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| Bank st. gardens | War memorial |
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Galashiels |
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View of the Eildon hills from Gala hill |
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| Bank st. gardens | War memorial |
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Galashiels is a small town of about 12,000 population situated in the heart of the Scottish Borderland. It is approximately 30 miles from Edinburgh and 70 miles from both Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Carlisle.
Galashiels (Gala) was, as were most Border towns, primarily a Mill town. Textile manufacturing used to be the main employer. The sad decline of the textile industry opened the way for the electronics manufacturers. Recent events have devastated this industry too. There are now few major employers in the area. A number of "spin off" businesses have been developed from the electronics giants and concentrate on small specialist tasks, all helping to keep the Borders economy alive.
Most people would consider it a quiet town, as it is, but it has all the facilities you could require, we've even got a McDonalds, but that's nothing to brag about. Open countryside is within a few minutes walk and the usual outdoor pursuits are in abundance. Most sporting activities centre around our famous Border Rugby clubs.
A new and most welcome addition to the town has been the incorporation of Heriot-Watt University (Borders Campus) into what used to be known as the Scottish College of Textiles.
Click on the scene below to get a panoramic views of Gala. It'll take a wee while to download if you don't have broadband
For the less energetic there is the Fishing. Brown Trout can be had in the rivers with Rainbow Trout being catered for by the commercial ponds and lochs. Salmon fishing is what the main river, "The Tweed", is famous for. Although the Salmon population is still in decline, good fishing can still be found on the larger beats. My own favourite spot is Elibank, on the upper tweed. I have the good fortune to be invited to fish there, by my good friend Cliff Renney. Cliff has managed to pull a good few salmon, and the occasional Sea-Trout, out of that water. I, myself, have only managed to catch three salmon and number of kelts (unseasonable fish which must be returned).
I fair somewhat better at trout fishing and enjoy good days fishing both on the Gala Angling Association part of the Tweed and in the commercial sites of "Clerklands" and "Alton Loch", both between Selkirk and Hawick.
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Salmon fishing at
Sunderland Hall
on the junction pool of Ettrick Water and River Tweed |
Borders History -
My
Grandfathers Memoirs
(Childhood memories of a Scottish Borders farm worker)
Local Links
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12/06/2006
