Tuesday March 3rd 2026
Hawick, Scottish Borders
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
The love for Hawick is “huge and it is international”, councillors were told this week.
Homage was paid to to the town when councillors considered a new conservation area report.
A 12-week public consultation on the plan outlining the development, maintenance and enhancement of buildings in Hawick conservation area has been endorsed.
The document – with many illustrations highlighting important buildings in the town – was praised by members of Scottish Borders Council’s Planning & Building Standards Committee.
The report sparked a series of memories and recollections.
Councillor Aileen Orr, independent for East Berwickshire, said: “I am not from Hawick but I have Hawick DNA. I remember as a wee girl coming from Newcastleton to Hawick on the train with my granny to go shopping and the love of this town is huge and it is international.
“It is just such a fabulous town. I am proud of it and I don’t come from there and they have still got the most amazing buildings that we often forget or walk past or drive past. I mean the Thomas Brydon shopfront is fabulous.
“I remember going around as a child and Hawick was heaving and had all these independent shops, as most towns did, and the pride in that town, even now, is huge.
“Now there has been a slump in Hawick, there is no doubt about that and we can’t get away from that, from the textile industry especially, but when I read this document I almost cried, it was amazing, and I mean it because I have a love of the town.
“But I know there has been a resurgence and the people in Hawick are excited and there are incredible historical links with the Horse, Common Riding, which is a very emotional time because of Flodden, so if this document and project can do anything it can reinstate pride in this amazing town.”
The SNP’s Marshall Douglas, who represents Tweeddale East, echoed those sentiments, adding: “I have a lot of family connections to Hawick myself. My late father was a Hawick man and I lived and worked in Hawick for some time, met my wife there and we had our first child there.
“This publication is a tremendous piece of work. You could almost sell it as a pamphlet to advertise the town.
“Some of the photographs, sketches and drawings are tremendous. It really highlights the historic value of Hawick, which is often overlooked by people who are not familiar with the town.”
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