A view of Station Road, Eddleston. The village too has seen many changes! (Tweeddale Museum: Margaret Smart collection)

Signs of change

Agricultural workers, Eddleston area. With the advent of farm machinery, the work of farm and estate could be carried out with a smaller labour force. (Tweeddale Museum).

 

The rural scene has changed drastically in the space of just over 150 years. Few traces survive of the farming landscape that existed up to the 18th and early 19th centuries. Smaller farms have been swallowed up by larger ones. New rural industries such as forestry and quarrying have also made their mark on the landscape.

Many people have left the land: one of our aims is to make sure that their part in the long story of the parish is recorded.

Eddleston station. The Edinburgh-Peebles railway opened in July 1855 and ran for just over 100 years before closing in February 1962 (Eric Stevenson)

Lines of communication

The parish also provides interesting snapshots of changes in transport and communications.

The coming of the railways heralded the arrival of the modern age - yet the line of the Edinburgh-Peebles railway is now also 'fossilised' in the landscape.

Stressed commuters speeding along the A703 are probably unaware that the modern road is criss-crossed by the remains of the old roads between Edinburgh and Peebles. The route has changed no less than three times since the 18th century.

As the road curves south beyond Craigburn, the more leisurely driver can still take time to enjoy the view down the valley towards the distant hills.

The landscape may have changed, yet from suitable vantage points 10,000 years ago, Mesolithic hunters probably savoured the same view, as they made their way down the valley towards the Tweed …

The old abandoned farmsteads have been demolished and their original locations are now almost invisible. Along with the faint traces of old cultivation strips and enclosed plots, they have become part of the archaeology of the parish.