Tweedsmuir ( gd, Sliabh Thuaidh) is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Tweeddale Tweeddale (Scottish Gaelic: ''Srath Thuaidh/Tuaidhdail'') is a committee area and lieutenancy area in the Scottish Borders council area in south-eastern Scotland. It had also been a province in the Middle Ages. From 1975 to 1996 it was a local gov ...

, 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 Lothi ...

Council district, southeastern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Geography

The village is set in a valley, with the rolling hills and burns on both sides, covering some fifty square miles. It incorporates settlements at Hearthstane, Cockiland,

Menzion Menzion, sometimes Minzion is a small settlement in southern Scotland near Tweedsmuir in the Scottish Borders, in the valley of the River Tweed. Topography Menzion lies along the Menzion burn, being separated into Nether Menzion and Over Menz ...

, and Oliver. Tweedsmuir was in the historic former county of

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire ( gd, Siorrachd nam Pùballan), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lan ...

. It is situated from the source of the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...

Landmarks and features

Oliver Castle Oliver Castle was a medieval tower house, located in the upper Tweed Valley in the Scottish Borders. The site of the hillfort known as Oliver Castle is to the north of the village of Tweedsmuir, although the site of the tower house is less cert ...

was one of the local strongholds, and later country estates, of the

Clan Tweedie Tweedie or Tweedy is a Scottish clan name. The Clan Tweedie does not currently have a chief recognized by the Lord Lyon King of Arms and is therefore considered an Armigerous clan. However the surname is also considered a sept of the Clan Fraser. ...

family. The Parish Church of Tweedsmuir was built with Scottish red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

. There are notable Tweedie gravestones in the parish churchyard. The

Crook Inn The Crook Inn is an inn in the Scottish Borders, near the village of Tweedsmuir on the A701 road between Broughton and Moffat. It is one of many claimants to be the oldest inn in Scotland. It was licensed in 1604. Robert Burns wrote "Willie Was ...

is in the village, on the A701. It is one of many claimants to be the oldest inn in Scotland. It is where

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 hav ...

wrote "Willie Wastle's Wife". The 22 MW Glenkerie wind farm of

Infinis Infinis Energy is a British renewable energy group headquartered in Northampton. Infinis produces electricity from captured landfill and mineral methane. Infinis claims to have a net negative carbon emissions footprint. History The company was o ...

is located northwest of the village.

Talla Reservoir

The

Talla Reservoir Talla Reservoir, located a mile from Tweedsmuir, Scottish Borders, Scotland, is an earth-work dam fed by Talla Water. The reservoir is supplemented by water from the nearby Fruid Reservoir. It was opened in 1905. To assist in bringing the mat ...

is nearby. In 1894 the Edinburgh and District Water Trustees decided to build Talla as the new source of water for

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 ...

. The surface and the gradient of the main road were unsuitable for carting the quantities of material that would be needed for the new reservoir, so the

Talla Railway The Talla Railway was a privately constructed railway line in southern Scotland. It was built 1895-97 to aid the construction of the Talla Reservoir, to serve the water demand of Edinburgh. The railway was about long, running south from a conne ...

was built from Broughton to Talla. While work on the railway and the reservoir was in progress, a large number of workmen lived in Tweedsmuir, dramatically increasing the population. The valve-closing ceremony was held at Talla on 20 May 1905, and on 28 September, when the reservoir was about two-fifths full, there was an inaugural ceremony. The large company was brought from Edinburgh in two special trains, which were hauled for the last stage of the journey, from Broughton Station, by small service engines on the Talla railway.

Fruid Reservoir Fruid is a small reservoir in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, UK, near Menzion. It is formed by damming the Fruid Water, and supplements the contents of Talla Reservoir, forming part of the water supply for Edinburgh. The construction of ...

is also nearby.

References

# Scott, Sheila: ''Tales of Tweedsmuir: glimpses of an Upland Parish in the Past''; Biggar, 1995.
Borders Family History Society: article on Tweedsmuir
Villages in the Scottish Borders Peeblesshire Tweeddale Parishes in Peeblesshire {{Borders-geo-stub

Geography

Landmarks and features

Talla Reservoir

See also

References