Newcastleton, also called Copshaw Holm, is a village in

Liddesdale Liddesdale is a district in the Roxburghshire, County of Roxburgh, southern Scotland. It includes the area of the valley of the Liddel Water that extends in a south-westerly direction from the vicinity of Peel Fell to the River Esk, Dumfries and ...

, the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

, a few miles from the border with

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, on the Liddel Water. It is within the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

. It is the site of Hermitage Castle. Newcastleton is east of Langholm, south of

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

, north of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

and south of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

History

Newcastleton was built as a result of the land clearances in the 1790s when people were forced to move from Old Castleton village. There has been a folk festival at Newcastleton since 1970. "Copshaw Holm" (another name for the village) is celebrated in the song "Copshawholm Fair", written by David Anderson in 1830, as sung by Willie Scott among others. In 2020, the local community purchased 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares) of Langholm Moor for £3.8m from Buccleuch Estates.

Amenities

A community-owned unmanned

fuel station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

opened after much community fund raising in 2018. The former Townfoot Church (erected in 1803) now houses the Liddesdale Heritage Centre, a museum devoted to the culture and history of

. Newcastleton Forest is near the village, and is home to one of the 7stanes mountain bike centres. Newcastleton is the location of Whithaugh Park, an outdoor activity and residential centre run by Rock UK, offering groups of young people the opportunity to try out a variety of different outdoor activities. The village also possesses the amenity of an

astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...

multi-sport pitch (Polysport), as well as a gym and football pitch. There is also a children's playground. There is a nine-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

on the Holm Hill.

Common riding

Since 1998, an annual light-hearted

common riding A common riding is an Equestrianism, equestrian tradition mainly in the Scottish Borders in Scotland. Male and female riders ride out of the town and along its borders to commemorate the practice from 13th and 15th centuries where there were f ...

was established, being held on the same weekend as the music festival. The elected principal to represent the event is referred to as The Tub, aided by the principal's Right and Left Legged men/women, wearing the village colour of yellow. Unlike other ridings in the Borders, the Copshaw Common Riding is done on bicycle. The Copshie participants

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

the over-formality of nearby Langholm and other pageants, by proceeding on bikes, giving four cheers instead of three, toasting with

tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos (Jal ...

instead of

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

, and not taking themselves too seriously.

Other events

A traditional

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

is held every year in Newcastleton, around July. The Holm Show is an annual traditional agricultural event.

Transport

The village has direct bus services to

, Langholm and

. Newcastleton railway station provided rail services from 1862 until its closure in 1969 as part of the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

Economy

Agriculture and forestry is the main provider of employment, many people also travel to Carlisle, Hawick & Langholm for work. Buccleuch Estates have an office in nearby Langholm and own much of the land surrounding Newcastleton.

Local media

Newspaper

The local newspaper is the ''Eskdale & Liddesdale Advertiser''.Eskdale and Liddlesdale Advertiser
/ref> The paper is commonly referred to locally as 'The Squeak'. Established in 1848, the newspaper was the first penny newspaper in Scotland.

References

External links

360° Virtual Tour of NewcastletonThe Official Newcastleton WebsiteMusic Festival SiteHistory of LiddesdaleThe Holm ShowRCAHMS/Canmore record for Newcastleton
{{authority control Villages in the Scottish Borders