Galashiels

About Galashiels

Lying in the narrow valley of the Gala Water, Galashiels is one of the most popular towns in the Scottish Borders. It has a population of around 12,600 and has a stunning backdrop as it is close to the River Tweed and is surrounded by rolling hills.
The town is world renowned for its textile industry which began its flourish in the 19th century. This caused the towns population to grow, with the establishment of several mills. Due to heritage, Galasheils was made the location of Heriot-Watt University's School of Textiles and Design.

Poet Robert Burns wrote the poems "Sae Fair Her Hair" and "Braw Lads” which is sung at the annual Braw Lads Gathering. Closeby and just across the River Tweed is Abbotsford House which was home to Sir Walter Scott.

The town has a fairly distinctive coat of arms; two foxes reaching to eat plums from a plum tree with the motto “Soor Plooms”. This is supposedly to represent an incident in 1337 in which English soldiers were picking wild plums in the area and were caught by Scots who then killed them all.