Gala and The Tapestry

I had the great fortune some years back to represent my home town at the various Common Ridings and Festivals which take place across the south of Scotland every summer. This was an enjoyable, and eye opening, experience. The depth of culture and tradition in these wee toons is overwhelming for the first timer. There was of course much carousing and enjoyment to be had - and hunners of after dinner speeches. One thing that, seemingly without fail, united speakers from the nerviest first time public speaker to the battle hardened veteran Chairman was that if you needed a laugh, you target Galashiels. Banter (or, to be honest, insults) were often slung the way of The Borders second biggest town, the former textile giant seemingly the fall guy for the region. I’ll confess, I laughed along and thinking back you can see that Gala or ‘Galae’ was an easy target. The town was at a low ebb, seeking an identity post Industrialisation and has long been mocked by other Border towns - there are inter town rivalries right across the borderlands, but poor Gala always seems to be the whipping boy. I suspect this stuff happens elsewhere too, but we are pretty good at it. Anyway, Gala has felt a bit down on its luck for a while now. Channel Street, High Street and to a lesser degree Bank Street - the heart of the town - have fallen victim to the same town centre problems seen in many places in the UK. Reduced footfall, empty shops, a ghost town vibe. Now before I go on I can’t pretend this blog is going to say Gala has bucked the national trend and shaken this off - there are still lots of empty shops, many with little prospect of opening anytime soon, but it’s clear to me that something is happening in Gala and it’s worth talking about.

Braw Lads Mural, Galashiels

Gala got the railway back in 2015 and this has given the town a boost. It’s never, ever been a tourist town so to expect thousands of people to instantly come down from Edinburgh to visit Gala was ridiculous and, a recurring theme this, much mocked as a concept by many Borderers. Nevertheless, Borders Railway has been an success, massively overachieving on passenger numbers and improving mobility for thousands. But to get people to Gala and not just away from it, it needs something to come for so enter The Great Tapestry of Scotland.

The concept behind The Tapestry was devised by authors Alexander McCall Smith and Borders historian Alistair Moffat. The idea was a massive community art project depicting our country of Scotland’s story from the dawn of time to the 21st century, via 160 linen panels stitched by more than 1,000 people. Designed by Andrew Crummy, The Tapestry was created in 2012/13 and toured the country thereafter. Eventually a permanent home would have to be found and Gala, former textile capital with new railway link and a desperate need to forge a new identity was chosen. This was not without controversy, a new and purpose built home was created where a poundstretcher once stood. There was, and still is, extremely strong opposition to the whole project from many Borderers with the cost of upwards of £7 million pounds causing much of this angst. To be honest, and I’ll get my tin hat on for this, I think that investment is a pretty good deal - it’s a metropolitan quality visitor attraction. In Gala. Galashiels. The building shows the Tapestry in a brilliant way, allowing you to move chronologically through Scotland’s stories. I get that some people see £7m being spent and think “that would fix a lot of potholes” but these aren’t binary choices being made and if we didn’t have the exhibit here it would be somewhere else in Scotland getting those visitors so, in what is becoming my catchphrase, what for no?? I urge people to give it a go even if they hate the very idea of it - because it ain’t going anywhere! Enough of all this, more on the thing itself. The stitching is very interesting but what I enjoyed the most was Scotland’s story it depicts - there can be nowhere better to get such a broad, yet detailed, sweep over our countries staggering history. Sure, the big hitters are all here (Bannockburn, Burns, The Act of Union, Flodden, Sean Connery) but so is the quirky (Oor Wullie, Rev IM Jolly, Argentina 1978) and the relatively obscure or forgotten (Kinmont Willie, the false alarm of French Invasion, The Hillman Imp). It’s a brilliant way to engage with our story and the south of Scotland is really well represented. I mention this as sometimes it feels in media like Scotland is the cities, golf, the Highlands and that’s it. So to have panels on The Border Abbeys, The Debatable Lands, Tweed Valley Textiles, Rugby Union and Scott among others is brilliant to see.

The Tapestry in it’s new home - image courtesy of The Great Tapestry of Scotland. Thank you!

I spoke to John Baxter, Operations Manager for the Tapestry and an old pal from aforementioned Common Riding days. It’s clear there big plans for outreach and educational days and this seems like a brilliant idea. What a visual way to get school kids interested in Scotland’s past, a subject that seems neglected. John was also keen to point out they have a FREE open day to celebrate achieving a 5 star Visit Scotland rating on Friday, 9 September, 12:00 - 17:00. A brilliant opportunity to enjoy this for free.

So I think The Tapestry is breathing a bit of life into Gala, along with great work being done by local charity group Energise Galashiels - who have also added some huge murals in the town centre which are worth a look.

Walter Scott mural, Bank Close in Galashiels

Bank Street is buzzing with indie shops and even a superb vegan café which (here we go again…) has bemused some locals to the point of anger. Not a viewpoint I can really understand - there are still plenty butcher shops. Geek Retreat is also a fine addition on Channel Street, a café celebrating geek culture but above all just being a great community space. The Mac Arts centre in a converted Kirk just behind The Tapestry was featured in The Guardian last week as one of the coolest gig venues in the UK. Gala feels on the up, but there are still plenty of empty shops sadly but that is a true sign of the times nationally and you feel is unlikely to change. The town fathers wrought a hell of a lot of damage in the 00’s by allowing two out of town style hyper markets and a retail park to open - in the centre of town, something that will never be totally unwound. Gala has however had investment in the town centre to make it more attractive and seems determined to make a success of it. Good luck to them, maybe they will have the last laugh…