INTRODUCTION

The Scottish Borders stretches from the environs of Edinburgh in the north to the English border to the south and from the rolling Tweedsmuir Hills in the west to the rocky North Sea coast in the east; an area of 1,820 square miles (4,714 square km). Through it, the River Tweed flows for 90 miles (145 km) from its headwaters near Tweedsmuir, through Peebles, Galashiels, Kelso and Coldstream to the sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed in neighbouring Northumberland. ‘The Borders’ is a long-established entity, epitomised in the Border Ballads and the writings of Sir Walter Scott, James Hogg (the Ettrick Shepherd) and John Buchan.

The Scottish Borders, as an administrative unit, was created when the Borders Regional Council (BRC) was established with the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1975. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions of Scotland, with an estimated population of 115,000 persons in 2020. The region comprises the historic counties of Peeblesshire, Selkirkshire, Roxburghshire and Berwickshire (and a small area of Midlothian), traditionally an area synonymous with woven cloth (tweed), high quality knitwear and agriculture. It is an area with a rich past as evidenced by its ruined towers, castles, abbeys and historic houses, and remembered in its common riding ceremonies.

The peaceful tranquillity of its landscape, however, gives little indication of the challenges faced by this area during the twentieth century as a result of the decline in its traditional industries and the loss of population (from a peak of 130,000 in 1881–1891 to less than 100,000 in 1971). Rural depopulation over a prolonged period of time resulted in a shortage of labour for traditional industries and the loss of young people led to an ageing population with its own demands on services and facilities. Furthermore, the region's population is dispersed throughout the area with no single town providing a focus for industry and commerce. The largest towns of Hawick, Galashiels, Peebles, Selkirk, Jedburgh and Kelso have their own hinterlands, but the lack of a dominant centre and a history of strong, independent Border burghs has been a hindrance to the development of the region.