     
Start of Walkerburn :
Early history : Muckle
mou'd Meg : Middle Ages to Great War
: First war to second :
Into the 21st century
Henry
Ballantyne bought land to build a Tweed mill here in 1846. Frederick Thomas “Eccentric”
Pilkington designed and built a new village with houses for the workers and for
the Ballantyne family. The new village came into being in 1854, taking its name
from the Walker Burn. Shops opened, a school was built and the railway arrived
in 1866.
The Good
Templar Movement built a village hall in 1877 and this is still in use. The
Church of Scotland was built in 1883 and the Rugby Club founded in 1884, as the
25th member of the Scottish Rugby Union. A French style ‘pissoir’ was installed
as a public toilet on the A72 beside the bridge over the Walker Burn. It is no
longer in use!
Initially the
mill lade produced enough power for the mills in Walkerburn but as production
expanded more cheap energy was needed. In 1920-21 Messrs Boving & Co of London
built a revolutionary system, pumping water from the Tweed up to a reservoir on
Kirnie Law above the village then bringing it down to drive a Pelton turbine to
produce electricity.
A funicular
railway was built from the A72 up to the reservoir site to haul up all the
materials used in construction – a total weight of 3,650 tons was carried on the
railway. As production in the mills declined, less power was required. The
system was dismantled and all that is left is the old reservoir. To see what is
left of the reservoir, walk towards Priesthope from the A72 and climb uphill to the left. The views are
magnificent.
In 1904 David Ballantyne built the Henry Ballantyne Memorial
Institute in memory of his father. The Institute was built in red Dumfriesshire
sandstone, next to the Tweed Bridge, to provide education and entertainment for
mill workers and their families.
The Institute
was endowed with £32,000 and its management handed over to a committee of local
men. It remained in the trust of the Ballantyne family until 2000 when it was
donated to the village.
The
closure of the railway in 1961 and a decline in the woollen industry saw the
population of the village fall and shops close.
The last mill
closed in 1988. Walkerburn had the highest casualty rate during the Great War as
a proportion of its population of any community in Scotland. In 1920 the War
Memorial was built by public subscription. In 1997 the statue was stolen,
perhaps to order, and another fund raising effort was made to replace it.
Enough money
was raised for a full size figure. The new statue was unveiled by HRH The
Princess Royal on 20th September 1999. The stolen statue was subsequently
discovered beside the perimeter fence at Edinburgh Airport. It was returned to
the village and sits alongside the Mill bell on the A72.
There is
evidence of settlers around the Walker Burn as far back as the Bronze Age
because Burnt Mounds have been identified at Glenmead and on the Plora Burn to
the south of the village.
Burnt Mounds
are just mounds of blackened earth, usually found near a source of fresh water,
where the earth is mixed with the remains of heated stones and ash. Beneath
these mounds lie the remains of paved areas, usually incorporating a hearth and
a stone lined pit. The Mounds are evidence that people once heated stones in
these areas that were then used to heat water. The sites near Walkerburn may
have been either, domestic and used for cooking, or they may have been used for
some ritualistic purpose connected perhaps to a sweathouse or sauna. Whatever
the purpose, as the stones cooled and cracked, the remains were discarded and
built up around the area, along with quantities of ash, to form the Burnt Mounds
that dot the landscape today.
The remains
of an Iron Age Hill Fort can be seen on Bold Rig and it is easy to see why this
spot was picked for a defensive position with its excellent views over the
valley to the north. This fort measured approx 220ft by around 140ft.
Although the
Romans conquered Tweeddale, they do not appear to have settled it and there are
no great Roman roads or buildings in the area. Vestiges of Roman camps exist
near Lyne Church, west of Peebles, and at Innerleithen. On Tower Knowe there are
the remains of what is thought to be the Roman road that led from Newstead to
Peebles. This would tie in with the Roman Camp outside Innerleithen and there
might be some connection with the terraces on Purvis Hill. Maybe there was a
settlement of Romanised Britons around the Walker Burn or at least local people
who settled and farmed perhaps to feed the legionaries in the camp at
Innerleithen. The terraces themselves are something of a mystery. It is not
really certain whether they were cultivation terraces or built as a form of
theatre seating up the hillside. There has never been an excavation in this area
so little is known about the people who built the terraces, whether from Roman
times or Anglo Saxons. Towards Galashiels, at Kill Brae, there are more terraces
and signs of an old settlement.
During the
9th century, the Britons of Tweeddale, in common with those of Strathclyde, felt
severe pressures from the Irish Scots on the west, and the Saxons on the east.
After the kingdom of Cambria was overthrown by the Scottish king in 974, many
Irish Scots settled in this area followed by settlers from Northumbria as the
Saxons gained ascendancy.
To the north
of the village, past the steading of the ‘new’ Caberston Farm lies the ruined
cottage at Priesthope. Old records suggest that there was a substantial farm in
this area but where the name came from is still a mystery.
Hollewell,
which became Holylee, the estate and house to the east of the village, is
another name which suggests a religious connection, perhaps to a holy well. This
name appears in records back to 1455 and refers to land reserved for the King’s
sport. James IV leased the land for £26 per year from the Crichton family and
may have had the first house built, probably further up hill than the current
house.
Castles or
peel-houses formed a thick dotting over Tweeddale. They belonged to the wild
feudal barons of the area between the 14th and 17th centuries. Some towers were
attached to a hall house and others stood alone. The towers probably also had
small settlements around them and may have shared the corn mill at West Bold,
which from a date stone of 1700 found in Bold Wood, was certainly operating at
that time.
The towers were usually built within view of one another, forming a cordon of
fortified positions. Beacon fires were lit to announce to the district that a
foe was approaching; the smoke gave the signal by day, and the flames by night.
The remains of one such castle can still be seen on the hill above the Tweed at
Elibank. This tower would have signalled to one at Holylee, which in turn would
signal to Scrogbank, to Caberston, to Bold and to Purvis Hill before the signal
went on to a similar chain at Innerleithen
Elibank was
the manor of the Murray family, of whom Sir Walter Scott was a descendant. The
manor is mentioned in a poem by the Border poet James Hogg called the ‘Fray of
Elibank’. Perhaps Elibank is more famous today for the Elibank Forest Field
Archery Course which attracts archers from all over the world.
By the time, the woollen industry expanded in this area, however, the pattern of
settlement was that of small farms belong to large estates, often with absentee
landlords. Market gardens supplying the rapidly growing city of Edinburgh
abounded and both sheep and cattle farming were profitable.
Ancient
Stones
 The Coot Stone
The Coot
Stone is a large wedge-shaped rock, with large natural "cup" marks on the upper
surface, located a few metres from the south bank of the River Tweed opposite
Holylee to the east of Walkerburn. The stone is actually in the river bed and
may have marked a crossing point to the Holy Well. The origins of the name are
unclear.
The Basin Stone
This large
stone slab measures less than 1.00m square, is about 0.30m thick and can be
found at the top of Thornylee Forest, an area of woodland managed by Forest
Enterprise. The stone has a distinct hollow or basin in the centre and appears
to have been deliberately propped underneath by smaller stones. There is an old
Scottish remedy for warts where the afflicted wash the warts in water that has
collected in natural stone basins. After washing the warts would disappear. It
may be that this was the purpose of the stone.
The
Cheese Well (pictured)
Above Walkerburn, on the Southern Upland Way, lies the Cheese Well. Two dressed
but well weathered stones mark a small freshwater spring on the old drove road
across the Minchmoor between Traquair and Selkirk. One stone, older than the
other bears the inscription "Cheese Well". The second stone also bears the same
name and is dated 1966. It is said that if you pass the well you should leave an
offering, usually cheese, to the Fairies or "Wee Folk" who are supposed to haunt
the area. This would ensure a safe and successful journey. The Cheese Well may
have been a pagan shrine in the past, whose veneration has fallen to
superstition.
The Scotts and
Murrays were ancient enemies; and as their lands were adjoining at many points,
they had many opportunities of exercising their enmity "according to the custom
of the Marches." In the seventeenth century much of the property lying upon the
river Ettrick belonged to Scott of Harden, who made his principal residence at
Oakwood Tower, a Border house of strength still remaining upon that river.
William Scott (afterwards Sir William), son of the head of this family,
undertook an expedition against the Murrays of Elibank, whose property was a few
miles distant. He found his enemy upon their guard, was defeated, and made
prisoner in the act of driving off the cattle he had collected for that purpose.
Sir Gideon
Murray. conducted his prisoner to the castle, upon enquiry from his wife as to
the fate of his prisoner, he is reputed to have said: "The gallows, to the
gallows with the marauder." "Hout, na, Sir Gideon," answered the considerate
matron, in her vernacular idiom; "would you hang the winsome young laird of
Harden when you have three ill-favoured daughters to marry?" "Right," answered
the baron, "he shall marry our daughter, Muckle-mouthed Meg, or strap for it."
Upon this alternative being proposed to the prisoner, he upon the first view of
the case stoutly preferred the gibbet to "Muckle-mouthed Meg," whose real name
was Agnes. But at length, when he was literally led forth to execution, and saw
no other chance of escape, he retracted his ungallant resolution, and preferred
the typical noose of matrimony to the literal cord of hemp. Such is the
tradition established in both families, and often jocularly referred to upon the
Borders. It may he necessary to add that Muckle-mouthed Meg and her husband were
a happy and loving pair, and had a large family.’
 In truth, the
marriage contract, which is still in existence, shows that ‘the marriage of young
Harden and Agnes Murray, instead of being a hurried business, was arranged very
leisurely, and with great care, calmness, and deliberation by all the parties
interested, including the two principals, the bridegroom and bride, and the
parents on either side. Instead of one contract, as is usual in such cases,
there were two separate and successive contracts, made at an interval of several
months, before the marriage was finally arranged.’ The first contract bears date
at Edinburgh, 18th February, 1611. In it young Harden and Agnes Murray agree to
solemnise their marriage in the face of Christ’s Kirk, within two months and a
half after the date of the contract. Stipulations are made in the document for
the infeftment, by Walter Scott, of his son and his promised spouse, and their
heirs male, in the lands of Harden and other lands belonging to Walter and
William Scott; and Sir Gideon Murray on his part becomes bound to pay to William
Scott the sum of seven thousand merks as tocher with his daughter. The contract
is subscribed by Sir Gideon Murray, William Scott, and ‘Agnes Murray,’ all good
signatures. But as Auld Wat of Harden could not write, his subscription is thus
given: ‘Walter Scott of Harden, with my hand at the pen, led be the notaries
underwritten at my command, becus I can not wryt.’
The marriage
however did not take place at the time specified in the contract, a failure
which is not accounted for, and a second contract was made at the Provost’s
Place of Creichtoun, on the 14th of July, 1611, in terms similar to those of the
original contract.
The existence
and the terms of these two contracts no doubt show that the marriage of young
Harden and Agnes Murray was not a hastily-settled affair, regulated by a
contract ‘executed instantly on the parchment of a drum;’ but it is difficult to
believe that a story so minute and circumstantial in its details could have been
entirely fictitious. Myths are of slow growth, and have always some fact as a
foundation. Sir William Scott died in 1655. The eldest son of ‘Little Sir
William’ survived till 1707, and his second son lived three years longer. Sir
Walter Scott was born in 1771, and the story must have been in circulation and
universally credited long before his day.
Is it not
possible and probable that Sir William Scott was ‘handfasted’ to Agnes Murray in
some such circumstances as are narrated by his descendant, the poet? And may not
the delay in solemnizing the marriage, necessitating the formation of a second
contract, have been caused by the reluctance of ‘the handsomest man of his time’
to marry an ill-favoured bride?
Sir William
Scott had by Agnes Murray five sons and three daughters. The eldest son, called
‘Little Sir William,’ was knighted by Charles II. immediately after the
Restoration. The second was Sir Gideon of Highchester, whose posterity carried
on the line of the family. Walter, the third son, called ‘Watty Wudspurs’ (or
Mad-spurs), figures characteristically in the ballad of ‘Jamie Telfer.’ He was
the ancestor of the Scotts of Raeburn. The fourth son was James of Thirlestaine;
and from John of Woll, the fifth son, the family of Woll are descended.
All through
the Middle Ages the production of cloth was a cottage industry. The
crofter-weaver ran his own sheep, usually on common land, the whole community
helped with shearing, the women carded and span the wool and the weaver himself
warped and mounted his web and wove it in his handloom. The cloth was afterwards
washed and ‘waulked’ or milled and beaten in a burn. Such dyes as were used came
from local plants but for the most part the wool was undyed.
Along the
banks of the Tweed, especially where burns ran down the hillsides, small groups
of these crofter-weavers would be established and it may be that the name
‘Walker Burn’ simply referred to the burn where weavers ‘waulked’ the wool.
The
Ballantyne family first appears as landowners and yeoman farmers of Bellenden
Farm on the upper Ale Water with the name spelt Bellendaine, then Ballantin and
eventually Ballantyne. Later, in 1666, a small colony of weavers in the village
of Galashiels had as a member one William Ballantin and in 1672 the birth of his
son Walter is the first entry in the baptism record of Galashiels Parish Church.
Eventually, a descendent of William and Walter, Henry Ballantyne rose to
prominence as one of the most skilful developers of Tweed cloth. In 1846/7,
looking around for a site for a new mill, Henry saw the possibilities of the
site where the Walker Burn ran into the Tweed. He entered into negotiations with
Thomas Horsburgh to buy a site around the Walker Burn on which to establish a
mill to take advantage of a bend on the nearby River Tweed which would make it
easy to build a mill lade taking water into the mill controlled by two sluice
gates. The only buildings in the area on that side of the Tweed were Caberston
farm and steading and 4 farm cottages. On the south side of the Tweed, West Bold
Farm was much older and in other ownership – there was no bridge at this point.
Work began on
the mill and J Pilkington was retained to design and build 115 houses for mill
workers who initially came mainly from Galashiels, walking to and from work –
and the working day was typically 14 hours. The blocks of flats at Plora Terrace
were the first workers’ home to be built. In 1854 and the village was christened
Walkerburn after the Waulker Burn which runs from the hills above Priesthope
into the Tweed. The first child was born in the new village in 1856 and the
first shops opened in 1858.
Gradually,
more and more workers’ houses were built and by 1861 there were enough children
to support an elementary school. The arrival of the railway and the opening of a
Post Office in 1866 put Walkerburn firmly on the Peeblesshire map as an
expanding, energetic mill village. The railway closed in 1962 but the Post
Office is still in the original building.
The Parish
Church, built in 1875, was followed by a Methodist Chapel and then a
Congregational Church in 1890, both now private houses, and in 1877 the Good
Templar Movement built the Public Hall which subsequently passed into community
ownership in 1908. The Hall is now maintained as a charitable trust.
By 1878, when
the first gas street lamps were installed, the population of the village was
1028, growing to 1500 by the turn of the century, and in 1882 the village got
its own police station at the foot of Hall Street, which remained in use until a
new police house was built opposite the mill gates. Both it and the original
police station remain in use, though not by the police. In December 1883 there
was the first meeting of the Walkerburn Co-operative Society, which played an
active role in village retailing until it merged with the Innerleithen Society
in 1966 and then with the Borders Society in 1969.
 There is still a co-operative
store in Innerleithen but sadly the Walkerburn store closed in 1987. Until the
1960s, in addition to the Post Office, Walkerburn had a grocery store, a
butcher, baker and greengrocer, a chemist, a jeweller, a tailor, a haberdasher,
a general clothes shop and a knitwear and dressmaking shop, two fish and chip
shops, two hairdressers, a library, a boot repair shop, several sweetie shops,
and lots of small shops run in people’s front rooms.
The first
bridge was built across the Tweed, where the bridge is today, in 1867. This was
replaced by a girder bridge in 1914. And beside the bridge, the Ballantyne
family built a club for their workers to provide education and recreation, but
definitely no alcohol. The Henry Ballantyne Memorial Institute, know to
villagers as the ‘HB Club’ is still in existence providing a cosy bar and
entertainment for the community.
By the
outbreak of The Great War, the population of the village had risen to 1279 and
two Ballantyne mills were in operation. Scotch Tweed had established itself
worldwide.
1914 – 1918 The Great War Tartan, Khaki and Flannel
The young men
joined the Army, the old men and women ran the Mill producing 10,000 yards of
tartan per week plus khaki flannel for the Army. Walkerburn had the highest
casualty rate as a percentage of its population of any settlement in Scotland
but the Mill owners and the community looked after the many widows and children.
Post war, the
textile trade boomed and in 1920 a Hostel was built on Park Avenue to house
female workers recruited from outside the village. This is now single persons’
flats.
In 1920 the
War Memorial was built by public subscription. A full sized figure was planned
but lack of funds led to a cut down figure being sculpted. In August 1998 the
statue was stolen, perhaps to order, and another fund raising effort was made to
replace it. Enough money was raised for a full size figure, produced by Beltane
Studios in Peebles, which was installed in at a service on 20 September 1999,
held in heavy rain in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. Amazingly, in 2000
two policemen spotted the old statue beside a cut in the perimeter fence at
Edinburgh Airport. After much discussion, the old statue was placed alongside
the Mill bell in a small garden opposite the site of the main mill buildings on
the A72.
1920 – 1921 The Hydro Electric Scheme (A Scottish First for Walkerburn)
Initially the
mill lade produced enough power for the mills but as production expanded more
cheap energy was needed. In 1920 Messrs Boving & Co of London were asked to
examine the possibility of setting up a better system of using water power from
the Tweed.
The first
step was to make the lade more effective, and this was done by creating a
greater and deeper fall, but this wasn’t enough. And yet, at night, the lade
system produced power which was wasted. The revolutionary solution was to build
a huge reservoir in the hills and to use the surplus power to pump water from
the Tweed up to the reservoir. The next stage was to bring the water back down
to drive a Pelton turbine to produce more power. The answer was to use the same
9” pipe but to use a different system of connections.
And so, a
ferro concrete reservoir was built on Kirnie Law connected to the power house by
a 9” pipe. A funicular railway was built from the A72 up to the reservoir site
to haul up all the materials used in construction – a total weight of 3,650 tons
was carried on the railway.
You can still
see the remains of the reservoir and the walk up to the reservoir is well
worthwhile for the views of the village and the valley. It’s easy to see the old
layout of the village and the mill lade.
1920s and
1930s The Boom and Bust Years Charleston and Jitterbug
The school
leaving age was raised to 14 – no more children going to work in the Mill at 11,
or even younger. The Depression hit the wool trade and there were bleak years
when only one loom ran but then there were also boom years when all 98 looms
worked flat out. Wages rose and fell accordingly. There was a cinema in the
Public Hall where silent films were shown to the tinkling of a piano and the
serial was very popular. Sometimes, the projectionist went to the George Hotel
in the interval and the films were then shown upside down. Dances and the Club
Balls were well attended and always started with the Grand March.
Walkerburn
wages were never high but the work was dependable from age 14 to retirement and
the Mill owners paternalistic, looking after workers who were sick and providing
more and more recreation activities as working hours were slowly cut and leisure
time increased. In a new park beside the river there were two tennis courts, a
swing park and a putting green. Only the swing park survives! And in 1929 the
local authority began to provide public housing in Walkerburn as more and more
families sought a higher level of accommodation.
In 1932 the
first village Summer Festival for the children was held with a football match
against Innerleithen school for the ‘Paul Cup’. The festival still takes place
over the last week of the school year in June and the Paul Cup is as hotly
contested as ever.
World War
2 1939 – 1945 Another War – More Tartan
Twelve
Walkerburn men lost their lives in the service of their country in World War 2.
Soldiers were billeted in the old wool store in Park Avenue (the new houses), in
the Hostel in Park Avenue (the block of flats) and with families. The young men
came from Glasgow in 157 Field Ambulance and from Yorkshire in 68 Field
Regiment. And several new brides eventually left the village!
The officers
lived in Stoneyhill throughout the war, the soldiers’ canteen was run by the
ladies of the village in the old darning shed … and the dances were definitely
more interesting for the girls! Sandy Russell, the chemist, won the Irish
Sweepstake and threw a magnificent ball in Innerleithen for all the troops in
the area and in 1941 the local Home Guard and Fire Service turned out as the
Mill Wool Store burned down.
The British
Restaurant run in the Mill canteen provided food for the poor of the village as
well as mill workers. Those with cars, and petrol, ran a ‘get you home’ service
for village men in the Forces coming home on leave and met them off trains and
buses in Edinburgh and Symington. The Women’s Voluntary Service established a
unit in the village and ran not only the canteen but also lots of events to keep
everyone entertained and help the war effort.
1950s You’ve never had it so good…
Walkerburn
Mill employed some of the large numbers of Poles, Ukrainians and other Eastern
European displaced persons who came to work here in the 1940s.
And another type of ‘refugee’ arrived – people displaced from Glasgow as the
slums were cleared. The culture shock of moving to a mill village from the big
city was too much for some but many stayed.
New houses
were built along Tweedholm Avenue. New clubs sprang up. Car ownership began
slowly to spread and 1954 saw great celebrations for the 100th anniversary of
the village.
Money was
being made fast in the textile trade but there were the first of many
amalgamations though confidence was high and few foresaw the massive changes
coming. During the twice yearly selling season, the owner would get on the train
in Walkerburn and be in London in time for breakfast at Lyon’s Corner House in
Piccadilly before walking round to the Ballantyne office at 1 Golden Square.
And around
the area the new Forestry Commission was buying up land and block planting Sitka
spruce. The ‘Swedish’ houses at Glenbenna were built to house forestry workers
and forest work became an alternative to employment in the mill. Over the next
30 years the landscape was transformed by the dark coniferous forest but
eventually changes in forest practice led to a reappraisal of the planting
policy which should mean that as the dark forest is harvested new planting will
be mixed close to roads and habitations.
1960s and
1970s … The Slow Decline
By 1961, when the railway closed, the population had dropped to 863, shops were
beginning to struggle and close and although local people could still depend on
the mill for jobs, wages were not keeping pace with inflation.
Ballantyne’s
amalgamated into Scottish Worsteds & Woollens in 1968 and then in 1980, the
remaining mill was bought by Dawson International. At first Walkerburn reaped
the benefit of mill closures elsewhere in the Borders but in 1988 Dawson pulled
out and the mill closed. That was the end of Walkerburn as a mill village.
But there
were glimmers of hope as new industries such as Rathburn Chemicals (1972)
started up and expanded. It took time, as the village struggled with high
unemployment and depressed house prices, but Walkerburn slowly regenerated.
Into the
21st Century
With help
from the European Union, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Borders Council,
villagers formed the WAVE Group bringing together all the village clubs,
societies and individuals to look at future regeneration. Burning Issues was
founded as a monthly village newsletter and the Walkerburn and Innerleithen
Partnership was formed to make the most of European regeneration funding. The
Community Council was reinvigorated and a new Community Development Trust took
shape. The Pathway Group re-built Alexandra Park with new equipment in the swing
park, a wildlife hedge, tree planting and walkways. The Public Hall was
renovated and extended just in time to provide a home for a village Healthy
Living initiative which provides exercise and dance classes and healthy cooking
classes for all ages.
The
Development Trust started to look at the feasibility of further extending the
walking, riding and biking trails around the village, developing Walkerburn as a
new focal point for tourism in the Tweed Valley.
Over 80
households in the village signed up to a home composting scheme, village
clean-ups and community events were again well supported, house prices started
to rise and new homes were built on gap sites.
A strong,
united village looking forward with confidence…
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