Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lot ...
with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the
Borders region with extensive history in the
textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not t ...
industry. Galashiels is the location of
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted uni ...
's School of Textiles and Design.
Location
Galashiels is south of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
and north of
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...
on the
A7 road. Gala lies on the border between the historic counties of
Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and ...
and
Selkirkshire, on the
Gala Water river.
History
To the west of the town there is an ancient earthwork known as the
Picts
The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...
' Work Ditch or
Catrail
The Catrail is a linear earthwork in Roxburghshire, southern Scotland.
It runs from Robert's Linn (), a burn (stream) flowing into the Slitrig Water, westward and north-westward to the head of the Dean Burn (), a tributary of the Borthwick Water ...
. It extends many miles south and its height and width vary. There is no agreement about the purpose of the earthwork. There is another ancient site on the north-western edge of the town, at
Torwoodlee, an Iron Age hill fort, with a later
broch known as
Torwoodlee Broch built in the western quarter of the hill fort, and overlapping some of the defensive ditches of the original fort. The
Romans destroyed the broch in 140 CE, soon after it was completed.
The town's coat of arms shows two foxes reaching up to eat plums from a tree, and the motto is ''Sour Plums'' pronounced in Scots as
soor plooms. This is a reference to an incident in 1337 when a raiding party of
English soldiers were picking wild plums close to the town and were caught by Scots who came across them by chance and slaughtered them all.
On a hillside to the north of the town,
Buckholm
Buckholm is a farm near to the A7, in the Scottish Borders, Galashiels area of Scotland.
Places nearby include Abbotsford, the Bow Castle Broch, Clovenfords, Darnick, Eildon, the Gala Water, the Lugate Water, and Stow.
Buckholm Tower was b ...
Tower is a prominent structure that dates back to 1582 and replaced an earlier tower built on the same site but destroyed around 1570.
In 1599 Galashiels received its Burgh Charter, an event celebrated every summer since the 1930s by the "Braw Lads’ Gathering", with riders on horseback parading through the town.
Galashiels Burgh Chambers were designed in the
Scottish Renaissance style and completed in 1867.
The
Paton Street drill hall was completed in the late 19th century.
Galashiels' population grew fast through the textile trade with several mills. A connection with the town's mill history, the Mill Lade, still links the town from near the site of mills at Wheatlands Road, to Netherdale, via Wilderhaugh, Bank Street, the Fountain and next to the Tesco/retail development Street.
Governance
Local government services for Galashiels are provided by
Scottish Borders Council
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
. There is also a
community council
A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain.
In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...
covering the town.
Galashiels was designated a
burgh of barony in 1599 and later became a
police burgh by 1868.
Galashiels Burgh Chambers on Albert Place was built in 1867.
When elected county councils were created in 1890 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it foll ...
, burghs which met certain criteria were excluded from the area under the control of the county councils. There was disagreement between Galashiels and
Selkirkshire County Council as to whether these criteria applied to Galashiels. The case went to court, and the
Scottish Supreme Court
The College of Justice includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies.
The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, a ...
found that Galashiels was entirely responsible for its own affairs and should neither be represented on nor taxed by Selkirkshire County Council. Further local government reform in 1930 brought the burgh of Galashiels within the area controlled by the county council, with the town being reclassified as a
small burgh
Small burghs were units of local government in Scotland created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 in 1930. The Act reclassified existing burghs into two classes, large and small burghs. While large burghs became largely independent of th ...
, ceding most of its functions to the county council.
In 1975 local government across Scotland was reformed under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975.
The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...
. The burghs and counties were abolished as administrative areas, replaced with a two-tier system of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Galashiels therefore became part of the
Ettrick and Lauderdale district within the
Borders region. Ettrick and Lauderdale District Council used Galashiels Burgh Chambers as its headquarters. Further local government reform in 1996 abolished the regions and districts, since when Galashiels has been administered by Scottish Borders Council.
In culture
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who ha ...
wrote two poems about Galashiels, "Sae Fair Her Hair" and "Braw Lads". The latter is sung by some of the townsfolk each year at the Braw Lads Gathering. Sir
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
built his home,
Abbotsford, just across the
River Tweed from Galashiels. The
Sir Walter Scott Way, a
long-distance path from
Moffat
Moffat ( gd, Mofad) is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire, now part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland. It lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town ...
to
Cockburnspath, passes through Galashiels.
There is some largely good-hearted rivalry between some of the Galashiels townsfolk and those of other border towns, particularly
Hawick, the next largest town in the Scottish Borders. Galashiels' citizens often refer to their rival as ''dirty Hawick'' while the 'Teries' retort that Galashiels's residents are ''pail merks'', supposedly because their town was the last to be plumbed into the mains water system and so residents had to rely on buckets as toilets.
Galashiels was also home to the author of the famous Scottish song, "
Coulters Candy
"Coulter's Candy", also known as "Ally Bally" or "Ally Bally Bee, is a Scots folk song.
It was written by a former Galashiels weaver, Robert Coltart (1832–1880). The song was an advertising jingle for the aniseed-flavoured confectionery tha ...
". Robert Coltart was a weaver in the town, but also made confectionery in nearby Melrose. The song was created as an advertisement, and hence was renamed as "Sugar Candy" when played by the BBC. The song is possibly better known by the first line of its chorus - "Ally, bally, ally bally bee". Coltart died in 1890. A statue of Coltart now stands in the Market Square.
The 1985
Marillion hit single
Kayleigh was partially inspired by events that took place in Galashiels as the band's lead singer
Fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...
spent some time in the town in his earlier years. In 2012 the Scottish Borders Council undertook work to revamp the Market Square with lyrics of the song inscribed into the paving slabs. Fish officially reopened the square on completion later that year.
A new £6.7m
Great Tapestry of Scotland
The Great Tapestry of Scotland is one of the world's largest community arts projects, hand stitched by 1,000 people from across Scotland. It is made up of 160 linen panels and 300 miles of wool – enough to stretch the entire length of Scotland ...
Centre opened in Galashiels on 21 August 2021 to house one of the world’s largest tapestries and community arts projects. The Great Tapestry of Scotland was hand stitched by over 1,000 people across Scotland and had been taken for display around the country throughout its six-years' creation, the original brainchild of Edinburgh-born author
Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the Univers ...
, whose vision it was to create a tapestry telling the history of Scotland. The new purpose-built gallery, visitor centre, café and workshop space has been created and, on the opening day, saw the 160th and final tapestry panel revealed by chief stitcher Dorie Wilkie, accompanied by McCall Smith himself.
The Pavilion Cinema in Market Street opened in 1922 as a cinema, dance hall and theatre, originally named the Playhouse. The auditorium was converted to a bingo hall in the 1960s. The building was refurbished in the early 1990s, with its original art-deco façade being restored. It is now a four-screen cinema.
Transport
In 1969, the historic
Waverley Line which connected the Scottish Borders to the national rail network was closed as part of a wider series of cuts to British Railways. The closure led to a campaign for a return of rail to the region that never diminished.
Following years of campaigning, in 2006, the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Act was passed by the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holy ...
, which authorised a partial restoration of the service. The new
Borders Railway, which links Galashiels with Edinburgh, saw four new stations built in
Midlothian and three in the
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lot ...
.
For most of the route the original line was followed with of new railway line built. The project is estimated to have cost £294 million and was completed in September 2015, with the formal opening on 9 September by the
Queen. Trains from
Galashiels railway station
Galashiels is a railway station on the Borders Railway, which runs between and . The station, situated south-east of Edinburgh Waverley, serves the town of Galashiels in Scottish Borders, Scotland. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by ...
run every half-hour going down to hourly in the evening and on Sundays. Journey times between Tweedbank and Edinburgh take less than one hour.
The town also has a recently-opened Interchange building which replaces the old bus station, and is also situated next to the railway station. It has a café, and upstairs has office space that has been leased to businesses and organizations. It also has toilet and baby-changing facilities, and a travel helpdesk.
Education
The following are listed by Scottish Borders Council as being in the Galashiels area and are catchment schools for
Galashiels Academy
Galashiels Academy is the high school in Galashiels, Scotland, that serves the surrounding area including Stow. Refounded in 1938, the school's history goes back as far as 1696. The current building was built in 1964.
Notable former pupils
* Jo ...
.
Primary schools
* Balmoral Primary
* Burgh Primary
* Clovenfords Primary (moved from Caddonfoot in 2012)
* Fountainhall Primary, Midlothian
* Glendinning Terrace Primary
* Heriot Primary, Midlothian
* Langlee Primary
* Stow Primary
* St Margaret's Roman Catholic Primary
* St Peter's Primary
* Tweedbank Primary
Secondary schools
*
Galashiels Academy
Galashiels Academy is the high school in Galashiels, Scotland, that serves the surrounding area including Stow. Refounded in 1938, the school's history goes back as far as 1696. The current building was built in 1964.
Notable former pupils
* Jo ...
Further and Higher education
Netherdale in Galashiels is home to
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted uni ...
's School of Textiles and Design, which is also a shared campus of
Borders College.
Redevelopment
Despite the town's relatively low population, the early 2000s saw many new developments, including
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...
,
Boots pharmacy,
Halfords,
Marks & Spencer,
Matalan,
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...
,
Next
Next may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare
* ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage
* '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film
Lit ...
,
Subway
Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to:
Transportation
* Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems
* Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle
* Subway (George Bush Interconti ...
fast-food outlet and
Tesco Extra. Most of these are on former mill and industrial estate sites, while other disused mills have been converted to living accommodation.
Unusual landmarks or local features
The town is home to the
Glasite church, in danger of being lost, but still standing sandwiched between mills and shop buildings on High Street, Botany Lane and Roxburgh Street.
Netherdale is home to
Gala RFC and
Gala Fairydean Rovers, with the
football and
rugby stadiums adjoining each other at one end. The football club's main stand was built in 1963 to designs by
Peter Womersley, based in nearby
Gattonside
Gattonside is a small village in the Scottish Borders. It is located north of Melrose, on the north side of the River Tweed. In 1143, the lands of Gattonside were granted to the monks of Melrose Abbey by King David I.
Gattonside was the home ...
. The
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
ed concrete structure, in the
Brutalist style
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...
, is now protected as a
Category A listed building.
Sport
The following sports clubs are based in Galashiels:
* Gala Cricket Club
*
Gala Fairydean Rovers (association football)
*
Gala RFC (rugby union)
*
Galashiels Golf Club
Galashiels Golf Club is a golf course to the north of Galashiels, Scotland. The course was reduced from 18 holes to 9 holes in 2008.
History
Founded in 1884, the nine-hole course was laid out around Appletreeleaves House and alongside the Ladho ...
Notable people
*
Dugald Butler (1862-1926) parish minister and historical author
*
Craig Chalmers (born 1968), rugby player
*
Thomas J Clapperton (1879-1962), sculptor
*
Archie Cochrane (1909-1988), epidemiologist
*
John Collins John Collins may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John Collins (poet) (1742–1808), English orator, singer, and poet
* John Churton Collins (1848–1908), English literary critic
* John H. Collins (director) (1889–1918), American director an ...
(born 1968), footballer
*
Jimmy Curran
James Michael Curran (January 7, 1880 – February 7, 1963) was an athletics coach, best known for training five Olympic gold medallists. From 1900-1902 he fought with the Highland Light Infantry in the Second Boer War, serving much of that time u ...
(1880-1963), athlete and athletics coach
*
Johnny Davidson MBE (born 1971),
Tourette syndrome campaigner, subject of
QED documentary ''
John's Not Mad
''John's Not Mad'' is a British television documentary made as an episode of the BBC's ''Q.E.D.
Q.E.D. or QED is an initialism of the Latin phrase , meaning "which was to be demonstrated". Literally it states "what was to be shown". Traditiona ...
''.
*
James Donald (1917-1993), actor
*
Scilla Elworthy (born 1943), Peace activist and founder of the Oxford Research Group
*
Russell Fairgrieve
Sir Thomas Russell Fairgrieve CBE (3 May 1924 – 17 February 1999) was a Scottish Conservative and Unionist politician.
He was educated at St. Mary's School, Melrose, Sedbergh School, and the Scottish College of Textiles. He served as a Major i ...
(1924-1999), politician
*
Douglas Ford (1918-1943), army officer
*
Danny Galbraith
Daniel William Galbraith (born 19 August 1990) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Bo'ness United.
Galbraith was a youth player with Heart of Midlothian and then signed for Manchester United, but injury problems ...
(born 1990), footballer
*Rev
Paton James Gloag (1823-1906) parish minister, Moderator in 1889
*
Andrew John Herbertson
Andrew John Herbertson FRSE FRGS FRMS (11 October 1865 – 15 July 1915) was a Scottish geographer.
Life
He was born in Galashiels, Selkirkshire to parents Andrew Hunter Herbertson and Janet Matthewson. He went to school locally at Galas ...
(1865–1915), geographer and
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
don
*
Ross Kelly (born 1961), Television presenter
*
Arthur Lapworth (1872–1941), Scottish chemist
*
Ryan Mania (born 1989), winner of the
2013 Grand National
*
Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott (1852-1920), author
*
Sandy McDade (born 1964), actress
*
Judith Miller (born 1951), antiques expert
*
Andrew Murdison
Andrew Murdison (16 May 1898 – 1968) was a Scottish rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Scottish Borders, and at club level for Galashiels RFC (capt ...
(1898-1968), rugby player
*
Thomas Paterson Noble FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This so ...
, (1887-1959), surgeon
*
Chris Paterson (born 1978), rugby player
*Rev
K. M. Phin
Kenneth Macleay Phin (1816–1888) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1877. He ran the Church of Scotland’s Home Mission Scheme. As a church campaigner and pamphleteer he was ...
(1816-1888) parish minister, Moderator in 1877
*
Anne Redpath (1895-1965), artist
*
Bryan Redpath
Bryan William Redpath (born 2 July 1971 in Galashiels) is a former Scotland international rugby union player and former rugby union coach. He is currently the Director of Rugby at London Scottish.
Early life and family
Redpath attended Kel ...
(born 1971), rugby player
*
Brian Shillinglaw
Robert Brian Shillinglaw (1 July 1939 – 17 October 2007), also known by the nickname of "Shill", was a Scottish rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played representative level rugby union ...
(1939-2007), rugby player
*
Gregor Townsend (born 1973), rugby player
Climate
Galashiels has an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
. However, due to its elevated position and distance from the sea, it has colder winters and slightly warmer summers than coastal places such as Edinburgh,
Dunbar
Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ec ...
and
Eyemouth.
Snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet ...
is also much more common in winter, and covers the ground for an average of 38 days a year in an average winter.
See also
*
List of places in Scotland
*
List of places in the Scottish Borders
''Map of places in the Scottish Borders compiled from this list'':See the list of places in Scotland for places in other counties.
This list of places in the Scottish Borders includes towns, villages, hamlets, castles, golf courses, historic ho ...
*
Shieling
A shieling is a hut or collection of huts on a seasonal pasture high in the hills, once common in wild or sparsely populated places in Scotland. Usually rectangular with a doorway on the south side and few or no windows, they were often con ...
References
*
*
*
External links
*
Galashiels Town WebsiteGALASHIELS HISTORICAL PEACE PAGEANT (1919)GALASHIELS WAR MEMORIAL (1925)
(archive films from the National Library of Scotland: Scottish Screen Archive)
{{Authority control
Towns in the Scottish Borders
Populated places on the River Tweed
Eildon