdated stigma associated with it – felt among sufferers as well – is a valuable and worthwhile move. Good luck to it.

As noted before, I took no sides in the Scottish referendum debate and still don’t. But it should be noted that Alex Salmond was not the only sore and ungracious loser. A letter in the Scottish Farmer – which was a main and useful forum for letter writers during the countdown, none of whom seemed to suffer from dyslexia or an ability to be succinct – claimed the traditional media was biased and used scare stories against the Yes campaign.

Older voters believed that. By contrast, said the writer, younger Yes voters made extensive use of social media for a broader and fairer view of the issues. You have to laugh.

Saturday, October 4: Eildon Ramblers circular walk from Redpath. Meet at 10am at village hall (NT582357) 6.5 miles, Grade B, Soup lunch after walk (£5), followed by AGM. To register for the walk, email helen972todd@gmail.com

Sunday, October 5: Scottish Borders Hill Walking Club – Lauder circular (73). Meet at Lauder Post Office at 10am. For further information, contact Evelyn Horsburgh on 01750 76214.

Thursday, October 9 – Scottish Wildlife Trust Central Borders Group, illustrated talk “40 Years at Tweedbank” by Andrew Bramhall, in the Langlee Centre, Marigold Drive, Galashiels, at 7.30pm. Refreshments and raffle. Non-members very welcome.

This week, back to smallholdery ... I thought it was time I got back to reality. Back to the land. The honest toil of working the soil.

At the risk of beginning to sound like Scarlett O’Hara at the end of Gone With The Wind, when she resolves to go back to Tara, because ‘land is all that matters’, I was ready – what with the giddy excitement of the referendum and the fillum festival – to get back to my usual ‘day job’.

Watching the hedgerows groan with elderberries as I’ve been dashing back and forth recently in my car – aka mum’s taxi service – prompted a wee Google for elderberry wine. Be silly not to take advantage of all those lovely berries just hanging there waiting to be picked.

My grandad used to make elderberry wine. Having since read wine-making books from the early 20th century, I now understand how the following incident happened. But it goes like this. My grandparents lived about a two-hour drive away, so we didn’t see them as often as we would have liked, but it did mean that every visit was special. And that meant we would take them things, and they would send us home with things – ‘presents’.

This could be anything from some broken biscuits from the outlet shop at the local bakery, to bottles of Henderson’s Relish (which my youngest cousin still brings for us when she comes with her family to visit, or sends us home with a bootfull of bottles if we go to visit her). Well, on this occasion, Grandad sent us home with six bottles of his homemade elderberry wine. And in the tradition of the day (having read the old wine-making books), he probably put all sorts of odd things in it like toast, raisins and rice for all sorts of reasons that are quite credible when you read the books and understand why, but seem – quite frankly – odd until you do.

I was quite surprised, as a keen hedgerow wine-maker, to read that in the Good Old Days, the wine was not left in a demijohn with a wee airlock to bubble away merrily in the airing cupboard, but was decanted into bottles and corked. Done and dusted.

So you can imagine that Grandad’s newly-bottled wine, after two hours in the boot of our Vauxhall Viva on a hot summer’s day, was probably quite lively by the time it reached our house. Mum duly popped it in the pantry on the stone shelf, to cool down.

A few hours later it sounded like a series of small, distant explosions going off, and Mum opened the pantry door to find every bottle has literally blown its top and the inside of the pantry was dripping in thick, purpley syrup which, I seem to remember, was so viscous and sticky that it took about three weeks to clean up. I will never forget the look on my Mum’s face when she opened that door. Ever.

Eager not to repeat this, I decided to follow the ancient wine-book recipe, but to leave out the bottling bit and go for the demijohn bit instead. Or rather, I will be.

So far, I have only reached the picking stage as – due to a lack of demijohn/airing cupboard space at the moment due to batches of nettle, courgette and elderflower wine – I have bagged all the berries and put them in the freezer.

Watch this space ...

Search and rescue volunteers are hoping the weather is fine for their major fundraiser of the year at the weekend.

The Border Search and Rescue Unit is holding a sponsored walk on Sunday (October 5) to raise money to cover some of its annual running costs of around £25,000.

Walk secretary Kim Forsyth said: “It’s our main fundraising activity of the year, so we put a lot of team time, effort and resource into it and have been preparing for it for the last few months.”
 The event usually attracts about 100 walkers.

Kim continued: “It can be popular with school groups doing D of E as it offers a nice, supervised environment for teachers taking teenagers out – often for their first time – on a hill.

“I think people do it for different reasons – some regular walking groups like the challenging routes we prepare, some like the banter and chat with the team at various checkpoints.

“I reckon quite a few use it to challenge themselves with a bigger walk than they’d usually attempt if they’re not too confident being by themselves on the hill, or with their own navigational abilities – it’s hard, but not impossible, to get lost, but if you do get lost we’ll come and find you.

“Some local folk never go walking on their own doorstep, and are surprised to find out how interesting and accessible the walks are in the Cheviots.”

Based at Hownam, route designer and team member, Damon Rodwell, has come up with new challenges, with a 7km route for families which takes in a fort and standing stones, while the 18km route for walkers and 28km one for experienced walkers and runners includes long stretches on a ridge with views into Northumberland.

All three routes are well marked and marshalled. For more information, visit www.bordersar.org.uk

The Princess Royal officially opened former eventing peer Ian Stark’s Equestrian Centre (ISEC) near Selkirk last Wednesday.

And the Riding for the Disabled president also celebrated the 50th birthday of the Ettrickbridge and Dryden RDA group, meeting and talking to riders and volunteers.

The group’s Glynis Sawyers said: “The Princess Royal loves RDA and anything to do with horses. We did a 20 minute display and it was really good. She was so relaxed. It went well.”

The group was started in Ettrickbridge in 1964 by the late Miss Florence McGowan, who recognized the benefits children with various disabilities could gain from riding.

She used her own ponies and borrowed others from local friends and gathered a group of volunteers to help her.

The group ran there until Miss McGowan’s death, when it moved briefly to Bowhill, before joining the group at Dryden which had been started by Jenny Stark’s mother, Jean McAulay.

Glynis said: “Mrs McAulay took the group from strength to strength and was the major driving force behind it for many years. The group had a short spell of uncertainty following Jean’s untimely death but, under the good guidance of regional and county personnel, gathered itself together and built itself up again.”

Riding continued at Dryden until June 2013, when the Starks invited the group to move with them to Greenhill Farm, where they were setting up ISEC.

“The weather gods were on the group’s side as the good weather meant that riding sessions could take place outdoors until the new centre was ready to use in late October of that year, ” said Glynis.

She continued: “Currently, the group provides riding for six primary children on a weekly basis from Easter until the October half term.

“There are also weekly sessions for two further groups of riders, one for 12 senior schoolchildren on a rota basis and one for seven adults.”

The group has three instructors and one trainee instructor, several volunteers and the two Thursday groups are assisted by students from Borders College on the SVQ Horse Care course under the guidance of tutor Alison Robertson.

Glynis said: “They are a valuable part of our team and the benefits work both ways. The students benefit from the experience of volunteering with us, they help get the ponies ready for the sessions and also assist in the riding sessions, building up a very good rapport with the riders.”

The group is self-funding – and the next fundraiser is a 50th birthday supper at the Hazelknowe restaurant at Woll Golf Course, Ashkirk, on Thursday, October 30.

The Princess went out for a ride with Ian Stark around the farm before meeting the ISEC founder, members and sponsors and officially opening the facility.

After the RDA demonstration, she cut the group’s birthday cake and made presentations to volunteers Marjory White and Caryl Thompson, for 50 and 35 years respectively with the association.

The Princess Royal was an eventing peer of Ian Stark in his early career, competing for the British team at the highest levels of the sport.

The centre itself was the brainchild of Jenny Stark.

Concerns have been expressed that Kelso’s newly-revamped town centre works are being spoiled by inconsiderate and illegal parking of vehicles.

At last month’s meeting of Kelso Community Council, several members commented on the situation, including the issue of vehicles being parked in front of the town hall in the recently-refurbished public space area.

Provost John Bassett said pedestrians and vehicles were “not a good mix” and wants to see vehicles moved away from the public space at the town hall once they have unloaded for the regular farmers’ market and flea market events.

“I know this might upset some people, but the rules have to be the same for everyone,” said Provost Bassett. “I’m 100 per cent in favour of having markets, but the vehicles involved must be moved off the square. We have to put our foot down about this now.”

Scottish Borders Councillor Tom Weatherston said a number of people had commented that, after all the money had been spent on improvement works in The Square, it was a shame vehicles were still being badly parked.

“Allowing vehicles onto the public space creates a conflict with pedestrians and is a health and safety issue,” he said.

The community council agreed to take the issue up with SBC licensing officers in relation to vehicles involved with the setting up of the town’s various regular markets.

Speaking to The Southern this week, Mr Weatherston told us: “Safety issues have been highlighted. People feel now we have created an improved public space with new seating and artwork there should be no vehicles in this area except for occasional access to the town hall and weddings.

“No-one is trying to stop markets and other things happening in the space, as long as they use stalls and not vehicles to display their goods.”

Residents of Hazeldean residential home in Galashiels handed over a £375 cheque to Wilma Gunn, from Scottish H.A.R.T.

Under the leadership of Audrey Johnston, they held a raffle in aid of the Selkirk-based heart charity to raise the cash.

Receiving the cheque, Wilma said: “This is a wonderful amount from those who stay in the complex and it will be put to good use in Galashiels.”

She added: “In fact, a new battery for the defibrillator at the Focus Centre in Galashiels has already been installed thanks to this generous gift.”

NHS Borders has apologised to a patient’s daughter after a complaint about the care given to her mother in her last hours of life was upheld.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) made four recommendations after upholding the complaint, including that the health board should issue an apology.

Reporting its decision, the SPSO said: “Mrs C told us that her late mother (Mrs A) did not get the care she deserved during the last few hours of her life at Borders General Hospital.

“She said that at other times the standard of care provided during her mother’s stay in hospital had been good or excellent.

“Mrs C and other family members were aware that Mrs A was in the final few days of her life, and had stayed with her throughout the night.

“She said that Mrs A suffered unnecessarily because staff failed to check or assess her condition, despite family members reporting her distress to them.”

The ombudsman added: “The board told us that Mrs A was assessed every time family members asked staff for help, although they also noted that drugs that might have provided some relief for Mrs A could have been given earlier.

“We found, however, that Mrs A’s medical records did not contain the necessary entries to support the statement about assessment, and that there were some gaps in these records.

“Based on the information available we could not, therefore, conclude that they properly assessed Mrs A’s needs, and we upheld the complaint.”

The SPSO called for the health board to provide an update on the service manager for medicine’s review of the complaint and any action plan arising from it; undertake a further review of the complaint in the light of the SPSO findings and provide an action plan; apologise that there was no assessment at an earlier point of whether pain relief should be provided; and give evidence of the health board’s plan for terminal and end-of-life care, and of the staff training undertaken to support this.

Asked to respond to the complaint and the recommendations, an NHS Borders spokeswoman said: “NHS Borders accepts and has acted upon the recommendations made by the SPSO.”

Last time, we had our first look at heatmaps and how they can help you understand how much of your web pages are being viewed by visitors.

If you missed it you can read it again at http://eepurl.com/2FpOP.

Heatmaps can not only show you how far down your page users are scrolling – they can show you a lot more.

Live mouse tracking shows you recordings of how actual visitors are interacting with your site. In real time, you’re shown exactly what the visitor saw on their screen, be it a desktop PC or a smartphone.

You can view how they scrolled up and down the page, how they moved their mouse around the screen, what buttons and links they clicked on and how they went about completing forms.

You may remember our previous example from last time of the form that was ‘below the fold’ on the page. This time, let’s imagine that you have an enquiry form that’s well placed on the page but is not getting used as much use as you’d thought it would.

After running some live mouse tracking and analysing the recordings you find that a lot more people than you realised actually start to fill out the form but stop part of the way through. They’re stopping at the section where you’re asking for a specific piece of information which must be completed, eg their date of birth.

Using that knowledge, you decide to make that particular form field optional to fill in - not compulsory. Immediately, you find an increase in the number of visitors completing your enquiry form – happy days.

Again, that’s a pretty simple example, but it shows you the benefits to be gained from more knowledge about visitor behaviour.

‘Click heatmaps’ help you discover patterns that are created over time by multiple users on your site.

They look similar to the rain radar images that you see on the weather forecast – areas that are clicked on the most have ‘hot’ colours, with lesser-clicked areas being shown in ‘cooler’ colours.

It can be fascinating – and eye-opening - to see just how your pages are being clicked.

You may discover that links and buttons that you thought would be most commonly used are, in fact, sidelined for other, less obvious links.

For example, you may be offering a specialist service and feel that the most important thing to do first is to explain how it works. You therefore have a large ‘How it works’ button on your homepage.

However, your click heatmaps show you that your much smaller ‘Pricing’ link gets clicked on just as much.

Obviously, people are wanting to know how much your service will cost them, so add a large ‘Pricing’ button alongside your ‘How it works’ button and make it easier for them to find that information.

Movement heatmaps show you how the mouse has been moved around your page in just the same way as click heatmaps.

Some studies have shown that there is a close tie between mouse movements and how people look around a page. The results from these should be used more as a guide than gospel.

Knowing how your website is actually being used gives you the facts you need to make informed decisions as to how it could be improved.

Andrew McEwan of The Web Workshop in Morebattle (www.thewebworkshop.net) helps businesses in the Scottish Borders and beyond with their online presence and digital marketing.

The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (SAWB) has announced that a rise in the minimum wage rate for workers has been agreed.

A Scottish Government statement said: “The wage rates agreed by the wages board on August 20 were in line with those announced at the SAWB’s negotiation meeting held in May. The minimum rate of pay for agricultural workers with more than 26 weeks continuous employment will increase by 15p per hour to £7.14 from October 1, 2014 – bringing the minimum wage for a 39-hour week to £278.46.”

Other headline rates agreed by the board include a minimum hourly rate of £6.50 for all workers in their first 26 weeks and a minimum hourly rate of £7.14 for all workers employed for more than 26 weeks by the same employer (an increase of 15p per hour).

The minimum hourly rate for overtime for workers employed for more than 26 weeks by the same employer will be of £10.71, up 22p per hour. For those in their first 26 weeks it will be £9.75, up by 27p.

The minimum hourly rate will be £3.96 for workers who undertake a Level 2 Modern Apprenticeship in Agriculture, up 8p per hour.

Dog allowance goes up to £5.41 each a week for up to four working dogs – an increase of 11p per dog.

The additional sum payable to workers with appropriate qualifications will increase to £1.08 per hour (up 2p per hour).

There will be an increase in the daily rate of the accommodation off-set for accommodation other than a house to £5.01, an increase of 10p a day.

More than 18 months into a woodland management project, a leading agricultural co-operative has audited nearly 80 farm woodlands and produced free management plans for nearly 40.

Borders Machinery Ring (BMR) started the project (in January 2013), aimed at bringing under-managed farm woods into active management to benefit owners, forestry contractors and the local economy.

BMR’s woodland manager, Paul Boobyer said: “It is an excellent time to sell timber, to take advantage of a round wood market that has hardly ever looked better.

“Timber prices are currently high, as British-grown timber is in demand and the spring of 2014 will probably go down as one of the best starts to a year most home-grown sawmillers have ever experienced.

“Underlying demand from a recovering construction industry has been boosted by good weather and significant storm and flood damage to repair. Furthermore, both small and large scale biomass operations are now providing an alternative to the traditional markets and helping to maintain good prices.

“All sectors of the sawn market are buoyant, with the fencing market in particular being very strong. The pallet and packaging sector, although experiencing good demand, is finding stronger price resistance than either the fencing or construction sectors.”

Funded by LEADER and Scottish Enterprise, the Farm Woodland Management Project checks woodlands, comes up with management plans and arranges forestry operations.

Paul said more than half of the 38 management plans have been approved by Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS): “An FCS-approved plan enables owners to apply for SRDP funding for a variety of management operations, as well as providing evidence of sustainably-sourced timber, which will soon be a requirement for anyone wishing to claim RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive) payments for heat production if they are using logs or woodchips produced from their own woodlands, or are wishing to sell logs or woodchips produced from their own woodlands.”

Once the plans have been approved by FCS, BMR, whose members include contractors, arranges for work quotes.

Paul said: “To date, felling has taken place at two properties, while a further two will have been completed by the end of September at properties that have suffered severe windblow. The felling that has taken place has earned owners several thousand pounds net profit and provided one of them with around 160 tonnes of timber that he intends to chip for his biomass boiler.”

BMR has produced management plans for nearly 970 hectares of woodland, with nearly 60ha felled so far.

Paul added woodlands can be managed for timber, woodfuel and game bird rearing, commenting: “The firewood market has increased dramatically in recent years and a tonne of good-quality firewood now competes in price with a tonne of best-quality conifer logs.”

Profits from the sales of timber are tax free. For more information contact Paul on 01896 758091.

Latest population projection figures predict no net change in the size of the Borders population over the next 25 years.

The most recent forecast by the National Records for Scotland (NRS) office shows a change from the previous projections of a rise – made in 2010 – and is mainly based on decreased net migration to the region and fewer births. The NRS office produces population projections every two years.

In a recent report, Scottish Borders Community Planning Partnership stated an increase in households is still projected, but not as great as previously thought.

In its 2012-based projections, the NRS says the number of Borders households is now expected to rise from 52,700 to 56,600 by 2037 – an increase of seven per cent as opposed to the previous projection made in 2010 of a 17 per cent rise.

Census figures for 2001 to 2011 saw population drops in Hawick, Selkirk and Jedburgh.

There were rises in Galashiels, Peebles and Eyemouth (1.9 per cent), with the biggest jump being in Kelso (11.5 per cent).

Local Scottish Borders councillor Tom Weatherston says news of the Kelso increase is to be welcomed. “I think the population figures for Kelso over the last 10 years are very encouraging and show Kelso is a place where people want to locate to and make their home,” he said.

“The town is moving forward with several exciting projects both ongoing and in the pipeline, and improvements to our education buildings is great news for Kelso.”

Borders MSP John Lamont now backs lowering the voting age to 16 after his referendum experience.

He said: “I was hugely impressed by the level of engagement and understanding our young people demonstrated.”