Church_spires_in_Galashiels_-_geograph.org.uk_-_717309

December 10, 2018 by Alexander Meldrum

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Church_spires_in_Galashiels_-_geograph.org.uk_-_717309

Scotlands Citys & Towns Galashiels Galashiels (/?gæl?'?i??lz/; Scots: Gallae, Scottish Gaelic: An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders and historic county of Selkirkshire, on the Gala Wat...

Scotlands Citys & Towns Galashiels Galashiels (/?gæl?'?i??lz/; Scots: Gallae, Scottish Gaelic: An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders and historic county of Selkirkshire, on the Gala Water river. The name is often shortened to "Gala". The town, with a population of around 12,600, is a major commercial centre for the Borders region. The town is known for textile making, and is the location of Heriot-Watt University's School of Textiles and Design, Galashiels Academy and the main campus of Borders College at Netherdale. History To the west of the town there is an ancient earthwork known as the Picts' Work Ditch or Catrail. It extends many miles south and its height and width varies. There is no agreement about the purpose of the earthwork. There is another ancient site on the north-western edge of the town, at Torwoodlee, an Iron Age hill fort, with a later Broch known as Torwoodlee Broch built in the western quarter of the hill fort, and overlapping some of the defensive ditches of the original fort. The Romans destroyed the broch in AD 140, soon after it was completed. The town's coat of arms shows two foxes reaching up to eat plums from a tree, and the motto is Sour Plums pronounced in Scots as soor plooms. This is a reference to an incident in 1337 when a raiding party of English soldiers were picking wild plums close to the town and were caught by Scots who came across them by chance and slaughtered them all. On a hillside to the north of the town, Buckholm Tower is a prominent structure which dates back to 1582 and replaced an earlier tower built on the same site but destroyed around 1570. In 1599 Galashiels received its burgh Charter, an event celebrated every summer since the 1930s by the "Braw Lads Gathering", with riders on horseback parading through the town. Galashiels' population grew fast through the textile trade with several mills. A connection with the town's mill history, the Mill Lade, still links the town from near the site of mills at Wheatlands Road, to Netherdale, via Wilderhaugh, Bank Street, the Fountain and next to the Tesco/retail development Street. Climate Galashiels has an oceanic climate. However due to its elevated position and distance from the sea it has colder winters and slightly warmer summers than coastal places such as Edinburgh, Dunbar and Eyemouth. Snow is also much more common in winter, and covers the ground for an average of 38 days a year in an average winter Go to Wikipedia for full History

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