In Tweeddale (1)

Image: © Anthony O'Neil Taken: 15 Sep 2024

View over Walkerburn from the east: a community developed entirely in furtherance of the woollen industry, along the banks of the Tweed. Henry Ballantyne - a specialist in tweed production from Galashiels - negotiated the purchase of land adjacent to the Walker Burn, on the northern bank of the river, in 1846, and initiated the building of a woollen mill and houses for workers. The project was complete by 1854 which was effectively the birth date of the village. The textile trade steadily developed with the arrival of the railway from Peebles in 1866. and was later accelerated by high wartime demand for uniforms manufactured in tartan and twill cloth. The Ballantyne family went on to found other successful textile mills at Innerleithen and Peebles. A unique, early (pumped storage) hydroelectric scheme was developed here in 1920 to increase power to the mill using a vast reinforced concrete reservoir constructed on the northern hillside above the village, originally capable of holding up to 3,000 gallons of water. The derelict remains of this structure (the largest of its kind) can still be seen by those with the energy to climb the steep paths to reach it. Many jobs were lost with the decline of Scottish textile manufacturing in the face of foreign competition, and the closure of the railway in 1962 was a prelude to the final demise of Walkerburn Mill in 1988.

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