Robert Noble was a

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

and

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

s business based in 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 ...

town of

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

. The origins of the company can be traced back to 1666 when it was formed in

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) 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 history in the textile in ...

under the name of David Ballantyne. It was at one time listed amongst the oldest surviving UK businesses. During the next two hundred years the company grew, developed and over time was merged with other businesses including George Roberts & Co. of Selkirk, Walter Thorburn of Hawick and Henry Ballantyne of Walkerburn. In 1884 it moved to a new purpose built mill at March Street in Peebles; the home of Robert Noble until late 2015. During the twentieth century Ballantyne's formed part of the Dawson International business. However, during the latter part of the twentieth century the UK textiles industry went through various re-structuring and Robert Noble was sold off as a separate business. The Robert Noble business had lost significant sales in early 2000s when

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

contracts for Scottish Regiments were sent outside the UK. In 2015, after trying to sell the company privately, the management publicly put the site up for sale. Unable to find buyers for the site, Robert Noble was sold to Magee's in Ireland and Replin was sold to AW Hainsworth based in Yorkshire. After the Scottish Government rejected Moorbrook Ltd’s proposals for redevelopment of the site, it agreed to Peebles Community Trust’s request to register a Community Right to Buy (CRtB), which would allow the community first option, under certain conditions, to negotiate purchase of the land should the owners place it on the open market.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Company Website

Historic images of March Street Mills

Historic aerial photographs of March Street Mills

Image of railway waggon advertising March Street Mills

Plan of railway siding at March Street Mills

Image of old railway line at March Street Mills

Recent references about Robert Noble

Picture of March Street Mill in 2014

Visit around March Street Mill

Video of Robert Noble visit

Duchamp video about Robert Noble

Royal visit to March Street Mill in 2013

History of Ballantyne's businesses

Peebles history

Clothing companies of Scotland Companies based in the Scottish Borders Manufacturing companies of Scotland Tartan Textile manufacturers of Scotland Textile companies of the United Kingdom Textile mills in Scotland Clothing companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom