Attention All Walkers
PATH BETWEEN BIRGHAM AND HOME FARM & BIRGHAM HAUGH LOOP
The Hirsel Estate have kindly grass seeded a wide strip of land within the field on the north side of the A698 between the village and the turnoff to Ferneyrig with grass to form a path to allow villagers to walk this route avoiding the main road. It will take until the spring/early summer for this to be well enough established to walk on and it has already been noticed that the ground has been disturbed by both rabbits and by someone on horseback riding along it. At this time we would urge both pedestrians and equestrians to avoid using this area. When the ground is ready, access will be provided albeit, the purpose of the path is for pedestrian use only.
As you may already be aware, the Hirsel Estate is developing the fields to the north of Birgham Haugh for both regenerating partridges and encouraging a wide range of native hedgerow and ground nesting birds. With this in mind, the Estate have now closed off these fields for pedestrian access by the use of gates. To allow us to continue to walk a loop, a strip of land has been grass seeded to the north of the hedge between the two lanes giving access to the Haugh for pedestrian use. Once again, it is requested that we avoid using this area until the grass has become established. It would be greatly appreciated by the Estate if we refrained from entering the fields to the south of this hedge and kept to the path marked in red on the map.
Do We Want a Village Pub?
WELL ATTENDED MEETING DISCUSSED THE FUTURE OF THE FISHERMAN’S ARMS
Many thanks to everyone who came along last Tuesday to the Open Meeting following the distribution/collection of the questionnaires. It was really good to see such a large turnout and the BCDT is very grateful for all your comments.
If you were one of the anonymous people who said you may be interested in taking the proposal of an application to the Scottish Land Fund further and haven't as yet spoken to Bill Burgess, please can you either e-mail Bill @ billanneburgess@outlook.com or alternatively call him on 01890 830395.
Zenobe Community Benefit Fund Update
Zenobe Community Benefit Fund Update
Members of Leitholm, Eccles and Birgham Community Council met with Foundation Scotland representatives in November 2024 to discuss the Zenobe Community Benefit Fund. The Fund will provide £25,000 annually (index-linked) when the Battery Energy Storage System site becomes operational in August 2026.
Foundation Scotland, which manages over 80 community benefit funds across Scotland, will administer the Fund for the community. A local decision-making group will be set up led by Leitholm Eccles and Birgham Community Council. The members will be responsible for making decisions regarding the Fund strategy and spend. The Fund will be able to support both operational and capital costs and the Fund can be adapted as community needs evolve.
It is very helpful that work has already been done to produce a Community Led Plan (Place Plan) setting out community priorities. This will inform a Fund Strategy that will set out the Fund’s priorities and how the Fund will be made available (including the level and frequency of grants and any key criteria etc) Foundation Scotland will run a consultation about this in the winter of 2025/2026.
Foundation Scotland will also run a community benefit workshop later in the year so residents can learn more about community benefit funds and different approaches to community-led grant making.
Residents interested in finding out more or keen to get involved can contact their Community Council representatives.
Meanwhile Zenobe is holding a meeting on 29 January at 7pm at Leitholm Village Hall to inform the community of the plans and programme for the site pre-construction of the main site. Do please come along to meet representatives from Zenobe and learn more about the project.
Notices
Calling All Dog Owners….
As with most rural villages, Birgham is a dog friendly community. In reality, there shouldn't be a problem - you own a dog, it eats, it poos, you clean it up; but regrettably, the problem of dog excrement being left around the village, in the park, fields and on the riverside walk continues to persist.
Volunteers cutting verges and hedges or picking up litter have already had the terrible and unpleasant experience of being contaminated with excrement, It is worth highlighting yet again that dog faeces is a health hazard and can pose a significant risk to humans, particularly young children. Apart from being a filthy, lazy, anti-social and totally irresponsible practice, it is also an offence under the law.
The Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 Act places responsibility to clear up any waste on ‘the person in charge of the dog. This need not be the dogs’ owner. If you are caught allowing a dog to foul and not removing the waste, you are liable for the offence regardless of who actually owns the dog.
Bizarrely, there is also a recent trend for some dog walkers to bag the poop, only to leave it hanging on a tree branch, a hedge, fence or even on a gatepost.
There are a number of litter bins in the village. Bagged dog waste can be put into these litter bins or taken home and disposed of with your domestic waste.
Residents are urged to challenge or report any offenders they might observe. Thanks.
Latest Village News & Upcoming Events
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Photography Club
The photography club met on Tuesday 4th March when the theme was Transport. We enjoyed photos of planes, trains, and automobiles (and everything in between). The winning photo from Ha Long Bay, Vietnam was taken by Mark Andrew showing a typical style of working vessel for transport of local people, tourists, and local supplies.
Note: In reality just some escaped sheep enjoying some ‘pastures new’, boredom on a rainy afternoon, and an opportunity to check if anybody actually reads the website! Apologies to all, I will think twice before putting pun to paper in the future. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
Ewe herd it here first!
SBC [Scottish Borders Cheviots] are apparently trying out a novel scheme for grass cutting in public spaces with the introduction of a travelling flock of Cheviot sheep. The scheme was recently trialled in Birgham, where residents were ewe-nanimous in their support for the idea.
A spokesman for SBC, Mr Shaun Shepherd, said that the concept was shear genius, but emphasised this was only a trial, remarking “You haven’t seen mutton yet”
He went on to state, rather sheepishly, that “The sheep were doing a far better job than conventional grass cutting methods in keeping grass areas, of all sheeps and sizes, sheep-shape”. And as if to ram home his point, he went on to say that this was shearly the sheep of things to come.
Why? Because unlike lanmowers, they weren’t baaa..d for the environment. After all, they didn’t pollute the atmosphere with noise and exhaust fumes…. they didn’t take long tea breaks and didn’t need holidays because they would work all yearling round….. [and they certainly didn’t leave the cemetery gate open after each visit].
Asked if it was problematic transporting the sheep between sites, Mr Shepherd said no, he just used his Lamb Drover.
Adoption of the new scheme will be put to the vote at the next council meeting, where it is tup of the agenda and expected to achieve a lamb-side victory.
But not everybody was flocking to get behind the ewe-nique scheme; “What about all the sheep droppings” said a member of the o-poo-sition, who lambasted the idea. He claimed the SBC were merely a wolf in sheeps’ clothing and that they were simply trying to pull-the-wool over voters’ eyes. “It’s all down to budget chops” he said.
But this reaction was just seen as a sheep-shot and poo-litically driven by the SBC, adding “we have no intention of fleecing anybody.” The SBC cautioned that it was too soon for any ewe-phoria over the success of the project, but those against the plan admitted that there was only a gimmer of hope that the initiative might fail.
Will the scheme work? Personally, I couldn’t give tup-pens wether it does or not …only time wool tell. Yow will be able to watch the vote on TV, but as a lively adult debate and rural language is expected, the vote is only being shorn after the woolshed time of 9pm, but it will also be live streamed on ewetube.
The Marshall Memorial-Update
As you may already be aware, author’s research for the village’s history book “Birgham Through the Pages” revealed the tragic story of a young RAF pilot who was killed in 1945 when his plane exploded in mid-air and crashed on the outskirts of the village.
Plans are now afoot to erect a memorial in the village to the pilot, Flying Officer Rowland Gomm Marshall, from Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire. I am still trying to find if there are any family members that would be interested in being present to mark the unveiling of the memorial later this year, but attempts to try and trace family members of the pilot have so far drawn a blank.
However, the story has attracted some international attention, firstly from an aircraft enthusiast’s website based in Sweden, for the Hawker Tempest, the aircraft involved in the crash and from Gaëtan Marie, a renowned French based aviation artist and illustrator, who has penned a superb memorial illustration of the actual aircraft involved – registration NV709 - shown elsewhere on the website.
Birgham village has been a member of Neighbourhood Watch Scotland [NWS] scheme for over 5 years now and following the advent of Rural Watch - we now wish to “relaunch and reinforce” the NWS scheme for Birgham, incorporating Rural Watch for those properties outside, but still within the immediate vicintity of the village [say ~ <2 miles].
Rural Watch is an extension of the Neighbourhood Watch Scotland movement and a product of the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) aimed specifically at the rural community of Scotland and aims to bring all the benefits of Neighbourhood Watch to the farming and rural business community at large. PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR FURTHER INFORMATION - 07 401 401 911.
I will shortly be distributing the 2024 NWS booklet “SAFER Neighbourhoods - STRONGER Communities” booklet to homes and farms in and around the village. The booklet provides plenty of security advice and tips and describes the benefits of joining the Neighbourhood/Rural Watch scheme for individual households, farms, and businesses and shows you how simple and easy it is to join and receive regular email updates and alerts about all facets of household security and personal safety.
I have a few of the new RURAL WATCH signs available for £30 each. These signs are a useful deterrent for farm access roads. I also have some NO COLD CALLING window decals and other NWS signs, similar to those currently on display around the village. CLICK THE BUTTON TO CONTACT ME!
Heating Fuel Buying Group
Johnson Oils operates a “Buying Group” which supplies heat fuel at discounted prices to several villages, including Birgham. To subscribe to this group, you should telephone Johnson Oils directly on 01835 823001 and ask to join the Birgham group. Please check pricing and remember other suppliers are also available.
Clean & Tidy
Each spring volunteers conduct a clean-up of the litter from the verges around the village and also around the Haugh. Bags/tongs are provided to aid for picking up. Details, dates, and times will be published on the BCDT Facebook page. Please volunteer for ‘clean-up-day’ and play your part all year round in keeping Birgham clean and tidy.
New Residents Booklet
Although new incoming residents to the village are few and far between these days now that the East Haugh development has been completed: a village information and welcome booklet will shortly be available for future newcomers. Please Contact Gordon Mellis for a copy.
Good Neighbours
Can you offer a helping hand when needed? We all love our village and we care about each other. Many of us would like the chance to use free time to be good neighbours to people who live nearby. Many of us have practical skills and capabilities that could aid people who might need a little bit of extra help from time to time.
On the other hand, some people, especially the elderly and less able would love an occasional ‘neighbourly’ hand. Simple things like a friendly chat over a cup of tea; help with things like moving a piece of furniture or something heavy in the garage or garden; taking something to the tip; occasional shopping; running an errand; a helping with a computer or car problem: giving someone a lift to the health centre in Coldstream or Kelso or even the BGH; checking smoke detector batteries; changing light bulbs or exercising the dog. We won’t try to provide services run by the council, charities, or the health service. The intent is only to help with one-off occasional assistance with odd jobs, there is so intention of providing regular services like garden maintenance, taxi service etc. as there are several commercial operators operating these services locally.
If you would like to volunteer or equally important, know someone who could use some help now and again, please contact anybody on the BCDT committee and we will endeavour to respond to all reasonable requests. AND IF YOU NEED HELP, PLEASE DON’T BE SHY - DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT A MEMBER OF THE BCDT COMMITTEE.