Hawick Feature

Hawick really ticks boxes as a place to live.

It has shops and restaurants, diverse property market, good schools, wide range of sports and leisure facilities – and also the things you can’t put a price on, like history, culture, and spectacular scenery.

Hawick is the largest town in the Borders.

It is situated on the Rivers Teviot and the Slitrig Water. Its existence can be traced all the way back to the 600s, while its close proximity to the English border, made it a frequent target for cross border wars between the two countries during the 1300s, 1400s and 1500s.

Throughout the 19th Century the growth in textile mills put the town firmly on the map.

Hawick synonymous with cashmere and fine quality knitwear – still evident today in brands that have become fashion statements throughout the world and ensure Hawick remains a leading player in the textile industry. Wealthy mill owners of the time also contributed to the town’s architectural heritage by building magnificent mansion houses.

While the last few hundred years of Hawick’s economy has been based on the textile industry, the 21st Century reality is very different for the Borders town. Hawick’s perhaps less well known features include over 100 acres of parkland, tree-lined walks, children’s play areas, mountain bike trails, craft workshops and an exhaustive list of leisure opportunities.

From an architectural perspective Hawick has merged the old and the new with great success.

While many historical buildings are there to admire, like the Public Library and Town Hall, some have found a new lease of life – most notably the former Tower Mill, the centrepiece of a £10 million regeneration project that incorporates a striking two-storey glass entrance and terrace overlooking Slitrig Water. Now a modern civic arts centre, this landmark building houses a cinema, theatre, café and exhibition area – quite a contrast to the original water wheel, which has been retained as a tangible link with the past.

Also enjoying a renaissance, the former Corn Exchange is now a major attraction renamed the Heritage Hub, where you can trace ancestors in one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in the UK. It houses a state-of-the-art family history centre and regional archive providing climate-controlled storage for thousands of local manuscripts and records dating back to the 1500s. The Heart of Hawick project also included the construction of a metal footbridge across the Teviot and the refurbishment of Drumlanrig’s Tower, now a visitor centre and museum with period rooms interpreting the history of Hawick.

History runs deep in this part of the world.

Hawick’s location, close to the English border, made it a frequent target for cross border skirmishes. Today the English come in peace, either to shop as day visitors, or move to permanently – and the local property market has something to suit every taste, from period buildings, conversions and traditional flats, to rural cottages and modern housing developments.

Scottish Borders history is strongly linked with horses:

Border Reivers; Common Ridings; point to point races; eventing; racing; polo; endurance; vaulting and pony club activities. In fact there are more horses per head of population in the Borders than anywhere else in Scotland.  The biggest event on the annual calendar in Hawick is the Common Riding, an event that commemorates a victory in 1514 for the town’s younger boys or ‘callants’ who fought off a raiding party of English troops and captured their flag in the process.

The Scottish Borders provides excellent facilities for those who wish to bring their own horse. You and your horse will be made very welcome, with several B&B and Guest Houses offerring stabling. The open countryside with stunning views, horse friendly tracks and quiet country roads combine to offer many miles of enjoyable horse riding.

A big attraction of this delightful part of the world is the great outdoors.

South of Hawick and almost on the border, Newcastleton Forest is a mecca for walkers and nature lovers. It also has mountain bike trails and pony trekking – and you can cross the border into Kielder Forest.

Founded in 1793 by the Duke of Buccleuch as a handloom-weaving centre, Newcastleton village occupies land that was once known as Border Reiver country, home of the Armstrongs and Elliots. True adventure addicts can challenge themselves at the Rock UK Adventure Centre, just outside Newcastleton, where the list of activities includes gorge walking and canoeing.  Newcastleton is also a great place for mountain bike enthusiasts, home to the challenging 7stanes mountain bike centre and on the circular Southern Borders Loop, a 75-mile route with fun attractions along the way, including Liddesdale Heritage Centre and the haunting 14th Century Hermitage Castle.

Other Hawick attractions include the award-winning Wilton Lodge Park, which boasts over 107 acres of riverside and tree-lined walks and Teviotdale Leisure Centre, which includes a swimming pool, flumes, squash, and indoor bowling. For golfers, Hawick Golf Club is the oldest in the Scottish Borders; established in 1877 it has stunning views and lists Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo as honorary members. There is also a parkland course in the Teviot Valley.

Hawick caters for a variety of alternative leisure pursuits at the Eastcote House Archery Centre and the Scottish Academy of Falconry and Related Studies at Bonchester Bridge.

All of the above, in addition to a diverse property market, makes Hawick and the surrounding villages a very desirable place in which to live. It also helps that Hawick’s proximity to the A7 makes it easily accessible to Selkirk, Galashiels and Melrose, while Newcastle Airport is around an hour’s drive – add an extra 15 minutes to Edinburgh Airport. And with the Borders Railway now operational, Hawick and the surrounding area is within easy reach of the Tweedbank terminus and train service directly to the centre of Edinburgh.

© Beverley Brown and Hastings Legal