Tweedbank is a large village south-east of

Galashiels Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian an ...

, Scotland. It is part of the county of

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...

. It is an outer suburb or satellite development of Galashiels, on the other (eastern) side of the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the ...

. The population of Tweedbank at the latest census is 2,101.Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk - retrieved Oct 2016. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Output Area. Selecting the 16 Output Areas covering Tweedbank (east of the Tweed) on the map provided i.e. Output areas in the range S00095363-70 and S00095787-94

Geography

Tweedbank, as the name suggests, sits adjacent to the

, and approximately down river from

Abbotsford House Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...

, the historic home of Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy'' ...

. Tweedbank has a pond known as Gunknowe Loch, a small shop, and a railway station.

History

The settlement was started in the early 1970s on the land of a farm whose original house still stands (serving as a boarding cattery) adjacent to the community centre (known locally as 'The Barns'). The original settlement was built by Scottish Special Housing and included the streets of Neidpath Court, Blakehope Court, Hareshaw Bank, Stobshaw Place, Stobshaw Terrace and Haining Drive. In the 1980s Bett Housing (later to be taken over by Lema Homes) began building on the site at the entry of Tweedbank from Galashiels; this estate included the streets Abbotslea, Riverside Drive, Abbotsferry Road, Lowood Park, Ladymoss and Heathery Rigg. To locals this area was often known as 'the Betts'. The 1990s saw two developments by Eildon Housing Association, namely Jura Drive and Craw Wood, with private housing being built around Tweedbank View and Tweedbank Drive. The final development in the 2000s was constructed by

Barratt Homes Barratt Developments plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. It was founded in 1958 as Greensitt Bros., but control was later assumed by Sir La ...

in the area around Weavers Linn, built on the former Abbotsford to Lowood road (later a footpath). Before the advent of the new town of Tweedbank, the area was occupied by the farms of Tweedbank and Bridgend Mains .Ordnance Survey map 6 in. to 1 mile: Selkirkshire Sheet VIII.NW & NE, Surveyed: 1897, Published: 1900 The new housing estate lies in the civil parish of Melrose in the former county of

.Canmore website entry for Tweedbank: canmore.org.uk/site/86457 - website of the archeological inventory of

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

Education, sport and landmarks

The original primary school near the loch was a small school of fewer than 100 pupils and composite classes. In 1996 this changed, due to a slightly increasing population, and the school was now able to teach students in separate classrooms organised by their year of schooling. In the early 2000s the school expanded due to a significant increase in the local population. In addition to residential housing and the Primary School, Tweedbank also boasts an all weather sports complex, an Astroturf football and hockey pitch, an indoor bowling club, a large children's all-weather play area, and the Gun Knowe Loch, which is actually a man-made lake. The loch is popular with locals due to its abundance of swans and ducks. Amenities located next to the Gun Knowe Loch include a local shop, a hairdressers, and the bar/restaurant Hergés on the Loch, which has outdoor seating available in the summer. Government offices for Agriculture & Fisheries and the Scottish Public Pensions Agency can also be found within Tweedbank. Tweedbank is the site of the biggest

industrial estate An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park ...

in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Culture

Each year in May, the village celebrates a week-long 'Tweedbank Fair' in which a local 'Tweedbank Lad and Lass' (together with two attendants each) are appointed from members of the school's Primary Seven class.

Transport

The village is served by Tweedbank railway station, the terminus of the

Borders Railway The Borders Railway connects the city of Edinburgh with Galashiels and Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. The railway follows most of the alignment of the northern part of the Waverley Route, a former double-track line in southern Scotland ...

that runs between the

Central Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian an ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. Trains run half-hourly on weekdays, and hourly in evenings and at weekends. Tweedbank Drive is the main thoroughfare through the village, leading from Galashiels towards Melrose, with a number of roads adjoining. Driving eastwards, on the left adjacent firstly is Abbotsferry Road. The next turn off is on the right-hand side, Weavers Linn leading to The Beeches. Other roads leading from the main thoroughfare are Cotgreen Road, Honeylees Drive, Essenside Drive, Jura Drive and Craw Wood.

References

External links

Tweedbank Community Council
{{authority control Villages in the Scottish Borders Galashiels 1970s establishments in Scotland Populated places established in the 1970s