Local charity RHET Scottish Borders launched its new Countryside Classroom on Wheels (CCOW) at Ancrum Primary School, taking a ewe with her lamb at foot and their fibreglass cow ‘Blossom’ to the school, giving pupils a hands-on experience of where food comes from.

The CCOW makes it possible for RHET to transport livestock to schools to enhance pupils’ learning during a classroom talk. For the launch all the pupils at Ancrum Primary School P1-5 took part in a local food detective quiz, a talk about lamb production and a hands-on dairy session.

Katie Warnock, principal teacher at Ancrum Primary School, said: “The CCOW is a really exciting way of delivering the curriculum. The children loved learning about the countryside in a fun and interactive way.

“The RHET CCOW comes to you and is so well organised. It also gave the children opportunities to work together and learn outdoors.”

RHET Scottish Borders relies on volunteers to deliver its educational activities and last Tuesday a special training session was held to familiarise volunteers with using the new resource.

RHET education manager Katrina Barclay said: “Through the NFUS Centenary Trust generously funding the refurbishment of the trailer, Borders pupils will benefit from this wonderful learning resource.

“The volunteers bring learning to life with their passion and what better way to discover more about food, farming and countryside than from those who work in the industry.”

Since opening its doors at the beginning of February, Charity for Care in Kelso has seen significant support from the local community, so much so it has made its first donation to palliative care in the Borders much earlier than originally planned.

On April 23, the committee and volunteers from Charity for Care were joined by Lesley Fairbairn, one of the palliative care clinical nurse specialists from NHS Borders, who accepted a cheque for £10,000 on behalf of the palliative care service.

The money has been raised in only the first three months of trading for Kelso’s newest charity shop, something which has astounded its founder Eilean Hogarth and her volunteers.

Eilean said: “We can’t believe we are in this position so soon after opening. The shop has been very busy and people have been incredibly generous, but we certainly didn’t expect to be able to make a donation like this quite so soon.”

The success of the shop is being put down to her hard-working team and the support of the public.

Eilean explained: “We are fortunate that the items being donated are of a really good quality and the public seem so keen to support us, but it wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the fantastic team of volunteers who give their time so generously.”

The money will go to NHS Borders charity The Difference, and specifically to the endowment fund for palliative care, both in the community as well as in the Margaret Kerr Unit.

Karen Nairn, fundraising manager for The Difference, said: “I am really pleased that all Eilean’s hard work has paid off and the shop is proving a success, she has an excellent team around her and this amazing donation will really enhance the palliative care provided in the Scottish Borders.”

The Charity for Care team hope that they will soon be able to open the upstairs of the shop specifically for bridal and formal wear. Any donations of this nature can be handed in to the Charity For Care shop, 8 Bridge Street, Kelso, between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Saturday.

Sheila Campbell, secretary of Crailing, Eckford and Nisbet Community Council, with one of four defibrillators newly-installed locally – three in phone boxes.

They have been purchased following concerns about distance from emergency services and an ageing population, and are sited at Crailing, Eckford, Nisbet and Ulston.

Sheila said: “The presence of the defibrillators will benefit residents in our rural community. Two defibrillators have been placed adjacent to village halls where regular events and activities are held, so these well-used venues are now in close proximity to life-saving equipment.

“We feel the defibrillators will also potentially benefit the many visitors who cycle or walk through the area, and they will also be available for major events such as the Jedburgh Half Marathon and wheelchair race involving around 1,000 competitors.

“The council has been greatly impressed by the community’s response to this initiative with over 30 people already stepping forward to volunteer to learn how to use the defib.”

Training sessions have been carried out by John MacPherson of Cardiac Science, which supplied the defibrillators.

The community council was awarded grants from Scottish Borders Council and Kelso Community Grant Scheme (funded by Sainsbury’s) to buy the equipment from Scottish H.A.R.T (Heart At Risk Testing), a charity set up by Kenneth and Wilma Gunn, of Selkirk, after they lost their son to cardiomyopathy.

All of the units have been placed in weatherproof cabinets and three of them have been installed in red telephone boxes, which the community council adopted from BT three years ago as a place to exchange magazines and provide visitor information.

160 Girlguiding Scotland members from Tweedbank, Selkirk, Galashiels and West Linton joined 6,000 music fans from across Scotland at the youth charity’s sell-out pop concert, Tartan Gig 2015, at the SECC last Saturday to watch some of Britain’s biggest and most popular acts.

The Guides and senior section members were entertained by star acts Labrinth, Rixton and Conor Maynard, Nina Nesbitt, Karen Harding, Neon Jungle and Only the Young at the exclusive event.

Tartan Gig 2015, which was hosted by Scottish comedian Iain Stirling, is the fifth of Girlguiding Scotland’s girl-only pop concerts exclusively for young members aged 10 and up.

Past acts include Little Mix, Amy Macdonald, Pixie Lott, The Wanted and Scouting for Girls.

The gig is just one of many great opportunities available to girls from the Borders through Guiding.

Girls can learn about stars, try abseiling or raft building, go camping and even travel abroad by being a member of Girlguiding Tweed Valley.

Ellie, age 12, from Tweedbank Guides, said: “I’ll never forget Tartan Gig 2015 – I had so much fun watching all the amazing bands with my friends.

“I love being a Guide as we get to try new things, make brilliant friends and go to amazing events like Tartan Gig.”

County commissioner Gail Fox said: “All the girls had such a brilliant time in Glasgow and the atmosphere was amazing.

“This is what Guiding is all about – having fun with friends and doing something different.”

Girlguiding Scotland is Scotland’s leading charity for girls and young women, with more than 60,000 members.

It is part of a worldwide movement which enables girls and young women to fulfil their potential and take an active and responsible role in society. Girls can take part in a wide range of activities, from adventure sports to camps, international trips, science projects and community action.

Find out more: @GirlguidingScot, www.facebook.com/GirlguidingScot or www.girlguidingscotland.org.uk.

The possibility of the UK leaving the European Union was flagged up this week as a threat to the future funding of the business advisory service run by Scottish Borders Council.

With the new Conservative government committed to an “in-out” referendum, SBC’s executive heard that uncertainty over continued UK membership was considered a risk to the Selkirk-based Business Gateway which, in 2014/15, assisted 225 new business start-ups in the region.

“If we do not secure European funding then we may not have the resources to continue to deliver all aspects of the service to the same high standards,” reported Jim Johnstone, SBC’s principal officer (business).

In his 2015/16 business plan, Business Gateway manager Phil McCreadie commented: “Business start-up numbers are greater than expected and this reflects demand and the use of EU funding to extend our activities beyond the core national offering.”

That is a reference to the core funding – set at £331,000 in this financial year – which Business Gateway (which employs six full-time advisors and four part-time staff at Ettrick Riverside) receives from the Scottish Government, via SBC.

The long-term uncertainty over additional funding, however, failed to cloud an upbeat assessment of the service’s performance following implementation of an improvement plan a year ago, and the appointment of Mr McCreadie in October last year.

SBC’s executive heard that 27 of the 225 start-ups had the potential for high growth and that the service, described as a “one-stop shop for all business support enquiries” had delivered 84 start-up workshops and 76 local workshops attended by exactly 1,000 people.

More of the same is planned in the coming year, with advertised outreach advisory sessions planned for SBC contact centres and community centres.

Mr McCreadie said the opening of the railway in September was “the biggest opportunity in our area for many years, possibly a generation”.

“Business Gateway is at the forefront of the support for businesses to take advantage of the railway,” he added.

In his annual review, Bryan McGrath, SBC’s chief economic development officer, reported that the Scottish Borders Business Fund had received 64 applications and approved 51 grants worth £132,200 in 2014/15, creating 98 jobs and safeguarding another 167.

In addition, six applications to the Scottish Borders Business Loan Fund had been approved. Worth £71,600, these were projected to create 32 new jobs.

There had also been a steady demand for the council’s portfolio of industrial units, yards and shops with 30 new leases, generating annual income of £158,000, signed in 2014/15.

The current occupancy level is 91%.

In front of me on my desk is a veritable tome. It’s cover is coloured blue and gold, and it bears the grand title – Reflections 0’ Hawick.

It is heavy and is 577 pages long, and is jam-packed with photographs and words from a variety of writers, mostly from the Hawick airt.

It has been compiled and edited by Ian Landles and Alan Brydon – two men who live and breathe in Hawick and count their days – hours actually – away from their Grey Auld Toon as time wasted.

Hawick to these gentlemen is not the centre of the universe, it is the very universe itself.Ian dropped off a copy at The Southern’s office the other week – giving a guid auld, well no so auld, Gala man the unenviable task of reviewing a book that is all – and I mean all – about the town of the Teries.

I haven’t read it from cover to cover, but I have dipped in and out of its various chapters and found them enthralling and of more than considerable interest.

Ian and Alan state in the introduction: “While compiling this book on aspects of life in the Grey Auld Toon, one thing became abundantly clear to us – we could write and collect forever on the subject of Hawick, the town we love, and still leave many areas uncovered.

“Consequently this volume is not intended to be a definitive history, not an encyclopedic, all-encompassing reference source.”

Well, Ian and Alan, if this worthy publication isn’t what you maintain it isn’t, then I’m not a Gala man. Having scanned briefly the 57 chapters, you and your contributors have provided the people of Hawick and the wider Borderland, and even wider world and universe, a truly magnificent insight to Hawick, its people, its history and its traditions.

From Chapter One ( Early History) to the back-end Bibliography, its pages beat with the very heart that is Hawick.

Ian is coming to collect the book.

Ian, can I keep it for another week or so, please?

The Borders Barmy Army pounded out £524.50 towards a PDT (Photo Dynamic Therapy) lamp for Borders General Hospital’s dermatology department by taking to a treadmill at the hospital for a day-long fundraiser.

PDT is a non-invasive procedure for patients with extensive sun damage of the skin or sun damage on difficult-to-treat areas where other treatments such as surgery or cryotherapy may be difficult.

PDT selectively destroys tumour cells while preserving healthy tissue.

Anyone wishing to support this fundraising project should log on to www.justgiving.com/friendsofbgh or contact Sandra Henwood (sandra.henwood@borders.scot.nhs.uk or 01896 826564). The picture features dermatology consultant Andrew MacKenzie, clinical nurse specialist Helen McKendrick, Lee Myers, Liam Myers, Martin Noble, Charlie Doyle and Kirstyn Hume. Also in attendance were Lindsay Wilson, Richard Minnikin and Roddy Gladstone.

Borders College Skills for Learning and Work first-year students have been working at Stable Life at Dryden, near Selkirk, improving the environment for those who use the facilities. A registered charity, Stable Life provides a safe, nurturing, learning experience, using the horse and its environment to help young people reach their full potential.

The students enjoyed their experience at the stables.

Admiral Ramsay of Bughtrig, Leitholm, masterminded the Dunkirk evacuation and the D-Day landings during World War 2 and 75 years on from Dunkirk a special service is being held in his memory.

The Ramsay family are holding a service of commemoration for the 75th anniversary of the evacuation from Dunkirk on Sunday, June 7, at 11.30am at the statue of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay in Bughtrig garden.

In May 1940 Germany invaded Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium, advancing towards the French coast and surrounding the allied troops at Normandy - their only escape being the English Channel.

A request was sent to Sir Bertram Ramsay, Vice-Admiral, to bring the British army home and he put together Operation Dynamo, commissioning as many craft as he could to rescue thousands of troops who were trapped.

Winston Churchill took over as Prime Minister on May 10, and on May 26, when he told the House that Operation Dynamo had been launched to rescue allied forces cornered by the advancing German army, and he expected about 20,000 to 30,000 troops would be saved.

Helen Minto, writing about the Dunkirk evacuation said: “It was thanks to the valour of the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force and Sir Bertram’s ingenuity, 338,226 British and French troops were rescued and brought back across the Channel to fight another day.”

Sir Bertram Ramsay was awarded the honour of the KCB for his great achievement from King George V1. Four years later he was to play a major role in the D-Day landings.

In 1944, he was put in charge of the Allied Naval Expeditionary Force for the invasion of France, masterminding Operation Neptune, the largest seaborne invasion in history, pushing back the German troops which led to the liberation of France and contributed to the Allied victory a year later.

Sadly Admiral Ramsay died in a plane crash in France at the beginning of 1945 and for many years after the war he become D-Day’s ‘forgotten man’.

Admiral Ramsay’s family and historians such as Allen Packwood, director of the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, where Ramsay’s D-Day diary, invasion maps, photographs and correspondence are on display, have worked hard to see that his role at the heart of Dunkirk and the D-Day landings is never forgotten.

Peebles-based online tyre fitters Blackcircles has sold to French giants Michelin Tyres in a £50million deal.

Its acquisition was confirmed by Blackcircles founder Mike Welch, who will secure a multi-million payout from the deal.

He commented: “We have spent some time considering our options for positioning Blackcircles.com for the next phase of growth. In Michelin we have found a partner who shares our passion for customer service, innovation and technology.

“Strategically, it’s business as usual for Blackcircles.com. I expect our team, customers, garages and suppliers to see significant benefits quite quickly.”

He added: “My vision for Blackcircles.com has always been to create a lasting brand that changes the way people buy tyres. With Michelin I see that vision being realised a lot sooner and on a global stage, which is a very exciting prospect.”

The deal also puts cash in the pocket of former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy, a major shareholder in Blackcircles.

Blackcircles’ revenue was around £27.8million in 2013 – up 20 per cent on the previous year – and in the first three months of this year it rose by 34 per cent.

Pictured are some of the pupils from five Borders secondary schools who laid the foundations for their sporting future by attending the Borders Academy of Sporting Excellence Information Session at Borders College.

The event provided them with an introduction to how they can progress from school through college into employment in the sport and fitness industry.

A new community recycling centre has opened in Kelso today.

The facility in Pinnaclehill Industrial Estate is the seventh recycling centre to open in the Borders and will be open seven days a week, with a wide variety of materials being accepted for recycling, along with general waste.

It will aim to make recycling simpler for residents in the Kelso area and has been designed to allow waste to be put into recycling skips more easily and to keep the majority of works traffic away from the public.

The decision to build a community recycling centre followed a review by Scottish Borders Council (SBC) in 2013, when the council controversially decided to the end the garden waste collections. It resulted in the new facility in Kelso, which cost £860,000.

An adjacent factory unit has also been adapted to create a new depot for the Council’s Neighbourhood Services department, at a cost of £324,000.

SBC’s executive member for environmental services, Councillor David Paterson said: “I am delighted to see Kelso Community Recycling Centre open to the public.

“Community Recycling Centres play an important role in supporting the council’s kerbside waste and recycling collection services.

“The new recycling centre has also brought a former derelict piece of land back into use and should reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill.

“I hope Kelso’s residents will make use of this new facility.”

Kelso councillors Simon Mountford, Alec Nicol and Tom Weatherston said in a joint statement: “We welcome the opening of the new community recycling centre, which will be an enormous benefit for the people of Kelso and the surrounding area. They will now no longer have to travel a considerable distance to dispose of waste.

“We are also pleased that the site of the CRC has been transformed into a valuable community facility and that local firms have benefited from being involved in its design and construction.”

Opening times for Kelso Community Recycling Centre are: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm; Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 4pm.

A sex pest pub boss is behind bars after his appeal against an eight-month jail sentence for indecently assaulting two staff members and a customer was thrown out.

Keith McDonald was told by sentencing Sheriff Janys Scott he had abused his position as an employer at the Ship Inn at Melrose.

But after being led from the dock to the cells at Selkirk Sheriff Court last month the 48-year-old first offender instructed his legal team to appeal the sentence.

He was released on bail to allow the process to take its course, but was detained on Friday after the second hearing of the appeal at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh was dismissed by two judges.

In addition to the prison sentence, McDonald was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

Passing sentence, Sheriff Scott said that, as the human resources manager of the Ship Inn, he took responsibility for hiring staff.

She told him:”You abused your position as an employer. It was not frivolous or a joke. It was criminal behaviour.”

All four offences, which stretch back to 2001, took place in the pub where McDonald’s wife Vivien is the licensee.

Sheriff Scott was told he repeatedly indecently assaulted one female employee over a 10-year period between 2001 and 2011 by touching her breasts and buttocks.

In 2007, McDonald indecently assaulted another female by touching her in a sexual nature and she immediately left her job.

He was also found guilty of uttering sexual remarks to staff members over a 10-year period and exposing himself on one occasion in the presence of members of the public and two female staff.

On July 14 last year, he sexually assaulted an 18-year-old female customer by touching her breasts and putting his hand inside her clothing, before another customer intervened.

wooler

At their weekly sale of Primestock held last Wednesday, John Swan Ltd had forward and sold 237 hoggs and 97 ewes.

Hogg numbers similar with a good show of flesh on offer, dearer on the week.

Leading Prices Per Head:- Suff.x:- £93 Hoppen Hall, £88 Yetlington Lane, £83 Elwick, £82 Ladykirk. Tex.x:- £90.50 Conundrum, £86.50, £85 Hoppen Hall, £83.50 Conundrum and Hoppen Hall, £83 Elwick. CM:- £88.50 West Newbiggin. Chev:- £82 Birchwood Hall. BF:- £81.50 Birchwood Hall and Hethpool. Bel.x:- £82 Ladykirk.

Leading Prices Per Kilo:- Tex.x:- 191.3p Yetlington Lane, 189.2p Lowick Moorhouse, 188.8p Ladykirk, 185.6p Conundrum and Hoppen Hall, 184.5p Yetlington Lane, 183.3p Mid Edrom. Bel.x:- 191p, 186.4p Ladykirk. Chev:- 190.7p Birchwood Hall. BF:- 189p Birchwood Hall. Suff.x:- 184.9p Mid Edrom.

Ewe numbers tight but again dear.

Leading Prices:- Mule:- £130, £97 West Newbiggin, £95 Alwinton Farm. BFL:- £126 Alwinton Farm. HB:- £125 Alwinton Farm. Char:- £121 East Fleetham. Tex.x:- £121 East Fleetham, £114 Black Heddon, £108 Brockley Hall. Suff.x:- £117.50 East Fleetham, £112.50 Ladykirk, £105 Mid Edrom. Bel.x:- £113 East Fleetham.

st boswells

At vtheir weekly Primestock sale on Monday, John Swan Ltd sold 95 clean cattle, four OTM cattle, 53 beef cows, 655 old season lambs, 373 new season lambs and 360 ewes.

Bullocks (37) averaged 208p per kg and sold to 235p (+3.7p on week), heifers (57) averaged 207.6p per kg and sold to 246p (-3.2p on week), four OTM cattle averaged 158.8p and sold to 179p (-0.2p on the week) and 53 beef type cows averaged 134.2p per kg and sold to 181p (-1.2p on the week). One young bull sold to 246p per kg.

Old season lambs averaged 1.67p per kg (-9p on the week) £79.43 per head and sold to £97, top price 1.89p per kg for Cha. New season lambs averaged 1.99p per kg (-8p on the week) £84.85p per head and sold to £105, top price 2.22p per kg for Texel.

Ewes averaged £72.68, and sold to £152 for Texel. Heavy ewes averaged £76.96 while ight ewes sold to £99 for Chv and averaged £62.42.

Principal prices per head: Bee Edge £1480.92, Longnewton £1479.94, Bee Edge £1438.78, Haughhead £1434.80, Lennoxlove £1429.52.

Principal prices per kg: Bee Edge 2.46 M/s W.T.S. Forsyth and Sons, 2.40, 2.39 Shaws of Lauder, Pathhead 2.35 Denholm Meat Supplies, Longnewton 2.33 Shaws of Lauder, Caverton Mill 2.32 Shaws of Lauder, Haughhead 2.32 M/s W.T.S. Forsyth and Sons, Phantassie 2.30 Michael Malone of Edinburgh, Pathhead 2.30 Halliwells Butchers, Gospell Hall 2.29 M/s J. Gilmour and Co Ltd, Pathhead 2.26 M/s J. Gilmour and Co Ltd, Bee Edge 2.26 Worsley Wholesale Butchers, 2.22 Michael Malone of Edinburgh, Wester Ulston 2.20 M/s J. Gilmour and Co Ltd, Saltoun Home Farm 2.18 Robert Wilson Butchers.

OTM Cattle: Bowshiel £1128.60 (1.65), £1113.38 (1.79), Mervinslaw £897.60 (1.65).

Cows per head: Kersknowe £1504.06, £1470.60, Byrewalls £1318.26, Kirkton £1267, Honeyburn £1248.62.

Cows per kg: Kirkton 1.81, 1.75, 1.73, Kersknowe 1.71, Crookston 1.63, Pathhead 1.63, Mosstower 1.61, Kersknowe 1.57, Bowshiel 1.55, Honeyburn and Corsbie 1.51, Honeyburn 1.49, Corsbie 1.45, Crookston and Bowshiel 1.43, Honeyburn 1.41.

New season lambs per head: Sfx;- £99 (2) The Lee, £95 Smailholm Mains, £92 Edrom Mains, Suf;- £91 Berrymoss, Tex;- £96 Lochside, £94 (2) Lilburn Estate, Cha;- £85 (2) Penston.

New Season Lambs per kg: Tex;- 2.22 (5) Lochside, 2.04 Lilburn Estate, Sfx;- 2.10, 2.07, 2.06 The Lee, 2.03 Smailholm Mains, Cha;- 1.97 (2) Penston.

Hoggs per head: Tex;- £105 Lochside, £95 Pirnie, Sfx;- £97, £95, £93 Boghall St Andrews, £92.50 Bonjedwad Mill, Chv;- £86, £80 Traprain, £85 Gilmanscleuch, £84 Lylestane, Chx;- £81 Boghall St Andrews, Cha;- £83.50 Woodhouse, BF;- £77 Boghall, £72 Traprain.

Hoggs per kg: Tex;- 2.05 Lochside, 1.89 Hallrule Mill, Cha;- 1.89 Woodhouse, Chm;- 1.89 Lylestane, Chv;- 1.89 Lylestane, 1.88, 1.85 Dunslaw, Sfx;- 1.85 Dunslaw, 1.76 Woodhouse, BF;- 1.80 Traprain, 1.72 Aikeyside.

Young sheep: Tex;- £97 Boghall St Andrews, Traprain, £90 Pirnie, Sfx;- £92 Bonjedward Mill, £90 Boghall, BF;- £84 Boghall.

Ewes: Tex;- £112, £111 Pirnie, £110 Wester Middleton, £107 Bogend, Sfx;- £100 Bonjedward Mill and Lochside, HB;- £100 Bonjeward Mill, SM;- £100 West Mains L, £87 Middlethird, £85 Belmont, Chv;- £99 Torwoodlee Mains, Chm;- £95 Blegbie, £90 Northfield, £88 Torwoodlee Mains, Lle;- £88 Morridgehall, BFL;- £83 Laidlawsteel, £80 Threepwood, BF;- £67 Laidlawsteel, £65 Burncastle and Aikeyside.

Rams: Tex;- £152 Corsbie, £130 New Blainslie, Suf;- £132 Wester Middleton, £120 Corsbie, Bel;- £128 Wester Deans.

Longtown

The Cumberland and Dumfriesshire Farmers Mart plc had forward six prime cattle, two OTM cattle, 4,738 prime hoggs, 201 spring lambs and 3,159 cast ewes and rams at their weekly sale at Longtown last Thursday.

A smaller show of cattle forward.

Prime bullocks, principal prices per kilo: Limousin 199.5p, 189.5p Nether Onsett. Angus 172.5p Low Hallburn. Prime bullocks principal prices per head: Limousin £1,411, £1,356 Nether Onsett. Angus £1,035 Low Hallburn.

Prime heifers, principal prices per kilo: Angus 178.5p, 169.5p Low Hallburn. Prime heifers, principal prices per head: Angus £1,053, £1,017 Low Hallburn.

A larger entry of 201 spring lambs were forward. Many more could be sold to advantage, especially lighter weights 32kilos plus. Heavy lambs gain no premium. Top price of £97 per head for Suffolks from North Cowshaw and The Land, and to 251p per kilo for Texels from Trawill.

Principal prices per kilo: Texel 251p Trawill, 230p Low Hallburn, 221p Hermitage, 220p Guardsmill, 211p Hermitage. Suffolk 200p Low Hallburn and Kimmeter Green, 195p Kimmeter Green, 193p Mossband Hall, 192p The Land, 190p North Cowshaw. Zwartbles 187p Guardsmill. Oxford 186p Guards.

Principal prices per head: Suffolk £97 The Land and North Cowshaw, £93 North Cowshaw, £88 Kimmeter Green, £85 Mossband Hall, High Balgray and Kimmeter Green. Texel £91 Guardsmill, £89 Rottington Hall, £88 Trawill and Hermitage, £86.50 Upper Brydekirk, £86 Hermitage and Mossband Hall. Zwartbles £86 Guardsmill. Oxford £95, £80 Guards.

Another large show of 4,738 prime hoggs were forward to the usual ring of buyers.

Trade was similar on the week, although a two tier trade was evident between well fleshed hoggs and plainer sorts. Heavyweight hoggs as dear as seen for a good few weeks.

The sale averaged 181p overall (SQQ 185.7p).

Top price per head was £100 per head for Texels from Mossband Hall and Glenzierfoot and to 213p per kilo for Beltex from Uppercleuch.

A larger show of 3,159 cast ewes and rams were forward to a full ringside of buyers.

All classes of ewes remain dear apart from the heaviest fat end of the ewes. Rams maintained recent high rates. Many more could be sold to advantage.

Heavy ewes: Texel £148 Heatherglen, £144 Chaseside, £141, £138 Heatherglen, £137 Westhills. Suffolk £140 Skelfhill, £130, £129 Heatherglen, £125 East Murkle, £124 Easter Dawyck. Charollais £138, £130 Heatherglen, £130, £127 Chaseside, £124 Beckfoot, £122 Heatherglen. Leicester £124 Orchard Mains, £119 Stonehall, £118 Hightown, £114 Kellah, £109 Easter Dawyck. Beltex £124 Graceside.

There are contrasting fortunes at present for two of rural Scotland’s best known organisatiions.

The good news is the Scottish Association of Young Farmers’ Clubs (SAYFC) which has been pulled out of years of steady decline by vigorous action and firm leadership, some determined youngsters effectively taking it by the scruff of the neck and giving it a good shake.

The bad news is the continued decline of the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute (SWRI) as members die off, and the attempt to revitalise it by dropping the word ‘rural.’

The good news first. Total membership of young farmers’ clubs in Scotland, a movement now more than 75 years old, rose 8% last year to more than 3,500. Against the background of a farming industry in general where every year sees fewer farmers and fewer staff, that’s an achievement.

Part of the success is reaching beyond the purely farming community and emphasising that the social side is important, but that there’s more to the SAYFC than that. New training initiatives have been introduced, new clubs formed, and a serious attempt made to involve young farmers in national grown-up decision making with the NFU and politicians.

I’ve criticised young farmers on both sides of the border at times for their behaviour. No one who has seen some of their Highland Show antics or read social media accounts of what happens at nights at annual conferences can doubt how stupid that behaviour can be. In their defence, the same could be said of some of their elders at NFU dinners or livestock society ceilidhs.

It’s good to see young farmers enjoying themselves with their interminable talent contests while also finding time to take life more seriously and thoughtfully when they need to. Well done.

I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘the rural’ as the SWRI is affectionately known, not least because there was a time when I was cajoled into speaking to many of its meetings, from small gatherings that barely got into double figures to the pinnacle of the annual meeting of 700 or so members in Edinburgh. At every level, they were friendly and welcoming.

But the decline in rural population and alternative attractions has hit the SWRI hard. There are now fewer than 750 institutes against more than 1,100 in the 1980s. Membership is falling by about 1,000 a year and is down to about 17,000. New, younger, members are needed. True. But I’m not sure that dropping the word ‘rural’ will do the trick. Neither do many members who claim that brainwave came from SWRI HQ without consulting anyone at local level. The last I heard was a move for a vote of no confidence at this year’s annual meeting.

Perhaps that might wake up the SWRI membership in the same way as the SAYFC got a shake?

The Borders’ licensing standards officer and the police are both objecting to late drink applications covering two seperate common ridings, a bike festival and a music event.

Neil Gillies of the Base Nightclub in Baker Street, Hawick, wants an extension from 2am till 3am on Saturday, May 30, for the annual Denholm Ride-Out party and again on June 5 and 6 (Friday and Saturday) to cater for locals and visitors during the Hawick Common Riding weekend.

In Peebles, Kevin Kenny of the County Hotel, is seeking an hour’s extension – from midnight to 1am – to host a ticket-only party for competitors and visitors to mark the end of the two-week Tweedlove cycling festival on Sunday, May 31.

And in Kirk Yetholm, Gordon McLaren of The Border Hotel wants to stay open an extra hour until 1am on Wednesday, June 17, for a Stob Stane Ride-out social evening, organised by the Yetholm Festival Committee.

And the Audio Soup music festival which takes place in a field at Harehead, Cranshaws, near Duns, between July 17-19, is looking to sell alcohol until 2am in its three bars.

All four applications will be considered at tomorrow’s meeting of the Scottish Borders Licensing Board.

Around 1,000 people of all ages are expected to attend the Audio Soup festival which began five years ago at a site near Dunbar and moved to Harehead last year, when a 1am alcohol curfew was observed on the Friday and Saturday night.

This time round, organisers want that terminal hour extended to 2am on both nights.

In his letter of objection, Chief Inspector Andrew McLean highlights the “potential for disturbance to residents nearby with alcohol fuelled violence, noise and antisocial behaviour”.

The likelihood of noise complaints is cited by LSO Ian Tunnah who said last year’s 1am terminal hour “appeared quite adequate for the event”.

The application stresses the “family-friendly” ethos of the festival which will have five performance stages and headliners including Bombskare and Spliff Richard & the Snapping Turtles.

Organisers have offered an assurance there will be “24-hour security with 50 stewards working shifts and a police presence during busy periods” and that children will only be allowed into bar areas if accompanied by an adult.

For nearly two decades the strawberry field at Faldonside, alongside the A7 between Selkirk and Galashiels, was a bit of a local landmark.

During the summer months it was something of a tradition that signalled summer had truly arrived in the Borders when one started seeing customers from Selkirk and across the rest of the region bent over rows of strawberry plants, picking their own.

“We grew raspberries too for a while, but it was the strawberries people always came back for,” said Nicholas Watson, who took on the field when his parents retired. “One gentleman came from Langholm every year. We didn’t like telling him when we knew we were going to close.”

The main farm at Faldonside was sold in 2013, and the Watson family has now decided to sell the famous strawberry field too. But nearly 10 years after closing, might it open again one day?

That is the family’s hope, as Mr Watson told us: “Being by the river it has the best soil on the farm, and being by the A7, it’s visible and accessible, so the perfect spot for pick-your-own.

“We always thought if we sold then it could be an ideal opportunity for someone.”

Originally, the land in question was called the Railway Haugh, but the field was divided when the A7 was re-routed over the new bridge.

“We’ve still got the ‘decoys’ – life-size comic figures of strawberry pickers designed for us by artist John Berry, which we set out in the field each morning,” said Mr Watson.

And, of course, there was the famous occasion when someone cut the rope tethering the Watson family’s giant helium-filled strawberry-shaped advertising balloon.

“We last saw it floating over Galashiels. Apparently it would’ve burst at about 30,000 feet, and was eventually found in the Lammermuirs,” Mr Watson continued.

“It was the customers and pickers who made it fun. People are usually happy picking strawberries.

“And it was good to meet customers – often farmers don’t meet the people who eat their produce.

“Lots of people remember it well, and ‘turn off the A7 at the Strawberry Field’ still works when giving directions to Faldonside.”

Offers over £60,000 are invited for the 12.21-acre field, which is being sold by the Lauder office of Knight Frank.

The firm’s James Denne added: “It would be nice to think it might be bought by someone who wants to continue the strawberry tradition. Over the years, it certainly served the Watson family well.”

The landscape of the Borders is clearly the region’s best asset when it comes to attracting tourists. However, it is a sad fact we probably wouldn’t run out of fingers counting the number of genuine world-class visitor attractions we have here in the Borders.

Abbotsford, Floors Castle and Traquair House can probably be classed as international-grade attractions, while the Borders Book Festival and Jim Clark Rally also draw thousands to the region.

But at the weekend more than 6,000 people flocked to Duns for a special event marking the 50th anniversary of local Formula One legend Jim Clark becoming the only man to win the F1 title and Indy 500 in the same year.

An array of classic F1 cars, as well as the presence of star racers Sir Jackie Stewart and Allan McNish, proved an irresistible draw for motorsport fans from across the UK.

So it is to be hoped The Jim Clark Trust’s £1.2million project to develop and expand the town’s Jim Clark Museum is getting widespread support.

Scottish Borders Council is commended for pledging almost half the costs, yet the question remains – when £700,000 still has to be found – as to how SBC can justify ploughing over £3million into housing the Great Tapestry of Scotland, which is basically a community embroidery project on an industrial estate and of questionable tourism potential?

Operating nationally with their head office based in Galashiels, telecommunications engineering services provider QubeGB has received two awards at the prestigious Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Occupational Health and Safety Awards.

QubeGB received both the RoSPA gold award for Occupational Health and Safety and the ‘Occupational Road Risk silver award’.

QubeGB is routinely recognised as being one of the UK’s fastest growing technology companies, for instance, through being listed on the coveted Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 and twice ranked on the prestigious Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100.

The company merits nationwide contracts with BT, TalkTalk, EE and a host of other, smaller, telecommunications resellers.

Stuart Deans, QubeGB’s health, safety, environment and quality manager, said: “Gaining the RoSPA awards recognises the hard work of everyone within the business to drive continuous improvement.

“The awards acknowledge high performance for diligence and innovation in occupational health and safety and fleet safety.”

Chartered Accountants Douglas Home & Co is delighted to announce the details of a merger with Melrose-based Purves Chartered Accountants (Purves CA), as of May 1.

With branches in Kelso, Hawick, Haddington and Alnwick, Douglas Home & Co is further cementing its reputation as one of the leading cross-Border accountants.

Douglas Home will now also operate from the existing Purves CA offices in Melrose. The seven members of staff will all be kept on to work under the new directorship and Andy Purves will take up the role of consultant to the firm.

Douglas Home & Co was established in 1983, and the practice has gone from strength to strength over the years, currently operating with five directors on the board.

Now with five branches, the company offers all aspects of accountancy and taxation services from compliance tax and bookkeeping to specialist tax planning and, more recently, wills and estates, as well as many more services, including IT support.

“The two companies have a natural synergy in terms of their work ethics,” as Sheryl Macaulay, director at Douglas Home & Co, explained.

“It is very exciting to be joining forces with Purves CA.

“We have very similar working practices, so we know the two businesses will merge well together. We operate both sides of the border, and Melrose is one of the key areas where we are keen to progress the business.”

Mr Purves, director of Purves CA, explained the decision to merge: “When the opportunity to join forces was put to me it was not a difficult decision, thanks to the working relationship we have enjoyed with them over the last nine months.

“Douglas Home stepped in to assist the team last summer with minimum fuss and offered an excellent service, consequently extending well beyond tax, from which many clients directly or indirectly benefited.”

Mr Purves was keen to make it clear to present clients of Purves CA that the services they enjoyed would not change.

He said: “Most importantly for all the clients the Purves CA team will stay intact, with business as normal in Melrose – same people, same office, same price, but with the support of additional resources and expertise.

“The staff here are all very positive about the move, and the benefits it will bring.”

For more information on the services they offer please contact Sheryl Macaulay or Caroline Tice on 01573 225082 or email mail@dhco.co.uk