Unless you’ve been living under a bush with no comms, you might be aware there’s a big day approaching. No, not the royal baby, the Border Union Agricultural Society’s 200th anniversary.

One of the society’s main events takes place next week, with the staging of the two-day Border Union Show at Kelso on Friday and Saturday.

Society secretary Ron Wilson has pulled out all the stops with a host of attractions lined up to celebrate the milestone.

He said: “Agriculture has always been vital to the Borders economy and this is as true now as it ever was. In our bicentenary year, we not only want to look back at the achievements of the past, but also highlight the role that farming continues to play in shaping the Borders countryside and enhancing our lives today – be this through the creation of fabulous food, employment or fashion.”

This year’s show will be attended for the first time by HRH The Countess of Wessex, Royal Patron of the Border Union Agricultural Society’s Bicentenary year.

Major crowd-pullers for the 200th birthday are rooted in farming, linking the area’s strong agricultural heritage to the countryside today

They include a pageant celebrating the History of the Horse, a Story of Wool showcase and the Flavour of the Borders Food Fair, featuring world renowned chefs, including Albert Roux.

The pageant celebrating equines will take place in the main ring next Saturday, looking at the different roles the horse has played in the region from Roman times to the modern day.

The Story of Wool will look at the importance of farming and textiles to the Borders, taking visitors from shearing to wearing, and will include fashion shows featuring local top-flight designers.

The Flavour of the Borders Food Fair, championing local produce, will feature more than 50 artisan food producers and several live cookery demonstrations by famous chefs.

Ron said: “We have a wide variety of special attractions planned and even have specially planted plots adjacent to the showground that will be harvested using vintage and modern machinery to demonstrate both old and new farming practices.

“We will also display a new map of the Tweed River that traces the path of this waterway and illustrates its importance to the area’s agriculture and textile industry.

“For those who have not been to the show before, this will be a great year to visit and I am sure regular attendees will find the new additions add even more enjoyment to what is always a great day out.”

Read more about the show, its special events, history and a few words from the society’s president – the Duke of Roxburghe– in next week’s Farming Review pull-out .

Next week’s Border Union Show in Kelso will launch the career of a Borders College chef, as six hopefuls cook beside Albert Roux for the Border Union Agricultural Society’s bicentenary dinner.

The six finalists competed in a cook-off in May at the Borders College Galashiels Campus, judged by multi-Michelin starred chef Roux and Glen Watson, a former Borders College student from Kelso, who began his cooking career washing dishes at the Ednam House Hotel, but now works as a consultant chef for the Roux dynasty.

The winner, who will be announced after the the Border Union Agricultural Society’s (BUAS) banquet on Friday night, will walk away with a grand prize of a six-month placement at Andrew Fairlie’s Gleneagles restaurant – Scotland’s only two-starred Michelin eatery – with a £6,000 scholarship for accommodation donated by BUAS as part of its bicentenary celebrations.

Culinary legend Roux produced another two prizes out of his chef’s hat in May – two-week placements at La Gavroche in London (run by Albert’s son, Masterchef judge Michel Roux jnr) and at the Greywalls Hotel & Chez Roux Restaurant in Gullane under its head chef, and Professional Masterchef winner, Derek Johnstone. Albert, with his brother Michel, established London’s Le Gavroche, the first restaurant in the UK to gain three Michelin stars.

The six talented Level 2 and 3 catering students competing for their big break are: Level 2 students Andy Thomson from Earlston, Paulo Neves from Melrose, Chris Mitchell from Hawick, Jessica Mead from St Boswells, and from Level 3, Lynn Frizzell from Galashiels and Ainsley Casson from Hawick.

Watson whittled down 20 contestants in the March heats, when they were given an hour to cook one classic dish using local and seasonal ingredients. The half-dozen finalists then went on to cook for Albert Roux in May, when they were given 2 1/2 hours to cook two new dishes, one of which had to include pastry.

Watson, who sets up recipes and sources produce for the Roux group’s many Michelin-starred restaurants throughout the country, proposed the Borders College competition in September last year, thanks to his connection with the region, and he easily persuaded his boss Albert Roux to take part.

“For me, it was important to give something back to the Borders,” he told us.

The competition, which was also supported by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), was open to all catering students from Levels 1 to 3 currently at Borders College. “We give them the chance, and they’ll have the opportunity to do whatever they want to do,” Watson said.

BUAS’s bicentenary banquet for 400-500 guests on Friday evening at Kelso’s Springwood Park, which features a four-course menu championing Borders produce, will be prepared by masterchefs Albert Roux, Andrew Fairlie, Derek Johnstone and Steven Doherty (former head chef at Le Gavroche) – assisted by the six Borders College finalists.

The banquet starts with Fairlie’s ballotine of salmon with fresh herbs, followed by Glen Watson’s wild mushroom risotto and Doherty’s main of Border spring lamb. Johnstone finishes the dinner with a raspberry assiette for dessert, while Le Gavroche’s general manager, Silvano Giraldin, will select wines especially for each course.

Ronald Wilson, secretary of BUAS, told TheSouthern “This is a unique one-off if you’re a foodie. We’re not trying to make any money out of it: we just want to celebrate and honour our chefs.”

The feast’s last few tickets, which cost £175, are still available from BUAS, by contacting ronaldwilson@buas.org

In addition to the Border Union Show’s traditional competitions, activities and displays on July 26 and 27, the 2013 bicentenary event will include a ‘Flavour of the Borders Food Fair’ featuring 47 artisan food and d

rink producers.

These will be accompanied by cookery demonstrations in Springwood Hall from Andrew Fairlie and Derek Johnstone, and Border chefs Alan Reid of Walkerburn’s Windlestraw Lodge, Neville Merrin of the Roxburghe Hotel, Kenny Coltman from Coltman’s on Peebles High Street, and Ross Horrocks from the Caddy Mann at Mounthooly near Jedburgh.

The almost 50 food stalls will include local producers Border Berries, Over Langshaw Farmhouse Ice Cream, the Great Northumberland Bread Company, Standhill Cheesery, Berwickshire’s Peelham Farm, Simple Simon’s Perfect Pies from Biggar, and, from farther afield, Perthshire’s Cairn o Mohr fruit winery, Swallow Fish from Seahouses, the Galloway Fudge Company, Foodstation Wales, and the Mad Jam Woman from Morpeth.

The Borders’ changing farming and country life is on show at a free 
exhibition in the Bob 
Mason Room at Jedburgh Castle Jail until October 31.

It features displays of 
Jedburgh’s bygone rural harvests, tools and 
workers.

At the heart of McGuigan’s Cellar Select Chardonnay is a textured and aromatic peach base, but that is enlivened by attractive orange and lemon acidity which adds freshness and some extra crispness.

If I’m honest, New World-branded wine can be patchy, but, here, McGuigan’s have crafted a fresh and lively Australian chardonnay that keeps those appealing tropical fruit flavours without the over ripeness or excessive oak that have become passé these days.

The wine is available from Morrisons, and is on special offer – £4.99 – until 11 August.

A full and rich Italian red, Tesco Finest* Nero D’Avola, is mellowed by touches of vanilla and allspice, but made more complex by mildly-acidic bramble fruit and a rather nice savoury grip on the finish.

Improved production techniques in Sicily have elevated the grape variety used here from humble blending fodder into the mainstay of several big, tasty wines like this.

The result is well worth £6 of anyone’s money.

Currently on offer at £5.99 – instead of £7.99 – until the end of next month.

The chardonnay component of Marks and Spencer’s 2012 Los Nucos Chardonnay Viognier (priced £5.99) provides engaging apricot and orange flavours, but they are nicely supplemented by flowery and aromatic elements from the viognier, and a late burst of acidity that adds suggestions of lemon and grapefruit.

France’s Rhone Valley is the spiritual home of Viognier, but it is now being successfully grown in the New World too. Exactly how successfully is neatly illustrated by this fairly-priced version derived from grapes grown on the lower slopes of the Andes in Chile.

Brian Elliott is wine correspondent of Scotland on Sunday and lives at Auchencrow in the Borders

We have entered what we in the newspaper business call the Silly Season.

It’s the time when hard news stories seem to melt away like snaw off a dyke. Or like a mate from years ago when it was his turn to buy a round. He disappeared like snaw off a four-bar electric fire on full power. He had it down to a T. He’d sup away with the rest us, enjoying convivial banter and the occasional argument, at all times, however, carefully monitoring who was on the bell.

Now this was a few years ago and we were a large crowd. So large that on our once-a-week get-togethers you didn’t have to buy a round. It had been your shout last week. We trusted each other and hadn’t noted the flincher in our midst until a sharp-eyed barmaid brought it to our attention.

That’s when we noticed the snaw-off-an-electric fire effect. In those days you didn’t have the excuse of having to nip out for fag and then slipping away. Or the fictitious call on the mobile requesting your presence elsewhere.

No, you had to be more clever. And he was. I’m not going into detail in case someone tries to use the same dodges. But safe to say we gave him a bit of rope – and than hauled him in big style. We reckon he had to remortgage. And then he stopped joining our company. It was his loss.

Now, where is all this going, you are probably wondering. So am I. I said we were entering the Silly Season and I have now managed to write 320 words out of my allotted 560 without really saying anything. But I’m sure the Monday Club from that time will recall events only too well.

The Silly Season hasn’t really quite hit us yet. It can’t have because in this issue (page 7) we learn that our local MPs don’t intend to accept a 10 per pay rise on their basic pay [£66,396] that could be coming their way. But then Messrs Moore and Mundell aren’t really on a basic Borders wage – £134,565 and £89,435 respectively. But well done chaps for telling us you won’t take the cash if it is finally offered. Many workers haven’t had the opportunity for a couple of years of turning down a pay rise.

On page 1 there’s the ludicrous suggestion that a convicted murderer should be allowed to father a child in his prison cell.

On page 3 there are bundles of money – all gained through the sordid abuse of desperate women and the seedy world of prostitution.

I know the guy involved because he came from Selkirk and operated a High Street chip shop where his pan of curry sauce – it was never off the simmer – beat anything produced in the best Indian restaurants. He was a talented piper and good company – and then he disappeared.

The revelations that have come to light have surprised – and shocked – many who knew him. He comes from a fine family, and I feel for them.

The need and greed for cash can blind people to what is right and what is so badly wrong. It can turn them more than silly.

It was a great shame to hear that Munro’s of Jedburgh recently ceased trading. For many years the firm has helped run several key routes in the Borders and although it was due to hand over several of these at the beginning of August, it was disappointing to see them close.

My immediate thoughts are with the staff of the company who are now facing great uncertainty, and for those who could potentially be stranded without their local bus running.

Thankfully, a contingency plan was quickly organised to cover the old routes and some of the staff who were left without a job are expected to be taken on by firms who have picked up the new routes.

In the meantime, however, top priority must be to ensure that those who are facing unemployment are provided with adequate support to ensure that they can get back into work as soon as possible.

RIGHT TO BUY

The Scottish Government recently announced that it would be denying thousands of tenants in Scotland the chance to buy the property they are renting.

The right-to-buy policy was first introduced by the Conservative Government in 1980 and helped almost half a million people to own their home for the first time. It gave them a financial security that simply wasn’t possible before, and it is staggering that the SNP would choose to reverse it.

As a result, almost 300,000 people who would currently qualify for the scheme will be losing out.

NEWMILL BUS SHELTER

I have been contacted by several constituents from Newmill complaining about the bus stop in the village.

It is used by many elderly residents who catch the bus to Hawick, yet despite this there is no shelter or seating on offer. When traffic often travels through the area at a high speed, and with the last few winters having been very cold and wet, I believe that the least the council can do is provide a shelter.

The local authority already does so at several stops around the region, and that is why I wrote to the council asking for the issue to be investigated.

With many elderly people using the route, it is even more important that something is done to ensure that they are given a place to rest with adequate protection.

A1 IMPROVEMENTS

The UK Government has reiterated its desire to see the A1 improved between Newcastle and the border.

While it is prioritising the upgrade of this key transport link, the SNP Government is still dragging its feet.

While other roads in Scotland continue to see further investment, the SNP continues to ignore the Borders.

A prize-winning horse rider claims a tiny back road has been turned into a motorway by huge lorries servicing the Borders Railway.

But Stephanie Tristam has welcomed the announcement that BAM Nuttall will open a temporary access route at Fountainhall next week, meaning vehicles working on-site no longer need to use Old Stage Road between the village and Heriot.

Mrs Tristam, who regularly uses the route to train eight- year-old American quarter horse Chinook in her chosen discipline of Western Riding, has been forced to practice at Earlston this week because of her safety fears.

She told us last week: “I’m terrified that if I do take the horse out and I meet one of the lorries the horse might bolt and throw me off.

“It is very, very dangerous – people on bikes and children use the road.It is just a matter of time until something happens. There are so many little bends on the road, even in a car you have got to watch out.”

Mrs Tristam, who is seeking compensation for the disruption, has since spoken to railway representatives who explained they were working hard to put in place the stop-gap solution.

She said this week: “BAM Nuttall have been good at informing us of what is going on and are obviously doing their best, but there are safety concerns. This is a huge transformation for the area and although BAM Nuttall are working as quickly as possible, I don’t think people 
realised quite what it would be like.”

Network Rail’s communications manager Craig Bowman told The Southern on Tuesday: “A temporary road will be build from the A7 into the site.

“It will be at the same area as where the permanent access road is being constructed, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.”

He added: “We want to remove the risk of heavy plant machinery being on Old Stage Road.

“Various options have been looked at, including boosting the weight restriction on the bridge, but that was not deemed feasible.”

Fountainhall is expected to see 185 workers based in the village at its peak, following the opening of the Borders Railway’s central hub there last month.

Meanwhile, in Stow, a planning application was submitted on Monday to build its two railway platforms and footbridge.

The plans also detail a car park, waiting shelters and platform seating at the site close to the primary school.

A major refurbishment of the village hall in St Boswells has moved a step closer after the award of almost £175,000 of funding.

The cash boost, from the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund, was announced last week.

The £174,383 goes a long way towards the £400,000-plus scheme to refurbish the 117-year-old building.

Robin Wild, chairman of the village hall committee, told The Southern he was pleasantly surprised by the amount awarded.

“We thought if they gave us £100,000 it would be more than we could have expected, but we had a terrific team, a little group of professionals in this kind of business, who put together a really professional application.”

Planning approval for the work was granted by the council in January this year.

Mr Wild said: “When we started fundraising we thought we should have the credibility of having it all planned, costed and planning permission in place.”

Insulation between the beams in the main hall, double glazing and a new internal staircase are planned, as well as a wider entrance off Jenny Moore’s Road, a larger internal foyer and fully accessible toilets.

“Once we get a new entrance and it all looking nice, we rather hope that people will use it for wedding receptions and things like that,” said Mr Wild.

“The other thing is that it is one of the larger halls in this part of the Borders, so it could attract things from other villages. We think its use will increase a lot.”

He added: “The cost of the overall project is a bit over £400,000, but we have already collected over £100,000 and now we have this £174,000 we will go out to the village during August to ask for their contribution. So I live in hope that we will get to £400,000 reasonably soon.”

Mr Wild said: “It has been a great fillip getting this grant as we have now got serious money and can start with the project.

“We are going to be bold and try to let the whole thing as one contract as we reckon builders will be more interested in it that way and because it will keep costs down. As it is mostly internal work it will be a good job for them through the winter.”

The committee is awaiting news regarding an application to the council’s landfill fund, and will also be approaching local charities to help raise the total required.

The resignation of the Borders’ youngest councillor has been criticised by two former members, claiming it will cost taxpayers £30,000.

John Paton-Day and Kenneth Gunn have spoken out after Tweeddale West representative Nathaniel Buckingham announced he would be standing down, just 14 months after being elected, due to work and family commitments.

However, the 30-year-old Conservative member – who admits his political career is now over – said he had to make the decision to do justice to his constituents.

Mr Paton-Day, who lost the Melrose and Leaderdale by-election to Borders Party member Iain Gillespie in May after being ousted from the ward in last year’s elections, says the role of a councillor has huge responsibilities.

He added: “It is not there as an extra income to bolster company pensions or second-job salaries.

“It is true that there are many committed councillors and it would be wrong to ignore the important work they do just because of a few.

“This is not a problem that affects just the Scottish Borders, it is a problem across Scotland.”

And writing to The Southern this week, Mr Gunn – who was displaced as a Selkirkshire councillor in 2012 – says there should be no place for “part-time” representatives.

Also criticising the resignation of Borders Party leader Nicholas Watson in February in order to relocate to Cumbria, Mr Gunn wrote: “If we are to spend another £30,000 on a by-election yet again, can we not perhaps encourage any other elected councillor who cannot give full-time commitment to the job to declare it now and we can have one by-election to get rid of the parttimers in one fell swoop?”

Yet, Mr Buckingham, a civil engineer consultant, said he had mulled over the decision for a couple of months and described it as “the hardest decision to make with the largest impact on the local community and party”.

He told us: “I have taken some time to think about it, but felt that if I did not do this, I would be coasting along.

“I have not been fully focused or fully committed to any aspect of my work.”

He added: “It (resignation) probably does draw a line under my political career. I have never had huge political ambitions and decided to stand in order to serve my community.

“I am sure I will continue to serve the local community, but in a different role.”

Scottish Borders Council says a date has not yet been confirmed for the by-election in Tweeddale West.

Letters – page 28

A plea has been made for Audit Scotland to be brought in to ensure the costs of closing rural schools is accurately calculated.

Paul Docherty, the chair of Channelkirk School board in 2005 when it was threatened with closure, made the call this week after The Scottish Government announced it was launching a consultation on the country’s rural schools network.

It will discuss whether financial information on the impact of shutting a school should be put forward by the council involved.

The review follows evidence from the Scottish Rural Schools Network (SRSN) in April that Scottish Borders Council benefits to the tune of £1.5million per year from its countryside schools.

SRSN’s findings were in response to a report by the Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education which showed Channelkirk brings in £213,000 per annum through Grant Aided Expenditure.

The figure opposed the findings of education director Glenn Rodger, who said at the time the council could save £1million over an eight-year period by shutting the school.

Now Mr Docherty thinks greater financial scrutiny is needed. He told us: “What I want to see from the consultation is two things. Firstly, a standardised and very simple form detailing the costs of each school which includes the grant provided. And secondly, I want to see a truly independent body – possibly Audit Scotland – look at the figures, check them over and sign them off as accurate.”

South of Scotland MSP Paul Wheelhouse said: “I would encourage anyone in the Scottish Borders with an interest in the future of our rural schools to consider submitting their views to this consultation.”

The Scottish SPCA have asked for information about three stray ferrets found near Newtown Primary School, writes Jason Holland.

A woman spotted two ferrets while walking her dog near a school at around 4.30pm on Thursday, July 4. She managed to catch one of the ferrets but the other one escaped.

The next night she returned to the same area and was able to catch the second ferret. The following day, while walking her dog in the same area, she was alerted by children to the presence of a third of the mammals that died shortly after being discovered.

The other two females are now being cared for by Scottish SPCA staff at its Edinburgh base, and have been named Gemma and Jessie.

Anyone with information can call the Scottish SPCA’s animal helpline on 03000 999 999.

Westminster MPs Michael Moore and David Mundell say they don’t want the massive pay hike recommended by the body that sets their salaries.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) which now controls the wages of MPs, says their basic wage should rise by around 10 per cent – from £66,396 to around £74,00.

We asked Lib Dem Michael Moore (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) and his Conservative coalition partner David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) if they would accept the rise. Both said they would not. But neither of course take home a basic pay.

Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr Moore has a Cabinet salary of £135,565, while Mr Mundell, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Office of Scotland, draws £89,435. Mr Mundell told us: “I haven’t sought, and don’t anticipate, receiving a pay rise. Ipsa, over which MPs have no control, are conducting a consultation on pay and I urge 
anybody with views to take part in the consultation.”

Mr Moore stated: “It is absolutely right that salaries and pensions are scrutinised and set independently by Ipsa. We can never again return to the arrangements where MPs decided their own pay and pensions. I welcome the suggestions to bring pensions and redundancy payments more into line with the rest of the public sector. But that principle has to extend to salaries, too, and like the majority of MPs I have spoken to, I would reject the increase proposed.”

Police have urged farmers to secure their properties after thieves targeted various sites in Berwickshire and Lauder last weekend.

The attacks on various sites saw a Ford Focus car, diesel fuel, garden strimmers and a petrol chainsaw stolen.

A police spokesman said: “Outbuildings and vehicles should always be locked securely when unattended.”

The state of one of Selkirk’s oldest mills has been questioned.

A planning application by owner Matthew Claridge to turn the derelict Forest Mill into 16 flats and maisonettes is still to be decided, but Selkirkshire councillor Michelle Ballantyne said: “I think when the market is right we will see it spring into life.”

A 60-year-old man became the latest motorcycling fatality on local roads after he collided with a car on the St Boswells road at the weekend.

John Southern, from Blyth in Northumberland, was riding with a large group of bikers when the crash occurred on Sunday afternoon, on bends just past the Lindean junction.

Mr Southern was taken by helicopter from the scene to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he passed away during the night as a result of his injuries.

The driver of a Seat Leon car and two passengers suffered minor injuries and were taken to the BGH for treatment.

The collision occurred between Mr Southern’s Triumph Tiger bike and the car at around 4.30pm, with the road closed for seven hours to allow crash investigation work and for a fuel spill to be cleaned up.

Police have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

The roads around Selkirk are popular amongst bikers, particularly in the summer months.

However, the popularity of the roads has also resulted in a high number of fatal accidents amongst motorcyclists.

The A708 around St Mary’s Loch has been the most dangerous stretch of road for bikers in the Borders.

In the eight years between 2002 and 2010, five bikers lost their lives after crashes on a short stretch of the route.

Kelso man Michael Bates, 47, was killed after his motorbike struck a tractor in Cumbria, also on Sunday afternoon.

Glen Douglas, 21, from Ettrick Terrace, and Neil Brown, 19, of Annfield Gardens, Galashiels, have denied conspiring to set fire to a car at Croft Road, Lauder, on September 18.

Brown also denies taking a car without consent in Galashiels and driving without insurance. They face a jury at the Sheriff Court on September 9.

A planning application has been submitted for a new micro brewery in Peebles’ South Park Industrial Estate.

Richard White of the Freewheelin’ Brewery Company already has planning permission to set up a micro brewery in West Linton following a bid in February.

St Boswells Live! is putting on a ceilidh for the first time in a bid to benefit a local fundraising group.

The Wild Geese Ceilidh Band will perform, having played since 1996, including public ceilidhs at the Ghillie Dhu and Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh.

Support will be provided by two talented local acts.

Opening the evening will be Highline, a group of young musicians, tutored by Borders fiddle maestro Carly Blain, who perform regularly across southern Scotland and Northumberland.

And at the interval, Jedburgh flute and whistler player Ayliffe Rose, who Keith Farnish of St Boswells Live! describes as a “true natural musician”, will play.

The show takes place on Saturday, July 27, with doors opening at 7.30pm.

Mr Farnish added: “All profits raised on the night, including raffle money, will be going to Lucie’s Fund, helping a sick local child and her family during a very difficult time.

“We are proud to be supporting this important cause.”

Tickets are available from St Boswells Post Office priced £10, £5 (under-16) and £25 (family of up to five).

Discounted briefs can be bought from the group’s website – www.stboswellslive.com.

Galashiels-based Volunteer Centre Borders picked up a ‘Committed to Excellence Award’ at the Scottish Awards for Business Excellence, which are organised by Quality Scotland.

“Our strengths as an organisation have been recognised, and our staff have had the opportunity to discuss future projects and plan how we can deliver them as a team,” said Volunteer Centre Borders’ executive officer Susan Swan.