Galashiels


Galashiels is a burgh on the Gala Water and is the major commercial centre of the region, lying right at the heart of the Scottish Borders, five miles south of Selkirk and 28 miles from Edinburgh. Locals call it Gala. Robert Burns wrote two poems about Gala, and Sir Walter Scott built his home, Abbotsford, just across the River Tweed.


Galashiels became a burgh at the behest of the Pringles in 1599, and developed in association with the textile industry. In the 1780s, a new settlement was laid out closer to the river and new mills were built. A hundred years later, the town had grown considerably and became a Parliamentary Burgh in 1868. In 1909 the Scottish Woollen Technical College was founded, now part of the Heriot-Watt University. The textile industry declined somewhat and from 1970, employment came more from food industries, electronics and the manufacture of leather goods.


The modern town has a mixture of architecture – some absolutely charming and some rather ghastly. There are some beautiful buildings along Bank Street, for example, and many other lovely old buildings in other parts of the town, such as the splendid post office, but the sixties wreaked its architectural havoc to elicit some eyesores around the university, including that campus, the football club and St. John’s church. Nevertheless, the town has its Scottish charm in its people and many of the historic buildings, as well as in its history and striking old architectural features. The best known is the impressive war memorial with its huge Border Reiver horseman. The remarkable Braw Lads Gathering in late June is the focal point of the local calendar commemorating the history of Galashiels.