THREE obsolete red telephone boxes in Roxburghshire have been converted into information exchanges for residents and visitors.

Local John Lamont MSP, who officially launched the project at Eckford on Friday morning, praised the community council representing Crailing, Eckford and Nisbet, which won £1,897 from the People’s Postcode Trust to revive the boxes after they were axed by BT three years ago.

Retaining their original colour, the boxes have been refurbished as hubs for residents to exchange magazines, newspaper or books. Leaflets on ways to protect the environment will be regularly updated and a “sales and swaps” notice board will assist waste reduction by encouraging locals to selling or gift unwanted items. The exchanges have solar power, and will be accessible 24 hours a day.

Literature on the area and information panels with maps detailing sections of the popular nearby walking route, the Four Abbeys Way, provide visitors with historical facts as well as a visual orientation point of reference.

“I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to launch this community project that has given these phones a new lease of life,” said Mr Lamont. “Our red phone boxes are truly iconic and it was sad to see so many in the area fall into disrepair.

“The fantastic efforts of Crailing, Eckford and Nisbet community council will now see the boxes put to good use.

“I would encourage other areas in the Borders to consider similar renovation to their phone boxes.”

Community councillor Sheila Campbell, who instigated and managed the project, said: “The phone boxes are part of our cultural heritage which many residents were keen to retain. They had been slowly deteriorating so we are delighted that this project has restored them to their former glory and enabled them to take on a new useful lease of life.

“They are now assets for the community with local residents able to determine their future.

“We are extremely grateful to our main funder, the Peoples Post Code Trust. We also appreciate the support of Scottish Borders Council and Historic Scotland for supplying maps and photographs for the information panels.

“The Kelso Branch of WH Smith generously donated magazines to kick-start the swaps.

“By highlighting local walking routes, our intention is to improve health and wellbeing by stimulating an interest in exploring the surrounding area for locals, their friends and relatives and visitors to each of the villages.”

ONE lucky bidder will get the chance to enjoy a fabulous eight/nine-day safari for two people in South Africa, thanks to the Berwickshire Hunt Auction, being held at Manderston House, Duns, tomorrow.

The prize, being offered for auction by Aardvark, will include transfers from Cape Town airport, two nights stay in Cape Grace hotel in a luxury room on a bed and breakfast basis, transfers to the Kruger National Park, a three-night stay with Singita Lembobo or Sweni on a full board basis, including game viewing, transfer to Ants Nest in the Waterberg for a three-night stay on a fully inclusive basis, and return road transfers to Johannesburg.

Other lots expected to arouse considerable interest in the auction include fishing on the Tweed, Till and Whiteadder as well as at sea and on lochs; partridge and pheasant shooting; dinners; a visit to the House of Lords and a hat-making day. All can be viewed on www.berwickshire-hunt.co.uk

The event is being hosted by TV foodie Clarissa Dickson Wright on behalf of the Berwickshire Hunt. The hunt will make a donation to the Margaret Kerr Palliative Care Unit Appeal from the proceeds of the auction.

Tickets for the auction are £15 and the evening gets under way at 6.30pm.

Bids can be made online via www.berwickshire-hunt.co.uk where you can then link to the auction. You can also bid in person.

THE Borders College prospectus and website were recognised with top awards in the students award category at Scotland’s colleges’ annual marketing awards held in Bridge of Allan, Stirling, recently.

A panel of students from across Scotland gave the college website with a bronze award and the prospectus, one better, with silver, which puts them on the top tier within the Scottish College sector.

Head of student services, Clare Nairn said: “It is really gratifying to be recognised as sector leading in the eyes of students from across Scotland. They are our most important stakeholders and to be acknowledged by them as meeting their needs in terms of the information and advice we provide within our prospectus and website is tremendous and very much appreciated by all at Borders College who are involved in providing our students with the support they require.”

Pictured, from left, are Clare Nairn, Cameron Reith, publications and marketing manager; Susan Mason, marketing officer; and David Killean, vice-principal

Two complaints against Scottish Borders Council and the Scottish Qualifying Authority over an exam row at a secondary school have been dismissed.

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Jim Martin said SBC was entitled to disagree with the SQA’s view that the Higher physics preliminary test fell short of the standard it required.

And he ruled that the SQA had provided adequate feedback to the school on why it believed the exams were not up to scratch.

The case arose after the school launched an appeal on behalf of a female pupil – who gained a B pass in the prelim but a C mark in the SQA final exam in May 2010 – which was thrown out.

The SQA gave two reasons for its decision to reject the girl’s appeal and that of another student who sat the Higher physics test, both relating to the validity of the prelim exam, which is put together by the school.

As a result, the father of the girl – named Mr C in the ombudsman’s report – launched complaints against the SQA and SBC as the education authority.

He claimed the SQA had failed to reasonably explain why it considered the school’s preliminary examination not sufficiently robust to support a successful appeal, while he believed SBC had not given clear answers as to why the prelim did not meet the SQA’s criteria.

Mr Martin said: “In response, the council advised that they considered that the school preliminary examination was adequately moderated and did not accept the SQA’s explanation.

“The investigation considered that the council were entitled to take that view and the complaint was not upheld.”

And discussing the SQA case, he added: “We did not uphold Mr C’s complaint. The SQA had provided feedback to the school on why they had dismissed the appeals.”

SELKIRKSHIRE councillor Carolyn Riddell-Carre has been appointed to a panel of three illustrious judges for this year’s Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning.

Scottish Borders Council’s executive member for planning will join Bob Laverty, chief executive of the Raploch Urban Regeneration Company, and Zoe McClelland, chair of the RTPIS Young Planners Network.

Applications for the awards must be submitted by March 28. Each will be evaluated over the summer and the awards presented in September.

A new Quality of Service category has been introduced to showcase the service being offered by planning authorities across Scotland.

“I am delighted to have been asked to become involved with this work and I think it’s a great compliment to SBC’s planning department,” said Mrs Riddell-Carre.

THE great outdoors has always been a profound influence on Jamie Barr – and the young Jedburgh artist is showing off the results of that inspiration in his pre-degree show this week, writes Mark Entwistle.

Jamie, 21, is a final-year BA (Hons) painting student at Robert Gordon University’s Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. The budding artist and 16 of his classmates are showcasing their final-year work in an exhibition organised by the students, entitled Seventeen, at Art’s Complex in Edinburgh until March 4.

The event is an opportunity for the students to take their work out of the studio and present it in a public gallery space.

The art being exhibited by the students reflects the wide range of painting currently being practiced at Gray’s and showcases a broad range of personal interests being developed by the students.

Jamie, who currently lives in the Granite City, has drawn on his experiences walking in the Scottish countryside to create atmospheric paintings with a sense of place.

He told us: “I’ve always had an attraction to the outdoors and enjoy exploring the countryside around the city, including Loch Muick in Royal Deeside. Through my paintings, I look to examine our relationship with the natural environment we inhabit and how it can hold a power over our lives.

“I’m really excited about exhibiting our work to a new audience in Edinburgh. It will be great to see my painting in a different light and to also gauge the public’s reaction to it.”

Keith Grant, subject leader in painting at Gray’s, said the exhibition was an excellent opportunity for the students to present their work in a professional gallery space and to learn from it ahead of presenting a comprehensive body of work at the degree show in June.

“Bringing the show to Edinburgh presents us with the opportunity to show the diversity of work and talent that is being nurtured here at Gray’s,” said Mr Grant.

“It will hopefully give the public in the Central Belt a taste of the quality of work currently being produced at Gray’s and in the north-east of Scotland.”

A CHARITABLE organisation set up in Peebles four years ago to offer mentoring and support to children in Tweeddale has received an accolade, writes Andrew Keddie.

The Peeblesshire Youth Trust (PYT) has won the YMCA’s Working Towards Excellence award which recognises the group’s contribution in transforming the lives of youngsters who lack confidence and self-esteem.

PYT co-ordinator Angie Preston said: “We are delighted to accept an award which underlines the importance of the work we do in our community.

“Since we started, 47 children have benefited from our mentoring and 150 families from our wider variety of support. Initially, we only covered Peebles, but we now work in partnership with more organisations and schools, and have expanded across Peeblesshire.”

However, Ms Preston stressed the need for more volunteers to come forward to strengthen the current bank of 22 mentors.

“Because of an increase in demand, we require more adult volunteers in order to keep developing and currently seek people who can support and encourage a young person by spending some regular time with them,” she told us.

“No particular skills are required other than life experience, the ability to be a good listener and being a positive role model. Training and full support are given so people can fulfil their volunteer role with confidence.”

Tom McPherson, external assessor working on behalf of the YMCA, told us: “The PYT has showed itself to be a robust organisation with an excellent structure in place to secure its long-term future. The assessors were impressed by the enthusiasm, motivation and professionalism of staff and the considerable experience they possessed in the field.”

A PYT volunteer added: “It has been a very rewarding experience to mentor young people and to see them gain in confidence as they make their way in the world.”

Anyone wishing to become a volunteer mentor should contact Lindsay Mann on 07590 778 902 or go to www.peeblesshireyouthtrust.org

GALASHIELS is to get almost £3million towards the cost of a new flood protection scheme, it has been announced.

The Scottish Government last week revealed that the town, together with Forres and Inverness were to receive support as part of the local government settlement for 2012-15.

The three new schemes will receive up to 80 per cent of their total costs from the Scottish Government. The Galashiels scheme, which incorporates Plumtree, Wilderhaugh and Netherdale, is costed at £3.6million.

Local authorities are yet to appoint project contractors but ministers hope the announcement will give assurance to potential bidders and residents.

It was following representations from local authorities about funding of large scale flood protection schemes, that the Scottish Government and COSLA [Convention of Scottish Local Authorities] agreed that for the 2012-15 spending review period, the flooding component of the general capital grant should be targeted towards major projects.

The distribution of this was agreed between COSLA and the Scottish Government.

Mr Stevenson said it was great news for flood protection in Scotland, particularly Scottish Border Council.

“We have listened to the concerns that this resource should be targeted towards major new projects.

“Today’s announcement will give these councils the certainty to tender and I look forward to seeing the positive impact these schemes will have on the lives of residents and livelihoods of businesses in Galashiels. ”

SBC leader David Parker told TheSouthern: “This announcement is very good news for Galashiels and it will allow the council to proceed with an important scheme that will protect homes and businesses from flooding.

“At least the Borders has secured some of the national flooding funding. There was very strong competition for this funding.

“Our priority will, of course, now turn to delivering the Galashiels scheme on the ground and we are continuing to develop the scheme in Selkirk so that if an opportunity for funding becomes available we can make a formal application.”

A PENSIONER from Cortleferry near Fountainhall is celebrating after scooping the £100,000 first prize in Saturday’s Diamond Draw of the People’s Postcode Lottery (PPL), writes Andrew Keddie.

Retired James Dodds, 69, learned of his massive win just after the postman arrived at his home on Saturday morning.

The news that his postcode – TD1 2RY – had been selected was conveyed by a small PPL delegation led by street prize presenter Judie McCourt.

“I thought the postman had returned with more bills, but I was left absolutely speechless when Judie handed me the cheque,” recalled James this week.

“I never win anything, I really don’t, and I often joke that I’m the most unlucky person I know. It will take a while to sink in and the first person I phoned was my brother who, like me, couldn’t believe my luck.

“I’ve no idea what I will spend it on. I think I’ll get a wee car and then have a good think about it.”

As a keen gardener, James is more interested in the beautiful wildlife surrounding his house, than the latest computers, mobiles and iPads.

In fact, it was supporting charities such as Scottish Wildlife Trust that convinced James to play the Postcode Lottery.

“Knowing where my money is going is what I like; you don’t get that with other lotteries,” said James.

Meanwhile, Saturday was also a red letter day for Fountainhall childminder Nyssa Conway with her postcode sector TD1 2 winning her the keys of a brand new BMW 1 Series sports car.

“I had a car accident before Christmas and we’ve only just got our vehicle back,” said the 30-year-old. “Ironically, my husband and I had been chatting about buying this exact model of car, but we just couldn’t warrant it. It’s a real treat.” Nyssa, who works from her home, and her husband moved from Edinburgh to Fountainhall three years ago in search of more space and a real sense of community. Her husband continues to commute back to the capital, but the couple, who have an eight-year-old daughter, could not be happier.

“We live three doors down from Bob, the guy who built our house and made my win possible,” said Nyssa. “We know everyone who lives here and it’s a wonderful community.”

Since the People’s Postcode Lottery started, more than £38,000 has gone to charity groups and good causes across the region, including £3,690 to help New Horizons Borders set up a Galashiels drop-in office.

RYAN O’Rorke is the last person to have been born in Kelso Cottage Hospital and this particular baby’s already booming when it comes to the internet big time.

The business that Ryan, 23, set up in the bedroom of his Kelso home has now grown in just a matter of months into a market leader in the field of online deals.

Business management graduate Ryan set up LoveOnlineDeals.com after friends complained they were being deluged with emails from voucher companies such as Groupon and KGB.

Thanks to collaboratgion with these emerging internet firms, his website allows subscribers to get just one message a day informing them of all the deals in their area from a variety of companies.

Harnessing the power of the internet, Ryan devised a new way to search and compare local daily deals on the internet and eliminate the unwanted overload of deals on offer.

His website automatically finds, displays, compares and filters based on user preferences, the best daily deals within the health, food, leisure, fashion and online e-commerce industries that are available from the multitude of daily deal providers in the UK.

Educated at Kelso High School and Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Ryan told us how he launched his entire business by using the same money-saving concepts that his site now showcases.

“I literally started without a penny to my name. I learned how to code and design the website via YouTube tutorials and had to use my own initiative to overcome problems, secure investments and partnerships that would put the site on the world stage,” he said.

After a round of investment, his company now enjoys partnerships with internet powerhouses, including Groupon, KGB Deals and a well-known Amazon company, LOVEFiLM.

With offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, he is proud of what he has achieved.

“My motivation remains, at its core, to help people save as much money as possible by finding and comparing the best local daily deals on the market.

“We’re all aware that this type of online deal platform has boomed during the past few months – and LoveOnlineDeals.com seeks to amalgamate all available daily deals into one user-friendly website,” he added.

Ryan moved back to Kelso eight months ago after finishing his university studies, but two months ago settled in Edinburgh.

He only had £5,000 in start-up funds, which he secured from a private investment company and part of that sum was used to build the website.

Now Ryan plans to diversify as his business grows and he wants to expand to include other UK cities.

Currently his website only offers deals in Edinburgh and Glasgow, but he intends to include locations around the UK.

Ryan runs the business from his home in the capital and says the initial success of his website, launched last August, has surpassed his expectations.

“I was just doing my own thing and all of a sudden, things just exploded, and the site now has 84,000 users and I have just employed a graphic designer to take care of the web design stuff while I concentrate more on the marketing side of things,” he said.

“The internet is an incredible tool that lets you reach a vast number of people very quickly. It shows you can start a business from scratch in Kelso and very quickly see it reach a worldwide audience.

“My plan now is just to expand and expand. This has been the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.”

THREE men were injured after their car ran off the road near Craigieknowe Farm outside Earlston on Monday.

The Vauxhall Zafira left the unclassified road and rolled about 80m down a slope into a field at around 10.45am.

The local men, one aged 39 and two aged 18, were taken to BGH with various injuries, none of which were serious.

No other vehicle was involved.

MOTORISTS in Galashiels appear to be adjusting well to a new traffic system introduced this week.

“So far, things have gone smoothly,” said a spokesman for Scottish Borders Council yesterday.

From 6am on Monday, the previously one-way stretch of Ladhope Vale from Stirling Place (the turn-off to Stirling Street and the bus station now marked by a mini roundabout) to the Station Brae has been open to two-way traffic.

The initiative is a part of the town’s inner-relief road project which is intended to dovetail with the return of the railway in 2014.

It also represents the first phase of returning the entire length of Ladhope Vale to two-way traffic although, for the time being, the northern stretch remains one-way.

“We continue to urge motorists to take care as they adjust to the new system,” said the SBC spokesman.

A LOCAL network of credit union access points may be desirable, but it will come too late for many Borderers already ensnared in the vicious circle of paying the exorbitant compound interest rates levied by so-called “pay day” loan companies.

That is the view of Pat Buckley, manager of the Roxburgh Citizens’ Advice Bureau which has offices in Hawick and Kelso.

Mrs Buckley admitted the number of clients coming to her organisation for debt counselling had risen fourfold over the last five years and that this trend had been accelerated by the phenomenon of companies offering short-term loans which carry annual percentage rates (APRs) of up to 5,000 per cent.

And she welcomed the decision of Scottish Borders Council last week to unanimously support Councillor David Raw, a former executive member for social work, in his call to the Scottish and Westminster governments to enact legislation against the short-term lenders. Specifically, Lib Dem Mr Raw wanted his colleagues to deplore the “extraordinary high level of APR” and demanded that the top half of the ubiquitous television and online advertisements should display, in bold type, the APR interest and the penalties for not repaying on time.

He said pay day loans had grown in recent years “not like mushrooms, but more like poisonous toadstools”.

Mr Raw told the meeting: “These companies have propelled hundreds of poor people into unsustainable debt ... and they are here in our midst in the Borders. Their growth has been hastened by higher rates of unemployment and the current economic situation.

“Via the internet, they reach out to the most remote corners of our region. A Google search of pay day loans has links to every town in the Borders and I counted over a dozen links to ‘Galashiels: Pay Day Loans’ in the search engine.

“One [Wonga.com] is even emblazoned on the shirts of our nearest Scottish Premier League team [Heart of Midlothian].

“Companies use the soft sell of ‘It’s quick and it’s easy’ and we are shown pictures of young, attractive, smiling people in their advertisements.

“What is hidden away in the barrage of daytime television ads is the tiny strapline with the APR interest rate, but there is nothing tiny about the rates. Many of the firms concerned are based abroad and, in effect, they are making personal debt in the UK bigger at a cost of exporting massive profits, measured in billions, out of the country. It is truly an Alice in Wonderland form of economics.

“On a human scale, there are numerous stories in the national press about debt causing depression, marriage break-up and even suicide.”

Mr Raw said poor people had been coming to the CABx in the Borders with “tales of woe”, after falling behind with a few hundred pounds worth of debt and ending up in hock for 10 times that amount as a result of the high APR and late payment penalties.

“This council’s own welfare benefit advice team in Earlston reports a doubling of the number of people needing debt advice since Christmas and it is forecast these figures will accelerate even more when the Welfare Reform Bill, which it is estimated will take around £10million out of overall benefits payments, is enacted over the next couple of years.”

Mr Raw admitted his motion calling for tighter controls and guidelines on advertising was “limited”.

“I personally would go further and call for a cap on interest rates as practised in Australia and 15 states in the USA, more stringent rules on television advertising and for local authorities like SBC to be able to refuse planning permission for pay day loan shops,” he added.

Mrs Buckley said she agreed with Mr Raw’s appraisal and called his successful motion “a step in the right direction”.

“The problem is that it is too late for those people already caught up in the pay day loan trap and there is no doubt legislation, coupled with alternative lending arrangements, is urgently required,” she told us.

“It is ludicrous, for example, that people can secure one of these loans by text with, apparently, no questions asked as long as they are in employment. The trouble is that people’s circumstances can change through cutbacks in their hours or marriage break-up and the spiral of indebtedness begins.”

Mrs Buckley said the CAB’s concerns over pay day loans had been expressed at a meeting with local MP and Scottish Secretary Michael Moore, Councillor Raw and Marlene Shiels, chief operating officer of the Edinburgh-based Capital Credit Union (CCU) which is licensed to cover the Borders and has recently launched its Swift500 accessible loan with an APR rate of just 26 per cent.

“The view of the CAB expressed at that meeting is that if more CCU access points, through registered social landlords and council contact centres, could be set up in the Borders, it would sustantially ease financial problems for our clients. Our advice to anyone thinking of taking a pay day loan is definitely to think long and hard about the implications.

“Our advisers at the CAB are happy to proactively help our clients develop budgeting and financial skills although, again, that is too late for so many people already ensnared.”

Mr Moore admitted there was “huge concern” about pay day lenders in the Borders where lack of affordable credit was an important issue for many local people. He said the problem was being targeted by both the Office of Fair Trading and the UK Government which has been consulting on the future of consumer credit.

“Another way of tackling the activity of loan sharks is though the excellent work of credit unions and I have met with the local CAB and others to discuss how we can promote the services they provide,” said Mr Moore.

“I personally will continue my work with the CAB and other local groups to ensure Borderers benefit from the services provided by credit unions.”

Sandy Neil talks to Tom Middlemas, 61, from Jedburgh, of Arthurshiel Rescue Centre near St Boswells, a trainer of search and rescue dogs for 45 years -– and a man who thinks nothing of taking 24 dogs for a walk simultaneously

Tom’S collie, Labrador and bloodhound students detect earthquake victims, murderers and missing dementia sufferers, as well as smelling cancers, epileptic fits, mobile phone batteries and escaping criminals. He most surely debunks the myth that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.

Our 367 Scents

“Dogs can be taught to detect any combination of chemicals: we just have to teach the dog that’s the one we want it to find. In search and rescue, we use the scents of the dead skin cells that come off your body.

“About 367 scents that come off the human body, and there are 14 that are totally individual to you, the dog will find just one of them. Each minute you are losing 40,000 skin cells, and some of those have maybe got two or three bacteria on them, so you’re looking at 80,000 bacteria that come off every minute. Now the bacteria all have a vapour cloud, and that’s what the dog smells.”

Search and Rescue Call-out

“Most search and rescue teams only have one or two dogs, and 30 or 40 people. We were called out to Pitlochry at the weekend to look for a missing lady with dementia who disappeared last Tuesday, and nobody has seen her since.

“When we went to this lady’s house, we found her nightdress that she had slept in, so I took that with me to give her scent to the dog, Balou. We had three types of dog there: an air scenting dog, a trailing dog and a cadaver dog.

“A trailing dog can find where a person has walked: it finds the scent from their body, and indicates it has found that scent by lying or sitting down. Then we put the dog on a trailing harness, and they will follow that scent until they get to that person.

“An air scenting dog is taught to go out there and it will find anybody, whereas the trailing dog is a ‘scent-specific dog’, and will only find the one person he is looking for – which you need in a busy park with lots of walkers out.

“Years ago, we didn’t need trailing dogs, because if rescuers found someone lying on the mountain, there was a fair chance he was who you were looking for. Nowadays, search and rescue is moving more and more into urban areas, looking for people with dementia: the population is getting older, so search and rescue is not in the mountains where it used to be.”

“The Nose is in Charge”

“Trailing is new to the UK, but I’ve been teaching this for about the last 15 or 16 years in Europe. Dog-handlers in all these countries tend to come from military-style training, but I bring a different attitude altogether: I teach the dog and human to work as a team, rather than the human taking charge and the dog doing what it’s told, because if a human speaks or commands at the wrong time, he can turn a dog away, and that may be the only scent coming from the missing person, and that may end in disaster. Once the dogs are trained, their noses are in charge.”

Detecting Murderers to Turkish Earthquake Victims

“There are about seven or eight bloodhound crosses I’ve bred doing remarkable work across Europe. One of them works Hamburg city, and the police have stopped the traffic in Hamburg at 5 o’ clock on a Friday night so the dog could work. Can you imagine that happening here? It would be World War III. That’s how respected those dogs are.

“I’ve got a puppy in Luxembourg: anybody who goes missing, she’ll be looking for them. In Germany the dogs look for anything from depressed youngsters to people from old folk’s homes, walkers and hunters. In Bavaria the dogs are doing criminal work: if there’s been a murder, and the police find a murder weapon, the dogs will trail it back to the person who has thrown the weapon away.

“Seven of our dogs from Arthurshiel Rescue Centre are working in Turkey, and they were all doing search and rescue in the last earthquake [in October 2011]. One of the Labradors found a little girl, three days after the quake. Emotionally it’s really gratifying when the dogs find someone. The keepers all text me, and thanks to the internet, we get sent video clips too. So we keep in touch with all our dogs.”

Smelling Smuggled Lithium Batteries to Epileptic Fits

“Once you teach dogs the system to discriminate scent, they can go and do anything you want: to the dog its just another smell to go and find.

“We’ve got two dogs out in Glasgow working for the prison service, and we’ve got a couple down at Durham – one is scanning all the visitors, not for drugs, but for mobile phone batteries. Prisoners can get mobile phones sneaked into prison, but they can’t get the batteries very easily. So the visitors smuggle the batteries in, and the dog is trained to go for the lithium in the batteries. It gives off a very strong smell.

“We’ve got one dog working for Lothian and Borders Police who can find cash, various types of drugs and firearms. Some dogs can even sniff out cancer cells – again it’s the chemical reaction that comes off them.

“We’ve got dogs that smell an oncoming epileptic fit, and they can give the owner half an hour or 45 minutes of warning. The electric impulses in the body wind up to a fit, which changes the adrenalin, which changes the smell coming off the body, so the dog recognises the body scent has changed and adrenalin is very exciting to a dog.

“A dog will follow an escaping prisoner a lot faster, because a prisoner is giving off a lot of adrenalin. It goes back to nature: if a rabbit’s being chased by an animal, it gives off a phenomenal amount of adrenalin, so a dog recognises that smell means the excitement of a chase. That’s what the dog feels when someone’s injured or going to have a fit.”

Bond Between Man and Dog

“Working with dogs is fascinating. Each one is an individual. You never forget your working dogs. Most dogs you hope to get about 10 years of working life out of them, so it’s not a great number.

“You form a strong bond, because the dog has to trust you, and you have to trust the dog. It’s a partnership, rather than a human being a leader, and a dog doing what it’s told.

“Dogs are like people in the army: they want someone above them to tell them what to do, and to look after them. They don’t really want to make decisions. Each one has its place in the pack.

“I took 24 dogs out on a walk the other day, and I had a new dog. It was interesting watching the others watching him, and he was trying to find his place. Once he’d found his place and settled in, there’s no problems.

“A dog needs man for three things: he wants to be provided with food, shelter and protection. Most owners get the first two right, but very few understand that the dog needs you to protect it: the dog expects you to be its protector.

“That’s where most of the dog aggression comes from. If a dog feels its owner is not being protective, it feels he has to be the protector. And dogs do it in the same way that humans do, by making themselves as fierce as possible.

“The dog also wants you to be very fair: they can’t understand why a human gets mad and stays mad at them for hours on end. Two minutes after a dog has done something, he‘s completely forgotten it. They don’t hold grudges.”

Arthurshiel Appeal

“At Arthurshiel Rescue Centre we get 500-odd strays a year that we rehome. As much as we can, we train them to be safe in the country and at home. If we don’t, they just come back to the centre.

“If there’s nothing wrong with them, we keep them – we don’t put them to sleep. Taking everything into account, if the dog doesn’t need any vets bills or vaccinations (which are about £30 a time), you’re looking at £4 or £5 a week just to feed the dog.”

z If you wish to donate to Arthurshiel Rescue Centre, or for more information about its work, visit the website www.arthurshielrescuecentre.co.uk.

Victim Support Scottish Borders helps people affected by all types of crime through a group of volunteers working directly with victims or supporting them when at court to give evidence.

They give emotional support, practical help and essential information to victims, witnesses and others affected by crime and antisocial behaviour, as well as help in claiming Criminal Injuries Compensation.

Victim Support is looking for volunteers and anyone interested can speak to staff at its office at 72 High Street, Galashiels (telephone 01896 751212).

A 35-year-old man was arrested in Hawick on Monday night and charged with breach of the peace.

He was later released after being issued with a fixed penalty ticket.

MARIE Colvin, one of the keynote speakers at a literary event in the Borders last year, was “a brilliant and courageous journalist”, writes Andrew Keddie.

That tribute to the Sunday Times correspondent, who was killed by a Syrian army shell in the city of Homs last Wednesday, came from Anna Irvin of Beyond Borders which organised the two-day Books, Borders and Bikes festival at Traquair House last August.

“We are shocked and saddened by the news of Marie Colvin’s death,” said Ms Irvin. “She was a brilliant and courageous journalist who insisted on getting to the heart of the situation and staying with those worst affected, rather than leaving them stranded.

“She made an inspiring contribution to our festival programme last year with her perspective from the ground in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya during the Arab Spring and, in particular, the effects of the uprising on women in Misrata [in north-west Libya, 100 miles from Tripoli].”

David Coyle, from Ancrum, who was a sound technician at the Traquair event, said he had been “extremely moved” by Ms Colvin. “She was absolutely determined that war reporting must continue, despite the loss of so many journalists and media workers in recent conflicts,” said Mr Coyle. “On a personal level, she was a very warm, charismatic person.”

Ms Colvin was reporting on a secret humanitarian disaster in the north of Sri Lanka in 2001 when she was attacked by soldiers and lost her left eye to a shrapnel wound.

Earlier last month, she crossed into Syria on the back of a motocross motorcycle, defying attempts by the Syrian government to prevent foreign journalists covering the bloody uprising.

She was stationed in the western Baba Amr district of Homs and made her last broadcast on the evening of February 21, appearing on the BBC, Channel 4, CNN and ITN News via satellite phone. She described “merciless” indiscriminate shelling and sniper attacks against civilian buildings and people on the streets of the city.

Colvin and award-winning French photographer Rémi Ochlik were killed on February 22 by a rocket while fleeing an unofficial media building which was being shelled.

Ms Irvin revealed that Beyond Borders would be paying tribute to Ms Colvin at this year’s festival.

The 2011 Traquair sessions, including Ms Colvin’s contributions, can be found in the video and podcast section of www.beyondbordersscotland.com

SCOTTISH Borders Council will not ask Network Rail to consider coming up with an “alternative solution” to a controversial new road layout just north of Heriot.

That decision was described as “short-sighted and frankly ridiculous” by Councillor Sandy Aitchison (Borders Party) in whose ward – Galashiels and District – the A7 realignment, involving the creation of two large, illuminated roundabouts running east to west via a new bridge near Falahill, is due to take place.

His request that an approach should be made to the company who will operate the Borders railway was met with a curt “no” by council leader David Parker at last week’s SBC meeting, with the latter going on to accuse Mr Aitchison of electioneering by raising the matter.

It was a claim strenuously denied by Mr Aitchison.

“I am not naive enough to think that the railway is not going to happen and I accept that a road realignment is required to ensure the rail route does not interfere with a high-speed gas link owned by the National Grid,” Mr Aitchison told TheSouthern. “To reroute that link would cost over £4million.

“What irks me and many people who use the A7 regularly and who are in favour of the railway is that the case for the creation of two roundabouts, which will slow journey times and be a safety hazard, has never been made.

“We can only assume, although comparative costs have never been provided, that this is the cheapest option. It is certainly the nastiest.”

Mr Aitchison said he was prompted to make his request after learning that a cottage which was the only residential property, due to be served by the first of the two large roundabouts, was now empty, having been the subject of a compulsory purchase order (CPO) by Transport Scotland.

“This building, known locally as the Shunters Cottage, was occupied when SBC’s planning committee agreed, by a single vote, to give the road realignment planning permission a year ago. Members were assured the roundabout was required to offer the occupants safe access onto the A7 – but that requirement no longer exists.

“So it is perfectly reasonable to ask if Network Rail, which must have a wealth of expertise with regard to roads infrastructure in connection with their railways, could revisit the proposal which Mr Parker and his cronies seem hellbent on pushing through, regardless of the inconvenience to their constituents.

“The A7 will still be used by more people per day than the railway and it’s surely reasonable to ask that, if the expertise exists and if the first roundabout will offer access to no-one, the design is revisited.

“The flat refusal to my request is both short-sighted and frankly ridiculous. If other options, such as a flyover which would offer easy access to Falahill residents, are too expensive in the context of a multi-million project, then we should be told.”

Meanwhile, Mr Aitchison’s Borders Party colleague Nicholas Watson has this week, at the behest of officials at Transport Scotland, restated his formal objection to a CPO, brought by SBC, to acquire land owned by the Kibble family at Falahill Farm. The National Grid also lodged an objection.

Councillor Watson believes that, without the land, the road realignment proposals would have to be changed.

“I lodged my original objection in December and have been given the chance to respond to points made in favour of the CPO by Brodies, the solicitors acting on behalf of the council,” explained Mr Watson.

“I remain utterly convinced that the advantages of this idiotic scheme would be clearly outweighed by the disadvantages.”

He cites the blot on the landscape of urban illumination in a rural setting and the potential for traffic to speed up when leaving the roundabouts in both directions.

He claims also that, based on an extrapolation of data collected in a single day last August, when 5,590 vehicles passed Falahill in both directions, increased journey times would cost motorists £3.5million in potential lost wages over the 60-year period on which the business case for the railway is based.

And he says that, while a long flyover bridge would be a substantial structure, it would be considerably less damaging than the double roundabout system, with no street lights or signage required.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said yesterday: “Negotiations are understood to be taking place on the National Grid objection to the CPO. In accordance with legislation, there will be a hearing or public inquiry over any maintained statutory objections. We are not yet in a position to say when any inquiries would be held or decisions reached.”

Christine Grahame MSP has congratulated Heriot Primary School on its positive inspection report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education.

The HMIE report praised the “courteous, motivated pupils”, “the teachers’ stimulating learning experiences for children”, “the staff working well together to provide a positive and caring climate in which children learn effectively”, and “the leadership of the headteacher in improving the school”.

Ms Grahame, SNP member for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, said: “The staff, pupils, parents, and wider community should all take the credit for this glowing report, which highlights a number of key strengths.

“It is particularly pleasing to note that the youngsters are involved in a wide range of out- of-school activities and work well with their community and other organisations to learn new skills. There can be real educational and social benefits to pupils from delivering quality education through small rural schools located in the communities in which they live.”

Headteacher Jenny Grant said: “We are delighted that the many strengths of our school have been recognised, especially the broad range of stimulating learning experiences we provide. We continue to be committed to improving even further. I am so proud of the wonderful staff and pupils at Heriot Primary.”

The chair of the parent council, Dr Sharon Abrahams, added: “This is a very good report, in particular highlighting the stimulating and caring learning environment the school provides. The positive and reassuring comments are all very well deserved, and staff and pupils should be congratulated for their high achievements. As parents we will continue to support the school’s good work to ensure Heriot has a bright future.”

Staff and the local authority now have two main focuses for future development at the school: “continue to improve approaches to assessment, moderation and tracking of attainment and achievement”, and “ensure there are appropriate challenges for all learners”.

Ms Grahame concluded: “I am sure, given what is currently happening within the school community, that all those involved will endeavour to achieve these goals and ensure the learning environment at Heriot Primary continues to be a positive one.”

IF the Scottish Government’s new Curriculum for Excellence for schools was a ship, it would be an aircraft carrier or super tanker in terms of its scale of importance to teachers and school pupils.

And the person at the helm of this particular educational revolution at Kelso High School, is rector Ruth McKay. She says it is a massively important time for schools, their staff and pupils.

“Curriculum for Excellence is about generational change. There hasn’t been as anything as big as this, certainly in the time that I’ve been teaching and probably in all the time I’ve been in education, including my own schooling,” she told TheSouthern this week in an interview to mark her first year in charge at Kelso.

A native of Stirlingshire and an Aberdeen University graduate in English, Ruth has a wide range of experience in teaching and education, with her first post a temporary position teaching English in Fife in 1995.

A year later she was on the staff of Kirkwall Grammar School in Orkney, where she also taught English and later added a guidance role to her duties.

A national secondment to examine how progress and quality in education was measured was followed by a stint, starting in 2004, working in East Lothian Council’s education department.

That lasted three years and in 2007, Ruth took up a depute rector’s job in Dunbar. The job meant a move to a new home in Lauder for Ruth and her husband and then, just a year ago, she made the switch to the top job at the 600-plus pupil Kelso High School, where she had the daunting task of filling the very large shoes left by retiring and highly popular rector, Charlie Robertson.

Ruth admits she did not grow up with a dream to be a teacher.

“When I was in the latter stages of secondary school, then throughout university, I’d done quite a bit of community drama. I’d worked with younger children, I’d done a bit of work with adults with learning disabilities around community drama and just really enjoyed that experience.

“So when it came to making a decision after university, that was what I wanted to do.”

Ruth says her experience living and working in Orkney is similar to what she has found in Kelso and the Borders.

“I loved Orkney. Like Kelso, there’s a very strong sense of community and I got involved in lots of things – more music, drama and quiz teams, but also fishing.”

Ruth says her peripatetic career as a teacher was never something she planned to have.

“I didn’t ever set out to move round the country – it was a combination of family circumstances and opportunities. My husband and I are very settled in the Borders. So I can honestly say I have no plans to move.

“I’ve seen the difference that a strong community like Kelso can make – everyone, whether young or old, is richer for being part of that. And like most teachers, I want to make a positive difference to our young people and their families. The world our young folk are going into is changing more quickly than ever before – we need to help them become more effective, independent learners to give them the best chance of success and happiness in their futures.”

Ruth says the past 12 months at Kelso High School have been mainly about familiarising herself with her new job.

“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know people, the school and its history. We’re very lucky in Kelso to have a school which is so much a part of its community, so it’s also been important for me to get to know some of the organisations and individuals who make up that community.

“You have to learn background to situations and developments, and find out how things have got to the particular point you’re picking them up at, because all of that has a bearing on how you take things forward.”

As for her predecessor, Ruth admits Charlie is a hard act to follow.

“When it comes to Charlie’s legacy – well, you don’t need me to tell you about that.

“Of course, its been daunting taking over from someone so well known and established, and Charlie’s continued to be a real friend and support to the school.

“I don’t think anything surprised me when I first came here. I was very aware of the strength of the community and for me that was one of the big attractions, because I think where you have a community with a strong sense of cohesion, there are all sorts of benefits for education.

“Youngsters who develop a strong sense of identity and take a pride in where they are from, do better educationally.”

As for the calibre of pupils at Kelso, Ruth is unstinting in her praise of them and the teaching staff.

“Young folk in Kelso are superb. As a teacher, as you might expect me to say, I think a lot of the time young people generally get a pretty poor press. But when we hear about rising rates of youth crime and all these sorts of things, what you’re hearing about is actually a tiny minority.

“It gives people who don’t have any immediate contact with young people themselves, a quite different impression.

“I think that’s a shame and there’s a job to be done in celebrating all the good things our youngsters are doing.

“We’ve got tremendous levels of achievement in Kelso, lots of sporting success, lots of involvement in music and drama, all positive things.

“Academically, one of the things the recent inspection report found was that across a vast majority of measures, Kelso High School is doing at least as well as, if not better than, certainly the local comparisons and at national level.

“But most importantly from my point of view, in the majority of measures, we’re performing better than our comparator schools. These are schools which HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Schools) says are operating in a similar context and they stand some comparison.”

As for the controversial Curriculum for Excellence programme, Ruth believes it is the way ahead for the future.

“Everyone will be aware we’re at a very important time in Scottish education. A lot of the challenges facing Kelso High School are challenges common across all secondary schools, not just those in the Borders.

“We’re at a very important stage of the introduction of the new curriculum and next year, in some ways, will be the real big year within secondary schools in that, for the first time, we haven’t been following Standard Grade courses in S3, so it’s a period of really intense development for anyone involved in education.

“Our first group that will go through this is currently in second year. I have to take my hat off to the commitment of our staff that we have at Kelso. We’re very lucky we’ve got a really hard working, committed, talented staff and I really do rely on them at time of change like this.”

Ruth says the Curriculum for Excellence offers teachers huge opportunities because it allows them to respond to the needs of young people in their own communities.

“I think the big thing about the Curriculum for Excellence is not what we do, but how we do it. It gives us the freedom to develop things in a way which is going to maximise the relevance and the impact for our young people.

“The Curriculum of Excellence, at its heart, is about effective learning and teaching and we know that we have a lot of strength already in Kelso, so I’d say we’re building on a firm foundation.”