Projects
The Mills of Tweeddale
Peebles Civic Society is currently leading an ambitious partnership project with Peebles Library, Museum and Gallery, Innerleithen Community Trust, and Walkerburn Community Development Trust, to preserve the history and heritage of the Tweeddale textile industry. Not so long ago, almost everyone in Tweeddale either worked in the mills or had family connections with people who did. At its height, the industry was highly profitable and thanks to the skilled workforce, the mills of Tweeddale produced some of the world’s finest cloth and knitwear. For over two hundred years, this industry was the economic lifeblood of the region. However, following a major decline over the past thirty years, the mills in Peebles, Innerleithen and Walkerburn have all closed, heralding the death of this once great industry.
At Peebles Civic Society, we believe that our industrial heritage is worth preserving. Our aim is to preserve that history through public engagement and the creation of a digital archive. The archive will contain maps, scanned photographs, recorded oral histories, video interviews and other materials and documents relating to the textile industry.
We have already hosted three highly successful “blethering events”, in Innerleithen, Peebles and Walkerburn, where people came to donate materials and share their memories of working in the mills.
We are also planning to launch an exhibition at the Peebles Library, Museum and Gallery in August 2024. This will tell the story of the mills and illustrate the vital role that the industry has played in shaping the economy and townscapes across Tweeddale.
This project, launched in March of 2023, will run for two years, and is supported by a grant from the Scottish Borders Council Neighbourhood Support Fund.
If you would like to know more or would be interested in sharing your experiences of working in the textile industry, please contact us.
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Peebles High Street: 10000 years of history
In 2013, Peebles Civic Society launched a project to preserve peoples' memories of living, working and shopping on Peebles High Street. This initiative was funded by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and ran for just over a year.This project was centered around the creation of a digital archive containing old photographs, recorded oral histories and video interviews. The society hosted 'blethering' events where people were able to come and talk about their High Street experiences and donate material for inclusion in the archive. We also produced a photographic book and at the end of the project, we held an exhibition show-casing the materials that we had collected. All in all, this project was a great success and allowed us to gain the skills and experience necessary to run future heritage projects such as The Mills of Tweeddale (see above).
Much of the material that we collected is available for viewing by contacting the Peebles Library, Gallery and Museum Service.
You can also see a small amount of material from the project on our High Street Blog here.