Tweedbank is a large village south-east of

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 ...

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 ...

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

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, 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 River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...

. 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 and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. 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 Redrow plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was originally based in Newcastle upon Tyn ...

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) () 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 merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

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 restaurant, Shanghai Banquet. Government offices for Agriculture & Fisheries and the Scottish Public Pensions Agency can also be found within Tweedbank. It is also home to the Tempest Brewing Company. Tweedbank is the site of the biggest

industrial estate An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or 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 par ...

in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

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 that runs between the Central Borders and

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 ...

. 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 Eildon