Melrose Branch of Arthritis Research UK celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a packed Pancake Tea at Priorwood Court in Melrose. The homemade pancakes, cakes and biscuits were much appreciated and almost none were left ... even the cake and candy stall was bare at the end of the afternoon, which led to a record-breaking amount being raised for the charity – totalling in excess of £350.

Branch chairman Trefor Davies said: “Our grateful thanks to all who attended and all who worked tirelessly to make the event so successful.”

Scottish Borders Council has insisted it followed the normal procedures of its winter service plan, despite facing criticism over the treacherous state of untreated icy roads and pavements on Monday morning.

Members of the public took to social media to express their anger about the difficulties they experienced in the wake of Sunday’s heavy snowfalls – and their concerns were shared by councillors.

Councillor Rory Stewart said the situation in Jedburgh was “little less than shocking”.

He had been contacted by a constituent who told him: “I have just returned from Jedburgh town centre where the streets and pavement are an absolute disgrace due to the complete lack of gritting.

“I watched elderly people struggling to and from the Co-op in High Street and things are no better in the areas away from the centre. I can assure you there are some very angry Jedburgh residents voicing their displeasure in no uncertain terms.”

Councillor Stewart emailed SBC’s chief executive (place) Philip Barr midmorning and told him: “There needs to be people on the ground in Jedburgh as soon as possible to make the town and surrounding area safe.”

“I travelled to Appletreehall [near Hawick] this morning and the A698 [Cleikum Inn to Hawick] is a disgrace,” he added.

In Hawick, Councillor Stuart Marshall (Ind) was also demanding action.

“The footpaths in Hawick are treacherous and the council needs to get salting them and our roads much quicker,” he said. “I have been inundated with calls from concerned residents.”

A spokesperson for SBC said roads and footways had been treated in accordance with the protocol of the winter service plan.

“Weather conditions over the weekend meant snow which fell across the Borders turned to ice as temperatures dropped to the coldest in the region so far this winter, making some difficult conditions for drivers and pedestrians,” said the spokesperson.

“Primary roads were gritted from 4pm on Sunday and the primary network of roads and pavements was treated again from 6am onwards on Monday. Gritting again took place on Monday at 3.30pm and 6pm.

“Thereafter, secondary roads and all other footways are treated, subject to the availability of resources.”

Both Jedburgh town and the A698 are designated as “primary routes”.

Kirknewton station in north Northumberland, not to be confused with the one of the same name west of Edinburgh, was closed to passengers on September 22, 1930, and for goods traffic on March 30, 1953.

The Alnwick-Coldstream line was built by the North Eastern Railway in the 19th century when everybody wanted a railway and investors thought that railway shares offered a certain reward.

However, this part of Northumberland was, and is, sparsely populated, so passenger traffic was particularly thin. The main expectation of reward was from livestock and agricultural produce. The flock of sheep in the accompanying image would have gone to market by train.

Many railways which never had a hope of profitability were built during that century – and this line was high on that list.

At Coldstream station, which was actually in Cornhill, the line joined that from St Boswells and Kelso to Tweedmouth. That line was also North Eastern as far as Kelso, beyond which it was the North British Railway. A little irony was that just before it left England, the North Eastern passed Carham Hall, residence of the North British chairman.

In those days railways were regarded as businesses, and therefore taxable, but the First World War wreaked havoc with the state of lines and there was a serious proposal to nationalise them and for the state to run them at a loss as a national asset.

Instead, the government hoped to keep them going as viable businesses, but following the war ex-servicemen bought redundant army lorries and set up small businesses carrying goods and passengers, and this trend resulted in the loss of business to railways.

In 1923 the North Eastern and North British both became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), when about 120 firms were amalgamated into four broadly territorial companies. The LNER was the least profitable of these, in 1926 earning only one-fifth of its target revenue.

Help came in 1928 when an Act of Parliament enabled the railways to operate buses themselves.

Rather than do that, however, they chose to buy shares in existing bus companies. When they tried to take over United Automobile Services lock stock and barrel, there was an almighty row with the group to which United belonged, and it was agreed that as a principle the railways could have equal shares with the bus groups.

Despite this agreement, the railways never exercised their influence with the bus firms to run the buses to railway stations. As much as to thumb their nose at their new partners, the busmen proceeded to spend the 1930s building bus stations in many towns as far from the railway station as possible.

One of the railway-appointed directors of a bus company told the writer that he really did not know why he was there, but the company put on a good lunch, so he went to the meetings.

What the railways did was to take the opportunity of their share holding to withdraw loss-making local passenger services like those on the Alnwick-Coldstream line and give the business to bus companies. There was more help in a similar Act which gave the railways authority to operate lorries. They set up Country Lorry Services as local carriers, and incidentally to collect and deliver goods to and from railway stations.

This was much more satisfactory than the opportunities they had squandered with the buses.

After the Second World War the railways were in an even worse state than they had been after the First, partly because of aerial bombing. This time they really were nationalised, and so was road haulage, but road and rail were kept apart rather than integrated.

Worse was to come when the National Bus Company and Scottish Transport Group were formed in 1969. Despite trains, most buses and ferries now being publicly owned, there was no requirement for them to work together – so they mostly didn’t. Buses and ferries in Scotland did, of course, because they always had, but the long-established connection between the ferries and the railways gradually broke down, and the situation in England was no improvement on the previous unsatisfactory arrangement.

Towards the end of the 20th century things began to look up. Some far-sighted managers began to drag the railways up by their own bootlaces, and the privatised companies which took over railway services in 1997 subsequently have been receiving the credit for the results.

It is to be hoped that those managers, now well into retirement, know the saying that you can do a great deal of good in this world so long as you do not mind who takes the credit.

z John Wylde is the author of “Integrated Transport – a Will-o’-the-wisp?” This book is priced at £14.95, post paid, and signed by the author. Also “Experiments in Public Transport Operation” at £11.95.

Order through the author’s website, www.john-wylde.co.uk, or from Grieves on the corner of Church Street in Berwick.

A service which supports deaf and hard-of-hearing Borderers and gives them access to a range of state-of-the-art listening aids, has been saved from extinction by the British Red Cross.

The Borders branch of the international aid organisation, which has more than 100 local volunteers and offices in Galashiels and Coldstream, has taken over the role of the Borders Deaf and Hard of Hearing Network, which disbanded in August last year when the owners of the accommodation it leased in Low Buckholmside, Galashiels, went into voluntary liquidation.

“It came as a terrible shock,” recalled Jean Proudfoot from Selkirk who had been secretary of the network since its formation.

“I had always hoped that all the hard work that went into building up our services would not be lost, but without our resource centre and short of volunteers, we had no option but to call it a day.”

This week, Mrs Proudfoot, who has been overseeing the integration with Red Cross service manager Lindsay Wilson, said she was “absolutely delighted”.

A room at the Red Cross centre at Wheatlands Mill in Galashiels, where First Aid training takes place, has been adapted to accommodate a wide range of equipment, including amplified telephones, vibrating alarm clocks, TV listening aids and visual/chiming doorbells which can be borrowed with no obligation for up to two weeks to make sure each item is suitable for the individual prior to purchase.

The facility has now been accredited by BT as a ‘Try it Before you Buy Centre’.

And the public is welcome to visit on selected drop-in days for coffee and biscuits and to try out the equipment.

They are, between 10am and noon, on: February 17 and 25; March 3, 7, 24 and 31; and April 7, 14, 21 and 28. There are other days planned throughout the year.

Popular television geologist and president of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS), Professor Iain Stewart, is the last speaker of the season to come to Galashiels as part of the RSGS Inspiring People public talk series.

Nearly becoming involved in acting in his youth, Professor Stewart chose to study geology at university instead.

His love of performing has been realised through his extensive television work, which started by accident and has grown despite maintaining his day job as director of the Sustainable Earth Institute at Plymouth University.

Behind this popular academic television presenter is a father from East Kilbride who likes going to the shops with his girls on Saturdays and finding family time when not away filming for up to a year.

His latest talk discusses Turkey’s North Anatolian Fault, which is primed for seismic rupture and it is likely that a future destructive earthquake will be within striking distance of Istanbul.

So how do you prepare a city of over 13 million people for a potential seismic calamity?

Drawing on examples from Japan and Italy, as well as Turkey, Professor Stewart explores the fault lines between reason and faith in communicating to at-risk communities the myth of solid ground.

Regarding Professor Stewart’s impact on the popularisation of geographical issues, Mike Robinson, CEO of RSGS, has said: “RSGS is an educational charity that aims to inspire a greater interest in our planet and Iain’s programmes do that brilliantly.”

You can hear Professor Stewart’s talk on Tuesday, February 23 at 7.30pm in Heriot-Watt University’s Borders Campus in Galashiels.

Inspiring People talks are open to all and cost £8 per person, but are free to RSGS members, under-18s and students.

Scottish Borders Council leader David Parker admitted last Thursday that in his 13 years at the helm he had “rarely experienced” such support from across the political spectrum for his local authority’s spending plans for the coming year and beyond.

He was commenting before his council approved savings of around £11million in a revenue budget worth £263million in the coming year and a provisional £1.3billion over the next five years. Members also endorsed the allocation of more than £300m in a 10-year capital programme for investment in new schools, flood defences and infrastructure projects.

He said that earlier last week he had discussed his ruling administration’s budget proposals with Conservative opposition group leader Michelle Ballantyne.

“I’m delighted that we agreed on 99.9% of our proposals in what we both acknowledged were challenging financial circumstances,” said Mr Parker.

Councillor Ballantyne concurred. “As a group we support this budget as a whole … there are some really good decisions in here and, like Mr Parker, we recognise we need to make changes in the way we do things,” she said.

However, both acknowledged there was one issue on which they emphatically did not agree – the allocation of £3.5m in the 2016/17 capital programme and £209,000 in revenue for annual loan repayments – for the creation of a visitor centre for the Great Tapestry of Scotland at Tweedbank.

And the bonhomie of their opening remarks soon evaporated when Mrs Ballantyne moved an amendment that these cash allocations should be scrapped.

Unaware that the Scottish Government had ordered a revised business plan for the project, Mrs Ballantyne waded into the business case which had informed the SBC administration’s decision to support the Tweedbank site.

She even claimed she had taken the document to her bank manager who agreed it did not “stack up”. She challenged the visitor numbers and income assumed in the business plan and feared the council could be left with “revenue consequentials”, at the expense of essential services, for years to come.

“Most importantly, I have yet to meet anyone outside this chamber who supports it,” she added.

Councillor Stuart Bell (SNP), executive member for economic development, said the Conservative group lacked ambition and wanted to drive down public services.

“We are doing this to create a hub at the rail head which will bring tremendous added value to our region with an annual economic dividend to the Borders of £850,000.

“We want to tap into the thousands of visitors to Edinburgh who are looking for a day out and Tweedbank is the obvious location to achieve that.

“Our recent household survey showed that the number one priority of Borderers is to grow the economy and create jobs. This administration shares that ambition, even if the Conservatives do not.”

Councillor Sandy Aitchison (Borders Party) stressed the educational value of the tapestry for Borders schoolchildren, while Willie Archibald (SNP) accused the Conservatives of “running away from the heritage of the Borders” by rejecting a cultural attraction of international significance.

Councillor Catriona Bhatia (Lib Dem) noted that many Conservatives who now opposed the tapestry had also been against the return of the Borders Railway which had been a “phenomenal success” and beyond the expectations of the original tapestry business case which, she said, should be “refreshed accordingly”.

Summing up, Ms Ballantyne said to infer her group’s opposition to the Tweedbank site was idealogical was “insulting nonsense”.

On a division, her amendment was defeated by 21 votes to 10, with Independent councillors Watson McAteer, Stuart Marshall and Rory Stewart supporting Mrs Ballantyne. Tom Weatherston (Con) defied the party whip and voted for the budget.

Monday afternoon on a crisp, snow-covered Denholm green, more than 50 players gathered to participate in the playing of the annual ba’ game.

Ba’ stalwart Kevin Crawford, 46, said that it was a good turnout, even though the tightened drink driving laws have made it a bit less of a social occasion.

He said: “Folk put money on the ba’s and I can remember back in the day coming out of the pub a bit blootered, but you just can’t do that now.

“But we’ve kept a lot of the money and the lads will have a good drink on Saturday.

“It was cold this year, but it’s quite warm when you’re in the strow!

“The conditions made it a bit difficult when it got dark as the ground was soft and you couldn’t hear the ba’ drop.”

Things, as usual, started slowly, and it was the Uppies who scored first when experienced stalwart Doug Aitchison smuggled away the first ba’.

Sean Linton scooped and nabbed the second score for the Uppies minutes later.

Joe Crawford, still recovering from his Wales excursion at the weekend, got the Doonies on the scoresheet by making the next ball “disappear”.

Sean Linton extended the Uppies’ lead again when he silently ebbed off the green with ba’ in pocket.

The afternoon sun had now gone and temperatures plummeted to minus degrees, meaning most of the players were happy to be part of the melee just to keep warm.

Gregor Paxton brought the game closer for the Doonies when he scored after some good “ground” work by Nod Laing.

Skippy Goodfellow brought the precedings to a nailbiting finale when he equalised for the Doonies with a deft piece of smuggling.

So all was to play for on the last ba’.

The game finished when young Doonie Cameron Redpath was first to react when the ba’ hit the ground after the “throw up” and promptly moved innocently off the green to score, and put the cherry on top of a cracking comeback victory.

Scottish Borders Council has called for suitable development sites to build new homes for the region.

Laura Dixon, a planning consultant at land and property consultancy George F White,says this is a big opportunity for local farmers and landowners.

“SBC is searching for sites with potential for housing development after their Local Development Plan found they have a shortage of 916 homes,” she said. “Critically, the Scottish Government has set a requirement for local authorities to identify a housing land supply and maintain this supply for at least five years.

“This presents a huge opportunity for local landowners and farmers, who have been invited to provide assessments of land they would like to make available for housing delivery.

“Now is the time for landowners to seek professional and informed advice about assets and potential development land. We are working with a number of landowners across the region providing specialist advice on planning policy and enforcement issues as well as site appraisals, applications and site valuations.

“The planning system in both England and Scotland can be complicated but navigated successfully it can be a tool to raise the value of land and property in a variety of ways. For example, from gaining planning permission for an extension on your home to gaining planning permission for a housing site and selling to a developer. Whatever the situation, George F White is able to investigate the options and provide advice on the best route to achieve our client’s aims and help them maximise value of their assets.

“George F White provides planning consultancy services from the Borders, Northumberland and County Durham down to Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire. The Borders region is a key focus for the business which saw the opening of a local office in Duns in 2014. In the last 12 months, the Duns office has seen a dramatic rise in planning advice requests from local landowners.

“George F White’s Planning and Development team have significant experience in assessing land for housing development and providing assessments to Local Planning Authorities, with success of gaining allocated sites. Offering a bespoke service which specialises in land and development site valuations and sales, the team can ensure maximum value of a particular asset or development site is achieved.

The ‘call for sites’ closes on March 31. If you would like an assessment contact lauradixon@georgefwhite.co.uk or 01665 511996.

I attended the National Farmers’ Union Scotland conference in St Andrews to show support for the industry which is facing challenges on a number of fronts.

The most pressing of these is the lack of urgency by the Scottish Government to process the CAP payments to farmers with more than 60% still waiting to receive cash, despite government promises to do so by the end of January.

I met UK farming minister George Eustice and NFUS president Allan Bowie at the conference to discuss the way forward for helping rural constituencies such as my own, who are really feeling the effects of delays to payments.

This is a completely unacceptable situation for farmers and the government’s inability to carry out this task was shown when an internal document was released to all researchers at Scottish Parliament. The time for politicking on this issue should have ended a long time ago and instead be replaced by delivering real action for farmers across the country.

A £20million loan hardship fund announced by Richard Lochhead is a start, although many farmers would argue that it is too little too late. However, these funds now have to be processed as a matter of urgency.

Africa Trip

Earlier this week I headed out to Africa to visit Mozambique and Malawi in my role as Secretary of State for Scotland where I am spending my time promoting Scottish interests in these two countries on a variety of subjects.

I spent the first part of the week in Mozambique where I promoted Scotland’s links in the oil and gas industry with the country, whilst also celebrating the culture of Scotland with my colleagues and guests.

I have since moved on to Malawi – a country with long-standing links with Scotland and I look forward to continuing this relationship during my visit.

You will be able to read more on my trip in an upcoming edition of The Southern Reporter where I will go into more depth about my visit and the benefits links with these countries can bring to Scotland in the future.

The Forth Road Bridge is to fully reopen tomorrow (Saturday, February 20) at 11pm.

Transport Minister Derek Mackay confirmed the news today and said that the repairs to the damaged main span truss end links are in the final stages and that they will be completed to allow the bridge to be reopened to HGVs on Saturday.

The bridge has been available to ninety per cent of users since Wednesday 23 of December and since then the bridge operator Amey has been working around the clock to finish the strengthening programme to give all classes of vehicle which used the bridge prior to closure access again.

This re-opening follows a phased reintroduction of HGVs in the past two weeks with around 1600 taking advantage of the night-time running hours.

Favourable weather conditions during that period have provided welcome relief to the storms during January, meaning that the team has been able to complete this phase of the works ahead of programme. They have also re-engineered the construction phase to allow the majority of steelwork fabrication to be done in workshop conditions, reducing the impact of the weather.

Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: “It is great see the Forth Road Bridge fully reopening this weekend. The immediate repair work is in the final stage and no further structural defects have been identified during painstaking investigations by engineers.

“I know that this is something that will be welcomed by the tens of thousands of drivers who use the bridge on a daily basis, especially the heavy goods vehicle drivers who have had to observe restricted crossing times in the past few weeks. I would like to thank them for their patience during this time and stress again that safety and the long-term integrity of the bridge had to be our main considerations. We did all we could to assist the HGV community on an operational level and they have shown great forbearance.

“Tribute should be paid to the engineering team that has been relentless in its commitment to getting this structure reopened. The team has worked tirelessly throughout despite very challenging weather conditions, employing innovative approaches to the repairs and putting in place very effective solutions to complex problems.

“The sophisticated monitoring systems that have been installed on the bridge will remain. The operators Amey have also taken the opportunity to give the Forth Road Bridge a full structural a health check and undertaken routine maintenance lessening the need for further closures.”

Mark Arndt Amey’s Account Director for the Forth Road Bridge said: “Getting to this stage is the result of months of hard work from our team and partners and we’re hugely appreciative of the dedication shown by everyone involved during, what has been, a very challenging time.

“The finish line is now in sight and by Saturday, we’ll have completed all the necessary repairs to safely reopen both the north and south bound carriageway to all traffic.”

Active Kids is back at Sainsbury’s Kelso. Customers can collect vouchers in store until May 3 to help registered schools, groups and clubs across Roxburghshire/Berwickshire get sports and cooking equipment, and experiences.

Customers receive a voucher for every £10 they spend in supermarkets, and one for every £5 they spend in convenience stores.

Over the years the scheme has expanded to help inspire healthy eating for children and includes items of cooking equipment to get them involved. There is also a range of free Cooking and Nutrition Toolkits – endorsed by the British Nutrition Foundation. They are available to teachers to help children learn about a balanced diet.

This year the scheme has a new strand to it, the Taste Buddies Challenge has been introduced to help parents try new foods with their children.

Youngsters who enjoy a wider variety of foods are more likely to enjoy a healthy balanced diet. The challenge will encourage children across the UK to broaden their diets by trying a wider variety of foods by going on a flavour-inspired tasting adventure.

Using research to find out key food groups that children typically struggle with, Sainsbury’s has identified five gateway foods, using the five key taste areas, which will help parents introduce their children to these tricky food types. It found that more than 50% of children are more likely to try new foods when they help cook it themselves. Helpful toolkits are available on the Active Kids website.

During the few sunny days we had last week, the birds were definitely in spring mood with several starting to sing at daybreak and even a great spotted woodpecker was drumming for all it was worth.

At the time of writing however, the snow is back and my garden bird feeders are a hive of activity.

I know most of us love feeding the birds, but an e-mail I had from Galshiels reader B.S. last week, made me wonder if we were actually killing them with kindness.

He told me: “I do the weekly garden bird count for BTO’s garden bird watch and recently e-mailed them about sickness/deaths I was seeing in ‘my’ birds over the past 12 months.

“I have been seeing chaffinches showing typical symptoms of trichomonosis almost every month with fatalities occurring regularly.”

They asked him to send a dead bird showing the symptoms, so that they could determine the precise cause of death and this he did, sending them a chaffinch.

The results came back confirming that trichomonosis was the cause, so it is here in the Borders.

Garden feeding stations, if not cleaned regularly, are ideal places for the disease to spread from one bird to another. The symptoms to look out for are - lethargy and fluffed-up plumage, affected birds may drool saliva, regurgitate food, have difficulty in swallowing or show laboured breathing.

Finches are frequently seen to have matted wet plumage around the face and beak. In some cases, swelling of the neck may be visible from a distance. The disease may progress over several days or even weeks, consequently affected birds are often very thin or emaciated. The disease cannot be transferred to humans or pets but if you see birds showing any of the above symptoms, there are several things you can do to avoid the disease spreading.

*Ensure optimal hygiene at garden bird feeding stations, including disinfection

*Consider leaving bird baths empty until no deaths occur. Otherwise, be particularly vigilant to provide clean drinking water on a daily basis. Empty and dry the bird bath on a daily basis (drying kills the Trichomonas organism).

*If many birds in your garden are affected, it is recommended that you consider significantly reducing the amount you feed, or stop feeding for a period (two to four weeks). The reason for this is to encourage birds to disperse, thereby minimising the chances of new birds becoming infected at the feeding station. Gradually reintroduce feeding, whilst continuing to monitor for further signs of ill health.

I hope that not many of you are seeing this horrible disease in your garden birds, but there is more information available by getting the factsheet at www.gardenwildlifehealth.org/disease-factsheets.

Nothing can quite muster and conjure a sign of spring in the countryside than the sight of snowdrops.

Although still in the grip of winter, we can grasp at the first signs of fresh green shoots and swathes of floral white as harbingers of a welcoming warmer world.

Still, snowdrops do depict a bleak but uplifting iconic wintry scene blessed but sanitised, by cold and sleety blasts on woodland banks often by foaming burns; a fragile beauty in abundance when seasonally there is little of note to report.

A walk on the path up Minto Glen this week through the initial hush-inducing mature fir plantation brought me into the old mixed woodland with twisted and gnarled giant beeches – bastions of the estate’s grander past. Subtle and even more rooted in history were the carpets of snowdrops clothing the banks and valley floor by the burn, thrusting up through the rich brown leaf litter their distinct dual colour transcending even that of vibrant green mosses draped over decaying logs – a visible life force transforming the dormant scene of gaunt leafless trees and rotting vegetation.

Time now then to celebrate the Border Snowdrop Festival, part of Scotland’s Gardens celebration of the flower lauded far and wide as something unique and worth experiencing – and gaining greater significance by the year. It’s still early to see them in full flood; you’ve time though to take note and pay them a visit very soon.

Three of the places listed I’ve become acquainted with over the last few years, each having its own distinctive character. For further information, see www.scotlandsgardens.org.

Furthest away is Dawyck, the royal botanical garden just west of Peebles noted for its towering Californian Red Woods, exotic plant specimens and eco café. The Scrape Burn punctures the place, tumbling through in cascades under picturesque arched stone foot bridges and lined just now with swathes of snowdrops under those majestic trees; rather formal, but brimming with white florescent splendour viewed from easily-accessed terraced paths.

Nearer to home is Kailzie Garden, this side of Peebles, immortalised by Raeburn’s portrait (1805) of the then residents – a Mr and Mrs N. Campbell – caught strolling arm in arm in happy harmony around the estate. Here there are drifts stretching out in all in directions from the tumbling burn crossed by rustic wooden bridges with matching arbours for sanctuary in inclement weather to winding paths, altogether a more informal gentle woodland setting.

Finally, to Dryburgh Abbey, hidden away in a sheltered loop of the Tweed, noted as the final resting place of Sir Walter Scott and Field Marshall Lord Haig; a place steeped in history and tranquillity. They’ve colonised grassy banks and mounds, along with carpets of yellow Lesser Celandines – a sharp contrast to the magnificent evergreen cedars and sequoia shadowing the extensive ruins; a time to roam, reflect and absorb the natural surroundings.

Scotland’s Gardens Snowdrop Festival runs until March 13.

It is a very sad fact that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, with a Kennel Club Pedigree Class for the past 80 years and from an historic line stretching back over 200 years, has acquired such a negative reputation in the minds of the general public in recent years.

Due largely to their overriding desire to please they are easy to train and, unfortunately, those individuals that wish to use this trait to imbed aggression find the Staffordshire is ideal for their warped aim.

The unfortunate effect of this small minority of bad owners is that the breed has become the stereotypical ‘dangerous’ dog and this has had a terrible impact on the perception of them. The net result has been that almost a culture of fear has developed in the public’s mind and we hear the result of this on a daily basis at our centre.

When people phone us with a general enquiry about the dogs we have at that time and we tell them about the Staffordshires we have, we are often met with a flat ‘oh no, I don’t really trust those types of dogs’ or words to that effect.

In fact we, at Borders Pet Rescue, take part in an annual survey run by the Association of Cat and Dog Homes who are the overseeing body throughout Britain’s rescue centres. This survey takes a snapshot of the types and breeds of dogs we all have in on a particular day. The shocking result for the past three years, on average, has been that around 50% of all dogs in all the centres have been Staffordshire or Staffordshire Cross. So, in other words, half of all dogs in rescue centres right across Britain come from just this one breed!

The rehoming rate for these dogs is significantly slower, in general, than for other breeds and we regularly see them staying with us for a year, and often much longer. Unfortunately our experience is clearly not unique.

Obviously there are will always be differences in individual’s personalities but, in general, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (SBT) is friendly, affectionate and enthusiastic. They are not the most reserved of dogs and can be quite excitable, meaning that even when well trained, they can require repeated reminders to settle. They are easy to train since the desire to please is extremely strong in their personality. As an added bonus the puppies are very easy to house train!

Tickets have gone on sale today for the Flying Scotsman’s first passenger trips for 16 years.

The famous engine will make trips from Edinburgh on the new Borders Railway, as well as separate journeys over the Firth of Forth, into Fife.

Marcus Robertson, chairman of operator Steam Dreams, which is organising 14 runs with Flying Scotsman across Britain, said: “Of all the trips, our visit to Edinburgh, bringing this iconic engine back to Scotland, is by far the most significant.”

The locomotive was last in Scotland in 2000 when it visited Edinburgh during a trip on the east coast main line, hauling the luxury train of the same name from the 1920s to the 1950s.

City & Guilds and CITB second year painting and decorating apprentices at Borders College enjoyed a presentation and practical session with Kevin and James from Johnstone’s Trade Paint.

After the presentations by Johnstone’s Trade Paint staff and a workshop which involved applying aqua water based gloss onto moulded panels the students then went into competition mode, painting a flat egg-shaped area in one colour to the best possible quality in less than five minutes. The winner, second year apprentice Derek Stoddart received a goodie bag of Johnstone’s products.

The campaign highlighting the need for people with Parkinson’s Disease to get their medication on time has the support of South of Scotland MSP Paul Wheelhouse (SNP).

Parkinson’s UK are currently running a Get it on Time campaign highlighting that even a 10-minute delay can affect people, and could lead to them being unable to move, speak, eat or swallow, or have uncontrolled movements and hallucinations. It can take weeks to stabilise someone’s symptoms.

After meeting local health professionals Paul said: “There are thought to be 228 people living with Parkinson’s in the Scottish Borders at the moment.

“What we heard was that those individuals are at risk of becoming seriously unwell if they don’t receive their medication precisely on time when they are in hospital, or when receiving social care at home or in a care home.

“I recently met local healthcare professionals from the region at a Parkinson’s UK event in the Scottish Parliament and was concerned to learn that people can often receive their Parkinson’s medication at the wrong times – perhaps where there are inflexible timings for medicine rounds in a ward - despite the fact that, in particular, this can make people with Parkinson’s very unwell.

“I heard that for patients with advanced symptoms this is particularly important.

“Hospitals and care homes must be capable of being seen as safe havens for people with Parkinson’s and I have written to NHS Borders to ask what procedures and practices they have in place to ensure that people with Parkinson’s get their medication on time, every time and also to enquire as to plans to invest in specialist nursing provision, given Borders has growing numbers of people being diagnosed.”

Four youth workers from the Borders have been shortlisted for the National Youth Worker of the Year Awards.

Girlguiding leader Kirsteen MacKenzie has been nominated for her work with local young women.

A member of Girlguiding Tweed Valley, she has been a Brownie Leader in Selkirk for over 20 years. Kirsteen has made a real difference to countless girls and young women as well as supporting and mentoring adult volunteers. A young woman supporting her nomination said “I have benefitted a lot from the work Kirsteen has done. She’s always giving up her time and doesn’t often receive the recognition she deserves.”

David Hodson from Peebles is in the frame for Climate Change Champion of the Year for his work with Tweedale Youth Action. In partnership with Peebles High School, Police Scotland and PeeblesCAN, David has driven innovative green projects, increasing young people’s awareness of climate change. The Food Punks project combines Peeble’s CAN garden project with cooking classes, with youngsters learning about food from field to plate.

Graham Easton, CLD Worker at Peebles High School who put David forward for this award said: “David is a true Green Champion, his vision is designed around the need to reduce everybody’s carbon footprint while ensuring young people can still enjoy structured, sustainable and progressive youth work delivery.”

YouthBorders have been nominated for their youth arts programme ‘Thinking Differently on Alcohol’. The project in Galashiels is up for the Arts and Creativity Award.

Clare de Bolle, chief officer of YouthBorders said the project is successful because it connects young people and encourages them to take control: “It empowers young people to take the lead and educate their peers on how important it is to look out and support each other on alcohol.”

Another continued success story of Borders youth work, VOMO TV, also based in Galashiels, has also been shortlisted for the Arts and Creativity Award. Lisa Cowan, youth media development worker, said: “VOMO TV is one of the most innovative youth-arts projects in Scotland. It offer youngsters opportunities to develop skills through exciting TV and film activities using state of the art equipment, all free of charge. It brings new artistic experiences and the often inaccessible world of media directly to young people where they can develop their technical skills to produce their own media and speak with their own voice.”

Last year there were almost 400 drain blockages in Hawick and Galashiels alone and Borders residents are being asked to re-think their bathroom habits.

Scottish Water say only three things should be flushed down the toilet - pee, poo and toilet paper. Everything else should be put in a waste bin says the company’s ‘Keep the water cycle running smoothly’ campaign.

Hawick and Galashiels sewer networks were found to have the most blockages in 2015 with 263 and 119 respectively.

Approximately 37,000 blockages in Scotland’s drains and sewer network last year were attended by Scottish Water and around 80 per cent of these resulted from inappropriate items being flushed down sinks and toilets.

Scott Fraser, campaign manager at Scottish Water, said: “The majority of sewer blockages are entirely avoidable as they are caused by items such as wipes, nappies and sanitary items being put down toilets.

“The waste water drain which runs from your house to the public sewer is usually only about four inches wide, which is less than the diameter of a DVD.

“This drain is designed to take only the used water from sinks, showers and baths and pee, poo and toilet paper (the three ps), from the toilet.

“The message for customers is to put all bathroom waste items in the bin.

“We are committed to reducing the impact of sewer blockages and the misery of sewer flooding which can be caused in homes, businesses and in streets.

“In some circumstances this issue can affect Scotland’s beaches and coastal environment. We at Scottish Water are determined to do all we can to protect and enhance Scotland’s natural environment.

Scottish Water volunteers carry out beach cleans and will be visiting coastal towns and village as part of this campaign.

Plans are in place to build a complete multimedia record of the Borders during World War One, and the public are being urged to share their stories.

People from the Galashiels community are being invited to contribute to the ‘Saving and Sharing the Borders experience: Scottish Borders Stories of World War One’ project by coming along to an event in Trinity Parish Church on Saturday, March 12, from 10.30am-4pm.

The day is a chance for anyone from the local area to bring along their letters, diaries, photographs or other memorabilia and share their family’s memories of the First World War.

A variety of other activities will also be available. The Langlee Community Choir will perform a set of songs from the period at noon, while Alan Cumming’s popular talk on Scottish Women’s Hospitals during WWI will take place at 3pm. Atendees will also be able to meet characters from the time and see a collection of First World War artefacts provided by the Living History Society ‘Scots and the Great War’.

Councillor Vicky Davidson, executive member for culture, sport, youth and communities at Scottish Borders Council (SBC) said: “The aim of this unique project is to document the impact and significance of the turbulent WW1 years on our local and national heritage.

“This is a chance for people from Galashiels and the surrounding area to share their own memories and experiences and contribute to the picture being gathered for the Borders as a whole.

“We are particularly keen to hear from the generation who has a direct link with those who participated as we are only too aware that these people are inevitably getting older and this may be our last chance to capture their recollections.”

‘Saving and Sharing the Borders experience: Scottish Borders Stories of World War One’ is a two-year project being co-ordinated by the council’s museums, archives and library services.

It aims to provide a unique and lasting commemorative record of the First World War and its legacy for the Borders.

The project will document the region’s social and family heritage of this period by recording material in various formats, including scans, photographs and sound recordings, so that it can be made widely available and secured for future generations.

It is being funded by £33,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £21,000 from the Armed Forces Covenant.

More information about the project, including volunteer opportunities, is available from Project Officer, Morag Cockburn on 01450 360699 or at: archives@scotborders.gov.uk