WORKERS in the mills which transformed Tweeddale from a sleepy backwater to a world centre of textile manufacture are celebrated in a special exhibition.

‘Remembering our Mills: memories of the textile industry that shaped Tweeddale’ is on at Peebles museum from August to November.

It fulfils one of the core objectives of Peebles Civic Society’s two-year partnership project – to preserve the history and heritage of the factories, and people that changed Innerleithen and Peebles forever and created the village of Walkerburn.

A team from the three communities has brought together the results of many months of research and blethering events.

Project leader Stephen Scott, of Peebles Civic Society, who comes from an Innerleithen mill family, said: “The partnership with Peebles Library, Museum and Gallery, Innerleithen Community Trust, and Walkerburn Community Development Trust will preserve the history and heritage of the mills.

“It creates a permanent digital archive of the industry that made the area world famous.

“The mills produced high quality cloth and knitwear from the mid-19th century to recent times and provided work for thousands of people.”

“Much of the cloth was destined for clothing producers elsewhere, but towards the end a large proportion of the fabric produced at March Street Mill, for instance, was for upholstery and other technical purposes.”

Remnants of the industry remain, including several small-scale knitwear producers and cloth merchant Holland and Sherry in Peebles, which employs more than 130 people.

It undertakes design and pattern weaving on the premises and dispatches upmarket cloth for the fashion industry from Savile Row and around the world.

Chris Sawers, from the museum, said: “We are delighted to have been involved in supporting this project over the years.

“This exhibition is a must visit for locals and visitors alike.

“It is a fabulous testament for the huge amount of work that has already been achieved by a dedicated group of volunteers.”

There are oral interviews involved in the exhibition with people who worked at every level, from the factory floor to the boardroom, and it combines the spoken word, film, maps and images.

The project has created great interest with donations of numerous photographs of the mills and their employees.

The free admission exhibition will run from August 5 to November 9.