The Mills of Tweeddale Exhibition
Peebles Museum - 5th August to 9th November 2024
The men and women who worked in the mills that transformed Tweeddale from a sleepy backwater to a world centre of textile manufacture are celebrated in a special exhibition that opens at Peebles Museum at the beginning of August. The exhibition will run from the 5th of August until the 9th of November and admission is free.
"Remembering our Mills: memories of the textile industry that shaped Tweeddale” fulfils one of the core objectives of Peebles Civic Society’s two-year partnership project to preserve the history and heritage of the factories and people that changed Innerleithen and Peebles forever and created the village of Walkerburn.
A team from the three communities is bringing together the results of many months of research, 'bethering' events. and interviews with people who worked at every level, from the factory floor to the boardroom. The project has created great interest and donations of numerous photographs of the mills and their employees. The exhibition will showcase the industry the results through film, maps and images.
Project leader Stephen Scott of Peebles Civic Society said the partnership with Peebles Library, Museum and Gallery, Innerleithen Community Trust, and Walkerburn Community Development Trust will preserve the history and heritage of the mills and create a permanent digital archive of the industry that made the area world famous.
The photo reproduced here, courtesy of John Derrick of Peebles, shows staff at Damdale Mill, Peebles, stopping work briefly for the photographer in or around the year 1900.
“The mills produced high quality cloth and knitwear from the mid-19th century to recent times and provided work for thousands of people,” said Stephen, who comes from an Innerleithen mill family. “Much of the cloth was destined for clothing producers elsewhere, but towards the end a large proportion of the fabric produced at March Street Mill, for instance, was for upholstery and other technical purposes.”
Remnants of the industry remain, including several small-scale knitwear producers and cloth merchants Holland and Sherry in Peebles, which employs more than 130 people undertaking design and pattern weaving on the premises and dispatching upmarket cloth for the fashion industry to Savile Row and around the world.
Chris Sawers at Peebles Museum & Gallery said, “We are delighted to have been involved in supporting this project over the years and this exhibition is must visit for locals and visitors alike. It is a fabulous testament for the huge amount of work that has already been achieved by a dedicated group of volunteers.”
This project is supported by a grant from the Scottish Borders Council Neighbourhood Support Fund.
