If you've got some spare time to help setup the Roberton Show, the latest times are as follows :-

Wednesday (No help required now)

Thursday 31st August 2017 - 6pm - Meet at Show Field to help setup Bar Tent and tables in Industrial Tent

Friday 1st September 2017 - 1pm - Meet at Show Field for table clothing and miscellaeous jobs.

Thank you

The big news this month is that BT MAY be bringing Superfast Broadband to the Borthwickbrae exchange this year. On the Scotland Superfast website, they say they expect to connect the first premises by December 2017, but we know that in other areas these deadlines have regularly come and gone so it’s maybe too early to get excited about it.

Well, I'm reluctant to get my hopes too high, but according to the Scotland Superfast Broadband page, the Borthwickbrae exchange that was previously listed as "Planned" for Superfast Broadband is now saying "Coming Soon", with a date of December 2017 for the first premises to be able to receive Superfast Broadband.

This could mean that the Borthwickbrae exchange is being upgraded as part of Openreach's Gainshare program. Gainshare is the term used to describe the money pot that BT/Openreach had to set aside if the take-up of Superfast Broadband was better than expected. This is money being ploughed back into Superfast Broadband-enabling new exchanges. 

PROMISING !

Thank you to all valley residents who took the time to complete the Valley Survey earlier this year. The surveys have been analysed and the results are in the attached PDF file. Click on "Read More" and then click on the PDF file to download it.

At a recent meeting for Borders Community Broadband, we learned that we have an additional £300,000 to roll out Superfast Broadband to the Borders. This takes the total upto approx £2.2million, which means more homes should be connected.

NESCIO ENSEMBLE from Holland is a young, passionate string orchestra made up of friends brought together by their love of music. Their enthusiasm is contagious and has brought them close to their audiences everywhere. Their concerts and tours are self-organised and not for proft. Playing in the ensemble gives the musicians the chance to play repertoire that they love, together with their friends. Among the pieces they will perform in these concerts are movements from Mozart’s well-loved Quintet KV515, the fantastic Enescu Octet and Mendelssohn’s violin concerto.

See attached for more info !

As you will have seen from the 2017 programme the theme for this year’s supper is Hungarian food and this will take the form of a ‘bring and share’ supper at the Forman Hall on Saturday 4th March at 7.30 p.m. As some members may not be familiar with Hungarian food we have drawn up a list of dishes for the evening which is shown below. All the recipes can be found below.  We would like everyone to bring one dish per couple the quantities required are shown below. Please either download or print the relevant recipes and let me know as soon as possible which dishes you are preparing as once they are allocated the recipes will be removed from the website to avoid duplication. The aim of the evening is to have a wide variety of dishes for us all to try.

Gardener’s Forum

The Gardener’s Forum have planned their calendar of events for 2017:

We begin the year, as always, with the themed supper which will be held on Saturday 4th March at the Forman Hall. As usual it will be a bring and share evening.

Although we are not organising a GF outing to Potato Day it will be held at the Kelso Showground on Sunday 5th March. If you wish to buy your seed potatoes, then this is the place to go.

The much loved and well attended Safari Supper will be held on Saturday 3rd June. As usual we shall be visiting the gardens of three members to enjoy a guided tour and one course before moving on.

Progress continues to be made behind the scenes on our long march to Superfast Broadband.

BT still say they are “planning” to bring superfast broadband to the Borthwickbrae exchange in the last half of 2017. Don’t hold your breath on that one, but we live in hope !

Our best option, in my opinion, is the joint approach that is being undertaken by “Borders Broadband” (formerly Ettrick and Beyond….).

Since the last newsletter article, a great deal of work has been done behind the scenes. A Project Board is now in place, a website developed and a number of avenues to bring Superfast Broadband to the areas involved are being investigated.

No change on the BT front with BT saying they are planning to bring Superfast Broadband to the Borthwickbrae Exchange between July and December 2017. In response to the Ettrick and Beyond State Aid Public Consultation, BT didn’t object to state aid being given to areas covered by the Ettrick and Beyond project, which is a little confusing as if they were planning to bring Superfast Broadband, would they not want to rule out any competition ?! A mixed message !?

Our main hope remains with the Ettrick and Beyond Superfast Broadband project, which continues to gather pace. Here's the latest on that front :-