Latest news with #Heriot
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Borders village of Heriot seeks families to boost school roll
A small village in the Borders has issued a call for families to consider moving to the area to help boost pupil numbers at the local - near the region's northern boundary - has about 160 community has made the plea after pupil numbers at the village primary fell below 26 - the number needed for two classes - for the first time in Williams, who chairs the parent council, said pupils benefited from "really personalised attention from great teachers" and there was also plenty for parents to do. The village is about a 40-minute drive from Edinburgh and also close to the Borders railway station at a number of family homes up for sale, locals hope they can be sold to people with school-age Williams said Heriot's Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels compared "very favourably" with other local said his family moved to the area about five years ago as they felt the children could "thrive in a small school" and also benefit from its "incredible outdoor facilities". "But it's not just about the school's scores: everyone says Heriot children are special," he said."The values the school instils in them and the way the school is embedded in the local area as a hub for events and gathering means that children tend to grow up with a real sense of community spirit and togetherness."He said there were "lots of things" for parents too."Beautiful hill walks are on your doorstep, while the cafes and boutique shops of Innerleithen and Peebles, and the mountain-bike trails at Glentress are just down the road," he said."In Heriot itself there's lots going on too, with a newly refurbished village hall, community cafe, ceilidhs, music nights, Bonfire Night event, pub nights, and an annual sports day to enjoy." Community council secretary Gavin Whittaker said it was hoped people currently living further afield might be drawn to the area."Heriot is located in a beautiful part of the country, with immediate access to some fantastic walking and cycling routes," he said."We'd encourage people living in Edinburgh, Midlothian and elsewhere in the Scottish Borders to come and take a look and see what Heriot can offer you and your family." Scottish Borders Council education officers have met both the community council and parent council in recent weeks to hear their concerns about reducing the number of Pirone, who holds the education portfolio, said: "Heriot is a great school and we fully understand the concerns, but we have to work with the numbers that are in front of us."If the numbers change, we will come back and look at the classes again."Heriot is like many rural areas where there are now a lot less children than there used to be."We have not been very good at taking a joined-up approach at tackling this, and whether it's allowing more houses to be built or finding ways to encourage more families into the area then that is what we should be doing."
Otago Daily Times
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Crescent win to keep top four challenge alive
Crescent capped off their club day in grand fashion with a 39-15 win over Toko that sent the top four of the Southern Region competition into turmoil on Saturday. The first half was fairly even after Toko opened the scoring early, and Crescent fought back into the half to lead 18-10 at the break. The home side carried their momentum into the second half and outscored the visitors three tries to one. Midfielder Ethan Edwards scored another brace to continue his try-scoring form. Lock Tyler Brouwer was Crescent's best on the field and had plenty of support from flankers Ryan Gwynn and Andy Carruthers. Crescent locked away the Eddie Scott Memorial Trophy with this win and are now just one point behind Toko in fourth position as finals time approaches. Clutha proved too strong for Lawrence at Simpson Park in a high-scoring game. The unbeaten competition leaders won 53-31 but allowed Lawrence to play with the ball for long periods, which would have disappointed them. Clutha paid the price early for trying to attack as individuals instead of sticking to structure. Lawrence piled the pressure on and were waiting to pounce on any mistakes gifted to them by an uncharacteristically poor Clutha attack. The halftime score was 24-17 to the visitors. After some stern words at the break, Clutha found their groove and scored some nice tries when they played together as a unit. Lawrence continued to thrive with ball in hand, and midfielder Sam Wyber scored two tries, celebrating his 100th try in Lawrence colours. West Taieri leapfrogged Toko into second place on the ladder with a 57-5 demolition of Heriot at Outram. The home side played with purpose but came up against a resolute Heriot side in the first half. Heriot showed they would not be bullied in the first half and gave as good as they got on both attack and defence, and West Taieri led just 15-5 at halftime. The second half was where the home side flexed their muscles with six unanswered tries as they controlled the proceedings for the entire half. Heriot's lack of depth cost them, and they faltered towards the end of the game. Forwards Luke Moeke and Jaidyn Barringer-Tairi led the way in the West Taieri pack. For Heriot, coach Craig Stanway put in a huge 40 minutes off the bench. Clutha Valley beat Owaka 38-27 in a messy encounter at Clydevale. Neither side could get a foothold in terms of territory and possession, but the home side made the most of their chances. A sluggish first half ended with Valley leading 14-8 as Owaka was again punished for slipping off first-up tackles. The opening phases of the second half belonged to Valley, and while Owaka came back and finished strongly, they could not rein in Valley, who went on to claim their fourth win of the season. — Francis Parker
Scotsman
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
It's a family affair for Hailes in 125th Dispatch Trophy at Braids
Steve and Nathan McCulloch join forces to book semi-final spot for Kingsknowe club Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Ten years after helping Hailes win the Dispatch Trophy, Steve McCulloch is bidding to repeat the feat - and this time playing alongside his son Nathan. The Kingsknowe club progressed to the semi-finals in the 125th edition with a 6&5 win over Kilgour Wealth Management at the Braids. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I'm feeling old compared to these young guys,' quipped 59-year-old McCulloch snr of this year's Edinburgh Leisure-run tournament having involved a new era of players. National World 'I love it up here, the course is immaculate, the golf pretty steady - and it is a joy to play with Nathan!' Team McCulloch finished two up at the front against Sean Marc and Jamie McIntosh while Paul Page and Danny Crolla won four up at the rear over James Keggie and Owen Melrose. 'The seventh was a crucial moment as we'd just chucked away the sixth and I drove the green at the seventh,' reported 25-year-old McCulloch jnr, who has now made the last four in his two appearances in the tournament. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This is the furthest 32-year-old Crolla has progressed while Page is back in the medals at the age of 56. 'The Dispatch has always been a great event to be involved in,' said Page, the current Hailes champion. 'I only stopped playing in it to let some of the youngsters get to experience it, but I am glad that an opportunity came calling for me this year.' Awaiting Hailes in the semi-finals on Saturday morning are Heriot's FP, who came out on top when the teams met in the last eight in the 2024 edition. In a tight encounter, Heriot's FP edged past the Stephen Gallacher Foundation by one hole, meaning the youngest team in this year's event came up just short in the medal hunt. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'That's us used one of our lives,' declared Stuart Langlands as a shot from his playing partner Scott Dickson, having had to take a penalty drop, crept over the gorse on the green at the seventh. It led to the top Heriot's pairing securing an unlikely half in bogeys there before then winning two of the next three holes against Rory McClafferty and Jake Johnston as that eventually finished all square. At the back, Lothians champion Sam Hall and Steven Sinclair, who came in for the watching Fraser Smith, got off to a 'hot start' but then had to dig deep to finish one up on Alexander Yuill and Callum Kenneally. 'We're looking forward to Saturday,' said Dickson. 'We've been in the semi-finals as well the last two years and hopefully we can finally get a gold medal after picking up a silver and bronze.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Six-time winners Silverknowes won the 18th in both matches to finish two up on Edinburgh Academicals. Hugo Rintoul chipped in for an eagle-3 at the sixth in the back match for Accies, with Graham Robertson holing out for a 2 at the par-4 seventh from 108 yards for Silverknowes at the front minutes afterwards. It won't be a repeat of last year's final in the next round for Silverknowes, though, as Duddingston, the winners for the last two years, were knocked out by Murrayfield. 'I'm really happy for the boys,' said Murrayfield team manager Stevie Anderson of young guns Harry Hawthorne (19), Archie Wyatt (21), Stuart Thurlow (26) and Cameron Whyte (25). Third-round results Hailes bt Kilgour Wealth Management 6&5; Heriot's FP bt Stephen Gallacher Foundation by one hole; Silverknowes bt Edinburgh Academicals by two holes; Murrayfield bt Duddingston 3&1.
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Chasing pack battle to be Clutha's main challenger
Things are getting tight at the top of the Southern Region Rugby ladder as round two is well and truly under way. Clutha has a substantial lead on the chasing pack, but positions second to fifth are only separated by seven points. Clutha host Heriot on their Club Day this weekend in what is a battle between the two in-form teams of the competition. Clutha is unbeaten still, and showing off all the weapons in their arsenal. They have shown that they can win well, but last weekend they showed that they can win scrappy too, with a tight victory at Swamp Hen Park. Heriot has won three matches on the trot and are coming off a strong win over Lawrence last weekend in their 140th jubilee main event. Heriot's forwards are setting a platform and their backs are performing extremely well on the front foot. Toko sit in second place and have their home semifinal aspirations in their own hands. They saw off a spirited Clutha Valley side last weekend at Milton, despite performing well below their best. Toko head to Lawrence this weekend in what will be another battle of attrition. Lawrence are yet to win a match this season, but are coming off an improved performance against Heriot in the weekend. Lawrence is usually quite difficult to tip up at home, so the Toko boys will need to front up if they want to stay ahead of the chasing pack. West Taieri sit in third position on the ladder, right in the middle of the action. The Pigs are coming off perhaps their worst performance in recent years last weekend at Kaitangata, which saw them lose touch with the leaders. West Taieri is back at home this weekend and will be determined to find their groove against an Owaka side who nearly got the job done against Clutha last weekend. Owaka are playing some fantastic rugby at times this season, but accuracy has let them down in recent weeks. Crescent solidified their top four credentials last weekend with a strong win over West Taieri that was built not only on exciting attack, but also hardened defence, especially in the second half. Crescent sit two points behind West Taieri in third, but also only two points ahead of Heriot in fifth. Crescent travel to Clutha Valley this weekend in a battle of two potentially depleted lineups, with injury and absence a major concern for both sides.
Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Crescent control first half
Crescent produced the result of the weekend with a 24-14 win over West Taieri at Kaitangata. Crescent scored two tries inside the opening 10 minutes to assert their control before allowing West Taieri to score one of their own to narrow the gap. West Taieri's discipline let them down badly in the first half as Crescent kicked four penalties with fullback Kairus Booth's radar on point. Crescent went into halftime 24-7 ahead and in control of their own destiny. West Taieri had a mortgage on territory and possession in the second half but came up against a massive defensive effort from the home side. West Taieri attacked for large portions of the half and never really gave Crescent a chance. The only thing stopping the visitors from scoring regularly was a passionate and committed Crescent defence. West Taieri lost battering ram Conor Lawson to a red card in the second half which slowed down their attack. They managed to score one try for their troubles, but it was not enough. Clutha kept their unbeaten run alive and locked away the Art Bloxham Cup for the summer with a hard-fought 22-16 win over Owaka at Swamp Hen Park. The first half was a battle of attrition as the home side looked the more promising on attack. They failed to make their dominance count and were guilty of throwing silly passes on attack which allowed Clutha to clear their lines. Clutha led 7-3 at halftime. The second half saw Clutha hold on to possession better and make metres from broken play. They scored three second-half tries, but Owaka stayed in the match through the boot of second five Sene Te'o. Owaka scored a try at the death to narrow the gap, but the damage had already been done. Heriot capped off their 140th Jubilee celebrations with a strong 37-27 win over Lawrence which saw them lock away the West Otago Shield. Heriot went to width early, found space and room to move in the outside channels. Lawrence's forwards put in an honest shift in the first half and got their side into strong positions. The halftime score was 20-10 to Heriot in front of a packed house at Death Valley. Heriot opted for a more direct approach in the second half as their forwards showed their physical abilities. Lawrence began to tire and Heriot finished with vigour to secure maximum points on their big day. Toko has leapfrogged West Taieri into second place on the ladder with a less-than-convincing 20-10 win over Clutha Valley at Milton. Toko was lethargic at best in the first half and were lucky that Valley did not offer too much on attack. Valley scored the opening try and kicked a penalty to lead 10-0 before Toko hit back before halftime. The 10-5 halftime score seemed to scare Toko in form and they found their stride in the second half with three tries while keeping the visitors scoreless. By Francis Parker
