Berwickshire News, February 23rd

Well after the excitement of the Recycling Road Show yesterday, I totally forgot that I'd picked up the News on the way back....

Front page news is that Eyemouth High School gets a mixed report from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, Whitsome village hall fund has received a significant boost of a £300,000 grant from the National Lottery. The big picture on the front page is that of a sorry-looking Flemington Inn - a landmark on the A1 as the First-and-Last Pub in Scotland - subject of a blaze that has destroyed 80% of the building, a blaze being treated as suspicious by the Fire Service. Oh and the Coldstream Hospital Action Group have delivered their alternative action plan to the closure proposal (put forth by NHS Borders - which the News mentions is as unpopular on the English side of the Border as it is in Coldstream).

There are plans to investigate the possibility of further developing the Jim Clark Memorial Rally (JCMR) - which attracts 30,000 spectators and 250 competitors. The JCMR is due to take place over the weekend of July 7th & 9th this year.

There are 2 stories about the aftermath of Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD) locally, and a slightly more concerning headline "Torness nuclear waste dumped at Dunbar" - it transpires that according to British Energy (who run the plant and presumably threw away the waste in question) someone would get more radiation from eating a small bag of brazil nuts, Friends of the Earth disagree of course. SEPA have investigated and found a "fundamental lack of control" at Torness. The waste itself was recovered after some "unusual vibrations" shutdown reactor 2 in 2002. Another figure bandied around in the article is that you would receive 40,000 times the dose of radiation merely by "living in Cornwall with it's natural granite"

After last weeks petition to Holyrood about the A1 junction at Reston, it's being looked at - the response by the Transport Minister is described as "pathetic" as it ran to a form letter saying it was being "currently investigated" but no further information.

In his weekly "Mound" column, Euan Robson MSP concentrates on the aftermath of the decision of SBC to cut a teacher from every high school in the region - he's particularly concerned that this is going against the trend for more teachers - why his executive couldn't fund local authorities correctly in the first place is not given any prominence.

Off to Dodge City with Sheriff Kevin Drummond in the chair dishing out justice to all the miscreants in the district.First up a not guilty verdict in a saga worthy of a soap opera revolving around the landlord, the landlady, a barred customer, his skin colour and a lot of swearing in a Coldstream pub. An Eyemouth man palced on a treatment order at his own request after being found in possession of heroin with intent to supply - the treatment order being reviewed every four weeks. A 16-year-old painter who, after consuming a large volume of alcohol, caused £200-worth of damage to the Co-Op in Eyemouth by running into the glass doors and then into the metal shutters of a shop around the corner. Compensation £200, sentence deferred. £200 fine and 6 points to a careless driver on the main road between Grantshouse and Co'path.

In it's own special column a disqualified driver on his 4th similar offence, was sent down for 3 months and banned for 6 years - his latest offence being a mere 11 days since the last appearance before a sheriff. The total number of convictions noted by Sheriff K - 2 drunk driving, 4 driving whilst disqualified now. Some understatement from Sheriff K too "you clearly ignore court orders" - why a 6th offence to take him behind bars ?

The long overdue return of rail to the Borders (the only mainland local authority region with no rail stations) will stop at Tweedbank and will not continue on to Hawick and beyond - to much gnashing of teeth from the SNP MSP.

Eyemouth beach is 100kg lighter of rubbish after a cleanup of the beach by volunteers - 600 bags of rubbish! Scottish Water are also launching a campaign to stop fly tipping - if you see any flytipping call SEPA on 0845 601 8855.

Roll up! Roll up! It's the Wild West Recycling Show!

Well I went to the Recycling Roadshow as promised today.... Armed with the camera, and when I asked if I could take a few photos for a friend unable to attend, the answer was a guarded "no" - not for publication at least (and this counts with it's burgeoning readership of 3)

Anyway - the roadshow itself ran to 3 display tables, a pile of bins, some example recycling bags and some example rubbish.

What gets delivered - well depending on your rural or urban setting you will get a black wheelie bin, a years supply of lilac bags, a years supply of clear bags and then for rural people it will be a composting bin, for the urban a green-lidded wheelie bin for garden waste. I enquired what constitutes a years supply and the answer is 50 bags - they assume that there will not be a bagful every week and that most people will be away for 2 weeks a year, and that a collection is usually missed at Christmas (so presumably we're getting bonus extra bags by that way of thinking)

The bags have a list printed on them what is acceptable content - but they don't say what isn't - so the advice is "if it ain't on the list it ain't goin' in"

The hardest thing for people to get right is likely to be the plastics recycling - only type 1 and type 2 plastics are suitable for recycling (most plastic has a triangle with a number in or near it to tell you the type - examples of the logos can be found here) other types are not. Some carrier bags also have type 1 or type 2 markings - but they are not acceptable currency for the recycling team at SBC.

The delivery of the bins and bags is managed by an external contractor, so SBC has no clear control over what's being delivered to where and when, so they were unable to say when they would arrive at the Paper Boy's residence.

You'll be notified by a postcard similar to the contraband photo attached when the scheme starts - the postcard has a magnetic strip on the back so you can stick it to the fridge to remind yourself to put out the right coloured bags on the right days.

I asked why the obsession with recycling volumes, when it's consumption that is the issue... of course it's a three-headed approach - but as I guessed earlier, consumption reduction and material reuse (internally by the consumer) are much harder to quantify than the amount of material recycled.

Any owners of .uk registered domains

You might like to read this and this as a matter of urgency - Nominet who hold the contract for the .uk domain are trying to change their rules so that

(a) only 75% of any votes cast are required to make changes instead of the current 90%
(b) they can pay a dividend in future - being a not-for-profit organisation there should be no profits to pay dividends from of course..... if there are surpluses they should be used to reduce domain registration and renewal costs - all the entities that might gain from the dividend are already making money from the registrations without receiving kickbacks.

It's your internet - register your displeasure.

Random Observation

Both the Northumberland Gazette and the Berwickshire News are published by the same parent company - the cover price of the Gazette is 50p, the cover price of the News is 55p.... is there a systematic cross-border subsidy at work ?

We should be told.

Berwickshire News, February 16th

There's a huge makeover planned for Gunsgreen House in Eyemouth - apparently it's just been realised that the interior is as significant in architectural terms as the outside. A figure of £2m is mentioned.

The "Recycling Roadshow" is coming to town apparently - at least if you live in Gordon, Duns or Coldstream - to offer householders the opportunity to learn how to use the new kerbside recycling facilities that are due to hit Berwickshire's streets in March. Examples of bags (do they think we haven't seen a bag before ?) a home composter and a wheeled bin will be on hand too - the excitement is palpable (if time permits and the excitement isn't too overwhelming, The Paper Boy will attend one of these events and report back for those who aren't convenient to them, in case there are confusions about putting things in bags or bins).

RAF Police have been conducting speed checks in the Borders too - but don't worry - it's on the low-flying military jets that streak across the rooftops in the locale. Just like the camera vans of the regular constabulary, they set themselves up unannounced so the pilots were unaware until they saw the flash from the camera.... Although one has to question how many low-fly areas there are that the RAF Police could get to in a reasonable time from their base, and would the absence of the radar gun etc from the base not be noted in a ledger somewhere - news of which might make it back to Biggles & crew before they took to the skies.

The "Coldstream Hospital Action Group" has drawn up a 30-page action plan for 'viable development' in response to the closure proposal document from NHS Borders.

The Leet Water has been subjected to a discharge of raw sewage for the fourth time in eight months - an extensive investigation by Scottish Water concluded that the first three were down to builders rubble (probably from the building of the Paper Boy's house) and the last was a simple "choke" (which is apparently caused by flushing inappropriate items down the "kludgie") - but it's all OK because the SEPA have concluded that no environmental damage has occurred as a result of the leaks.

More speed camera news (don't they know that they're called "safety cameras" these days) - they've been active in the camera van all over the Borders this week - helpful to tell us where they've been.....

Off to Dodge City with Sheriff Drummond once again in the chair dishing out justice left, right and centre: Seahouses man for assaulting a minor from Ayton - who will be admonished on August 9th, if he stays out of trouble. A Duns woman involved in a domestic causing a breach of the peace - sentence deferred to August 9th. A drink driver who had already talked to the police after failing to leave a house (that wasn't his) fined £300 and banned for 2 years. Sentence deferred on 3 youths for a frenzy of vandalism in Eyemouth. Late night loud music and banging cost an Eyemouth man £200 at Sheriff Drummond's hand after he showed a "complete disregard for his neighbours" - poor man was only celebrating his first wage in a new job - although it was mentioned that he abused staff at Eyemouth Police station and made suggestive remarks to female staff. So in all the Sheriff relieved the miscreants of Duns & district of £500 and left himself some bankers for August in case it's quiet.

The Local MSP's "Mound of Information" column opens with a whinge at BT for apparently reneging on a commitment to put Berwick numbers in the Borders phone book - although they have apparently offered Northumberland directories free of charge to those that ask. (The Paper Boy is aware of some Borders residents who get a Northumberland phone book even though they clearly live in Scotland although they do have a Berwick/English phone number so there is at least some cover there for BT to hide behind). Apparently the next biggest thing on his plate is the state of the bus shelter in Eyemouth Co-Op car park. Thirdly the post-natal unit at Berwick Infirmiary is no longer available to Scottish residents, and the MSP is seeking clarification. Finally he closes with the "and finally" bit that whilst on campaign in the Dunfermline by-election he saw a notice on a letterbox "no more election trash" but posted his leaflet anyway as "it clearly did not qualify" - what a waste of paper! Fancy not respecting the resident's attempt to "reduce" rather than "recycle", perhaps too much to expect a politician to listen to the views of the electorate.

Usually I just skip over the sport - but there's a picture of the Berwick Rangers U19 squad, although in homage to the best Eddie Shah tradition the colours are not aligned correctly on my copy, so not one of the players or staff are recognisable. A great shame for all that are pictured.

Northumberland Gazette, February 16th

Big front pager in the Gazette is the fire that swept through one of Alnwick's oldest buildings destroying the IT business occupying it.

Another supermarket has joined the frenzied dash for Alnwick as Lidl are reported to be in the market to open a store in Alnwick, on the back of the revelations last week in the Gazette that Sainsbury's were close to putting in an application.

The first item of Amble news - a pupil has been expelled from Coquet High School for smoking cannabis.

A retired gentleman in Felton is being hailed a hero for spending 4 hours of his own time picking up litter around the village - he's reportedly happy doing it, but it's a sad state of affairs that he needs to.

Next item of Amble news is that there are 'dogbombs' (my words not the Gazette's) all over the place, and the town council is urging anyone seeing any being deposited and not cleaned away to call the district council to report it.

Witness appeal following an assault - in Amble, an attempted burglary at Warkworth Castle shop, a bus window smashed following a bottle-throwing incident, a car window smashed in Amble by the application of a brick.

Oh, and crime in Alnwick & Amble is down by 21% this year.

A former postmaster from Lucker is facing 12 months porridge after £13k went missing from the Post Office he formerly ran - it's a heck of a lot of stamps!

A mother filmed her own 14-year-old son attacking her for apparently not taking him to the pub as arranged, the result - a 12-month conditional discharge.

The Aln Valley Railway Trust is one step closer to re-opening the line between Alnwick & Alnmouth, initially as far as Lionheart Ind. Est. (neatly avoiding the need to build an expensive crossing of the A1) with the possibility of a park and ride facility in future, although to whence the ride would apply is not clear - the idea of P&R to downtown Alnwick is probably a bit far-fetched though.

In an item entitled "Hot Property" the Gazette reports that the radiators were stolen from a showhome on a development in Amble and further down the column - a tax disc was stolen from a vehicle also in Amble.

In another train-related item, apparently it's full steam ahead for a road train from Alnwick Garden via the castle to the town centre. A "half-hour historical trip" which will include a commentary on the history of Alnwick and places of interest. It's hoped that it'll relieve parking problems in Alnwick, although at £2 per adult, plus parking charges at the Alnwick Garden, it seems a little optimistic to the Paper Boy.

On the letters page, there's a follow-up to last weeks league table of recycling in Alnwick & district.... Apparently the league tables are compiled automatically by having all the bins chipped so they know which houses are recycling how much, and the letter author's garden was invaded by two uninvited 'officials' from the council checking up the tag, because it hadn't been registered by the vehicle. The writer is concerned on three points - firstly that the council officials marched in uninvited and unannounced, secondly that the league tables cannot be relied on because the bins didn't register, thirdly upon the inception of the plan they were told that the bins were not individually identifiable although the officials had a list of addresses and non-registering bins and that it might be a short step from "your bin isn't registering" to "you're not recycling enough" (as the Paper Boy has mentioned previously - measuring recycling volume in isolation is no measure of one's green credentials - reuse or reduce, then recycle).

A Glanton man was banned from driving, for driving whilst disqualified - apparently the Police were alerted to the vehicle which was in a poor state of repair, and noticed that it was displaying an excise licence (assume they meant "it wasn't"). The defendant apparently remarked to the court that he "took a chance" and was now "here to take the punishment". The sentence handed down 100 hours community service, plus an additional 12 months ban on top of the ban he already had and £55 costs.

New plans for 20 houses in Powburn have once again been rejected bythe local parish council - the original plan was for 27 - on the grounds of increased traffic on the main road, and pressure on the local sewerage system, and a lack of affordable housing in the plan. Plans go before the district council in late March.

Berwickshire News, February 9th

Big story on the front page is about a row between the Scottish Executive & the local authorities over funding - the usual story for February/March time anywhere in the United Kingdom really.

Despite lower than normal rainfall, and the Tweed being at it's lowest January level since 1997, Scottish Water maintain that there is no need for a hosepipe ban. Although "As ever we recommend consumers to use water more wisely. Never put just a half load into the washing machine, don't leave the taps running and try and [editor: should be 'try to'] have showers instead of baths" (I have to mention here that the Paper Boy was told about 4 months ago "Scotland's got plenty water, run your taps as long as you like" - by a Scottish Water workman following a discolouration incident precipitated by a fire tender pumping a considerable - probably unmetered, free - volume of water from the main).

1000 Letters of Protest have been received by NHS Borders regarding the proposed closure of the cottage hospitals in Coldstream & Jedburgh. Apparently the march last month in Coldstream was so successful that second march planned has been cancelled in favour of a coffee afternoon.

Other highlights from the front page - A fight in Duns, between a female (36) and a male (18) on Saturday morning and in a separate incident another male (18) committing a breach of the peace in Duns.

Excitement on page 2 where the number 23 bus between Berwick & Kelso is to be discontinued, and replaced by a number 67 bus. Timetable changes will ensue - notably the cancellation of the 9am Kelso-Berwick service, but the great news is that the 67 route takes in St. Boswells and Galashiels. Of course being a service bus it's likely to take about a week to reach the terminus, and cost a fortune to use. No mention of through ticketing to other destinations off-route - but it does mention that it connects with other routes, so progress of sorts.

Greenlaw Town Hall is in the news because there are plans to change it into a community/commercial centre - an improvement from the eyesore centre it's been for as many years as the Paper Boy can remember. Apparently the options considered are conversion into flats, new build retaining the facade, community use, a community/commercial mix, demolish or nothing. Hopefully whatever they do, it's tidied up - because it is (well was) a handsome building in a prime spot in downtown Greenlaw.

After a short interval of a mere 493 years - they don't want to be accused of unseemly haste, the time has come for a permanent memorial to the dead of the Battle of Flodden Field (which took place on Branxton Hill on September 9th, 1513 - I wonder why it's not called the Battle of Branxton Hill then ?). Anyway, who says things run more slowly in the countryside ?

The local MSP's column on page 5 in the Berwickshire starts off with a piece about road safety and the need for an improved junction on the A1 at Reston (it is a poor junction, but to be fair a lot of the A1 between Morpeth and Dunbar is poor and should be improved) and ends with what looks on first glance like a defence of the hospital closure (this is the same MSP that is trying to obtain a debate on the hospital closures at Holyrood on page 1).

Lots of court round up from Duns Sheriff Court (Sheriff Drummond presiding): Assault on a paramedic by a Duns man under the influence, an Eyemouth man jailed for robbery, vandalism of the Jim Clark clock (try saying that after 12 pints of heavy) by a Chirnside man, breach of the peace by a Duns woman, 2 Eyemouth women on driving charges (mainly driving without insurance - so it appears it's somewhere not to have an accident), an assault by a Spittal youth (in drink) on his ex-girlfriend's new partner (also in drink) at Reivers' (drinking) Week in Duns, a Lauder man for racially aggravated breach of the peace in Duns and finally a straightforward example of "general loutish behaviour that happens on the street and causes trouble" in Duns. Total fines handed down £1525, penalty points 24, 6 months custody and 2 sentences deferred.

Cashcard skimming has reached the Borders! A skimming incident in the bright lights of Kelso. Lothian and Borders Police have issued an alert to businesses owning or operating ATMs (which it helpfully tells us are Automatic Teller Machines) to be alert to the possibility of skimming. Then it continues to tell the full story of what happens with a skimmed card.

According to the Farm Focus column there are mixed feelings about the publication of farm subsidy payments - with figures ranging from £20.36 to £307000 in the Borders. Cue lots of covetous glances at neighbours' subsidy cheques.

More court reports - this time from Berwickshire District Court - Failing to provide information about a driver £200 & 3 points, Assault £150, Breaking windows without reasonable excuse £100, Vandalism £50, Shouting - swearing - and gesturing in an offensive manner £110, No car tax £100 + £73.34 in back tax, Carrying a pillion passenger with a provisional licence £125 + 3 points, Said pillion passenger having no helmet further £100, lorry speeding twice at the same point on the A1 £200 + 6 points, 2 other speeders £100 + 3 points each, shouting - swearing - acting in a disorderly manner £150 - another tidy sum there in fines - if they're ever collected.

More from Dodge City & district (aka Duns & Berwickshire) next week!

Northumberland Gazette, February 2nd

Well it's off to Alnwick for all the fun of the Gazette (incredibly I found a copy of last week's issue at work)....

Main Headline on the front page: STORE WARS - apparently Tesco are upset that Sainsbury's are planning to put in a planning application for a supermarket. So what ? Well Tesco were denied planning permission in 2003 by our dearest beloved Deputy PM, and of course the Gazette was writing about a very similar story back in 1997/8 (see Alnwick on Lion)

"Illegal Roadworks" are causing "chaos" in Shilbottle apparently - where contractors for Northumbrian Water are accused of blocking roads for hours, commandeering the village shop carpark and other unspeakable misdemeanours and without the proper pieces of paper.

There was a plane crash reported in the Ingram valley, which turned out to be nothing more than a controlled burning - but not until craft had been dispatched from RAF Boulmer, and fire appliances from both Wooler and Alnwick.

Jools Holland is apparently contracted to appear at the Alnwick Music Festival in July for a spot of "high energy boogie-woogie" in late July.... I hope the residents of Alnwick can cope!

Two youths arrested after a "vandalism spree" across Amble the previous weekend. A (presumably) different youth arrested for a burglary at the school in Amble. A mobile phone worth £169.99 (not £170 - oh no - approximately £169.99) stolen from a handbag, in - you guessed it - Amble. Plants stolen from a garden in (where else) Amble, and finally for Crimewatch Amble - damage to a car in Gordon Street.

There's apparently a recycling team league in Alnwick district - and only about 100 newspapers separated the top 3 places in the "Premier League" - now of course it could be that the residents of the other team areas are reducing and reusing, rather than recycling - however that's presumably more difficult to measure so they concentrate on recycling figures. In an unrelated incident a lorryload of waste paper jacknifed on the A1 blocking the road for a while (maybe the local residents should have dashed out to recycle the paper to improve their chances in the league next month)

Alan Castle's editorial column headlines with an item on the impending crisis in electricity generation, has a small part on youth disorder in Longhoughton, and the piece de resistance - Alan is delighted that his long running campaign for the return of white dog poo has reached Terry Wogan's ear, apparently both Alan and Lord Wogan have been digging around in poo to find out more and the most prominent theory is that it's to do with BSE regulations prohibiting bones being fed to dogs - although whether Alan or Lord Wogan originated the theory is not mentioned.

Apparently plans to rebuild and reopen Belford station are afoot - the once daily train in each direction from/to Chathill to/from Newcastle already has to go as far as Belford in order to turn around, so it makes sense. The chairman of the Belford Rail Users Group said "If they think we will go away in Belford they have another thing coming" (although presumably not a train).

So what's this all about then ?

It's my intent to peep through the keyhole of the local regional newspapers and pick out the choice stories for you the disinterested reader.

The publications I'll look into are the Berwickshire News (eastern Borders), Berwick Advertiser (Berwick-upon-Tweed), Northumberland Gazette (Alnwick), Morpeth Herald & Hexham Courant (four of them are clearly published by the same parent company) - now some of these are less local to me than others so may not appear as frequently as I'd like.

Most prominent publication is likely to be the Berwickshire News on Thursdays, delivering news to the eastern Scottish Borders. Others as I acquire them on my travels, or as workmates pass them along.

Why on earth do you want to do this ? Well some time ago, I read a site written by a guy called Bob Mouser called Alnwick On Lion and his reviews of the stories emanating from the Northumberland Gazette made me chuckle.

Just recently I've been reading the blog of a fellow Borderer called Huttonian who provides a periodic update from the court section of the Berwickshire News.... which rekindled my idea.

Since moving to the Scottish Borders, I've noticed that the stories in the Berwickshire News can sometimes be along the same lines, so by extension I've extended my net to the other similar (rural) newspapers in Northumberland - to be expected when you realise that all bar the Courant are part of the same parent company.

If any other such publications fall into my hands on my travels I shall obviously add any stories as appropriate!