Langholm
Encyclopedia
Langholm icon, also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh
in Dumfries and Galloway
, Scotland
, on the River Esk and the A7 road.
industry, but is now best-known as the birthplace of Hugh MacDiarmid
and Thomas Telford
. The population in 2001 was 2,311.
The town was an important centre for the Border Reivers
.
to Langholm was completed in 1864, but closed 100 years later. The last regular passenger train was on 13 June 1964, although a special ran in March 1967 - complete with restaurant car; the freight service continued until September 1967. The X95/95 bus line runs through Langholm. The A7 road runs through the town.
is a combined primary and secondary school
.
at home on 24 April.
In 1871, Langholm RFC
was founded, being the oldest Rugby club in the Borders
. Langholm RFC play in Scottish National League Division 1
and in the Border League
.
Langholm also has a minor football
team, Langholm Legion, who also play on the Castleholm
The town also has a karate club, Langholm Shotokan Karate Club, which is part of the JKS Scotland.
church on the Castle Holm in the burgh has been converted into the Armstrong
clan
museum
.
The town is home to a music and arts festival, a food festival and the Langholm walks.
Each year many visitors come for the annual Common Riding
, which takes place on the last Friday of July.
Langholm has both a pipe band
and a brass band
(known as the Town Band - or colloquially as The Toon Ban'). The Town Band is the oldest surviving brass band in Scotland.
The town is also home to the Eskdale and Liddesdale Archaeological Society.
There is also an active Archive Group with a steadily increasing collection of information, much now on-line.
commemorating the life and achievements of Sir John Malcolm (1769‑1833), the distinguished soldier, statesman, and historian.
The others are Warblaw (in Langholm it is pronounced Warbla), Meikleholmhill (a knowe
of which is known as 'Tinpin') and the Castle Hill.
Ltd. The paper covers news from Langholm and its surrounding areas (notably Canonbie
& Newcastleton
) and is commonly referred to locally as 'The Squeak'. Established in 1848, the newspaper was the first penny newspaper in Scotland.
Another local business is Border Fine Arts, set up in the early 1970s. It makes figurines of local wildlife, each one hand painted by local people. The company trades around the world.
was welcomed to the town, and made the first freeman
of the burgh
. He happily declared the town his home:
The BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/aboutus/wirelesstoweb/decades/index.shtml?decade=70s have a video clip of the visit.
Langholm is the traditional seat of Clan Armstrong
, which is currently represented globally by the official Clan Armstrong Trust. Home of the Clan Armstrong line is Gilnockie Tower
2.3 km (1.4 mi) north of Canonbie
.
Langholm is also home of Christopher Murray Grieve (known as Hugh Macdiarmid
), the Scottish poet, who was a leading light in the Scottish Renaissance
of the 20th century. Unusually for a communist, he was a committed Scottish nationalist and wrote both in English and in literary Scots
. The town is home to a monument in his honour made of cast iron which takes the form of a large open book depicting images from his writings.
on red grouse
populations. This was a large scale project involving a range of organisations including Game Conservancy Trust, CEH
(or ITE as they were then known) and Buccleuch estates. The project was followed by a two year study on the effects of supplementary feeding of harriers
, which ended in 1999. The findings of the study and the effect on the moor have been the subject of much debate. In 2007 the Scottish Government announced a further 10 year project with the following aims:
The Langholm Project is a joint venture between Buccleuch Estates, Scottish Natural Heritage
, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
, RSPB and Natural England
.
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
in Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, on the River Esk and the A7 road.
History
The town grew around the textileTextile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
industry, but is now best-known as the birthplace of Hugh MacDiarmid
Hugh MacDiarmid
Hugh MacDiarmid is the pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve , a significant Scottish poet of the 20th century. He was instrumental in creating a Scottish version of modernism and was a leading light in the Scottish Renaissance of the 20th century...
and Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...
. The population in 2001 was 2,311.
The town was an important centre for the Border Reivers
Border Reivers
Border Reivers were raiders along the Anglo–Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Their ranks consisted of both Scottish and English families, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality...
.
Transport
A branch of the Carlisle to Hawick railway lineBorder Union Railway
The Border Union Railway was a railway line in south of Scotland. It was authorised on 21 July 1859 and advertised as the Waverley Route by the promoters - the North British Railway...
to Langholm was completed in 1864, but closed 100 years later. The last regular passenger train was on 13 June 1964, although a special ran in March 1967 - complete with restaurant car; the freight service continued until September 1967. The X95/95 bus line runs through Langholm. The A7 road runs through the town.
Education
Langholm AcademyLangholm Academy
Langholm Academy is a non-denominational, co-educational six-year comprehensive secondary school in Langholm, Scotland.The school was created in March 1876, with Mr John Howie as head. During the 1880s, the school had a record as one of the best academic schools in Scotland.Currently, the school...
is a combined primary and secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
.
Sport
In 1858 Langholm Cricket Club was founded. The club play their matches on the picturesque Castleholm Ground. They currently play their matches in the Border League, finishing mid table for the 2009 season. The 2010 season started against GalaGalashiels
Galashiels is a burgh in the Scottish Borders, on the Gala Water river. The name is often shortened to "Gala" .Galashiels is a major commercial centre for the Scottish Borders...
at home on 24 April.
In 1871, Langholm RFC
Langholm RFC
Langholm Rugby Football Club are a rugby union team founded in 1871. They play their home games at Milntown, Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway....
was founded, being the oldest Rugby club in the Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
. Langholm RFC play in Scottish National League Division 1
Scottish National League
The Scottish National League is the ice hockey league in Scotland.Seen as the third-tier of ice hockey, below the British Elite Ice Hockey League and the English Premier Ice Hockey League . However, its standard of play has been considered closer to the English National Ice Hockey Division One,...
and in the Border League
Border League
For the defunct baseball league, see Border League The Border League, is the oldest established rugby union league in the World, having been formed in 1901...
.
Langholm also has a minor football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
team, Langholm Legion, who also play on the Castleholm
The town also has a karate club, Langholm Shotokan Karate Club, which is part of the JKS Scotland.
Arts & leisure
The unused EpiscopalianScottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
church on the Castle Holm in the burgh has been converted into the Armstrong
Clan Armstrong
Clan Armstrong is an armigerous clan whose origins lie in Cumberland, south of the frontier between Scotland and England which was officially established in 1237....
clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
.
The town is home to a music and arts festival, a food festival and the Langholm walks.
Each year many visitors come for the annual Common Riding
Common Riding
Common Riding is an annual event celebrated in Scottish Border towns and in some other places, to commemorate the times of the past when local men risked their lives in order to protect their town and people.- Hawick :...
, which takes place on the last Friday of July.
Langholm has both a pipe band
Pipe band
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common....
and a brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
(known as the Town Band - or colloquially as The Toon Ban'). The Town Band is the oldest surviving brass band in Scotland.
The town is also home to the Eskdale and Liddesdale Archaeological Society.
There is also an active Archive Group with a steadily increasing collection of information, much now on-line.
Geography
Langholm is surrounded by four hills. The highest is 300m Whita hill, on which stands an impressive obeliskObelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
commemorating the life and achievements of Sir John Malcolm (1769‑1833), the distinguished soldier, statesman, and historian.
The others are Warblaw (in Langholm it is pronounced Warbla), Meikleholmhill (a knowe
Hillock
A hillock or knoll is a small hill, usually separated from a larger group of hills such as a range. Hillocks are similar in their distribution and size to small mesas or buttes. The term is largely a British one...
of which is known as 'Tinpin') and the Castle Hill.
Press
The local newspaper is the Eskdale & Liddesdale Advertiser, which is part of the CN GroupCN Group
The CN Group Limited is an independent local media business based in Carlisle which operates in three different media fields.The company was formerly known as the Cumbrian Newspapers Group Ltd but changed its name to reflect the fact that is no longer primarily a newspaper publisher...
Ltd. The paper covers news from Langholm and its surrounding areas (notably Canonbie
Canonbie
Canonbie is a small village in Dumfries and Galloway in south west Scotland, six miles south of Langholm and two miles north of the Anglo-Scottish border. It is on the A7 road from Carlisle to Edinburgh, and the River Esk flows through it...
& Newcastleton
Newcastleton
Newcastleton, or Copshaw Holm is a village in the Scottish Borders, a few miles from the border of Scotland with England. The village is in Liddesdale and is on the Liddel Water, and is the site of Hermitage Castle.-History:...
) and is commonly referred to locally as 'The Squeak'. Established in 1848, the newspaper was the first penny newspaper in Scotland.
Industry
Langholm has long been home to a thriving woollen milling trade and at one stage there were 22 mills in the town. There has been consolidation and closure since then, but many people still earn their living in the trade. The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, seen on many a high street, is based in Langholm.Another local business is Border Fine Arts, set up in the early 1970s. It makes figurines of local wildlife, each one hand painted by local people. The company trades around the world.
Notable people
In 1972, astronaut Neil ArmstrongNeil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
was welcomed to the town, and made the first freeman
Freedom of the City
Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
of the burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
. He happily declared the town his home:
- “My pleasure is not only that this is the land of Johnnie ArmstrongJohnnie ArmstrongJohnnie Armstrong or Johnie Armstrong is a Child ballad number 169 and relates to the story of Scottish raider and folk-hero Johnnie Armstrong of Gilnockie, who was captured and hanged by King James V in 1530.-History:...
, rather that my pleasure is in knowing that this is my home town and in the genuine feeling that I have among these hills among these people.”
The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/aboutus/wirelesstoweb/decades/index.shtml?decade=70s have a video clip of the visit.
Langholm is the traditional seat of Clan Armstrong
Clan Armstrong
Clan Armstrong is an armigerous clan whose origins lie in Cumberland, south of the frontier between Scotland and England which was officially established in 1237....
, which is currently represented globally by the official Clan Armstrong Trust. Home of the Clan Armstrong line is Gilnockie Tower
Gilnockie Tower
Gilnockie Tower is a 16th-century tower house, located at the hamlet of Hollows, 2.3 km north of Canonbie, in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. The tower is situated on the west bank of the River Esk. It was originally known as Hollows Tower...
2.3 km (1.4 mi) north of Canonbie
Canonbie
Canonbie is a small village in Dumfries and Galloway in south west Scotland, six miles south of Langholm and two miles north of the Anglo-Scottish border. It is on the A7 road from Carlisle to Edinburgh, and the River Esk flows through it...
.
Langholm is also home of Christopher Murray Grieve (known as Hugh Macdiarmid
Hugh MacDiarmid
Hugh MacDiarmid is the pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve , a significant Scottish poet of the 20th century. He was instrumental in creating a Scottish version of modernism and was a leading light in the Scottish Renaissance of the 20th century...
), the Scottish poet, who was a leading light in the Scottish Renaissance
Scottish Renaissance
The Scottish Renaissance was a mainly literary movement of the early to mid 20th century that can be seen as the Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as the Scottish literary renaissance, although its influence went beyond literature into music, visual arts, and politics...
of the 20th century. Unusually for a communist, he was a committed Scottish nationalist and wrote both in English and in literary Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
. The town is home to a monument in his honour made of cast iron which takes the form of a large open book depicting images from his writings.
General
The 'Langholm Project' is a reference to the Joint Raptor Study, a scientific study undertaken in the 1990s on Langholm Moor into the effects of raptorsBird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
on red grouse
Red grouse
The Red Grouse is a medium sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the Willow Grouse but is sometimes considered to be a separate species Lagopus scoticus...
populations. This was a large scale project involving a range of organisations including Game Conservancy Trust, CEH
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is the United Kingdom's Centre of Excellence for integrated research in hydrology, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and their interaction with the atmosphere...
(or ITE as they were then known) and Buccleuch estates. The project was followed by a two year study on the effects of supplementary feeding of harriers
Harrier (bird)
A harrier is any of the several species of diurnal hawks forming the Circinae sub-family of the Accipitridae family of birds of prey. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds....
, which ended in 1999. The findings of the study and the effect on the moor have been the subject of much debate. In 2007 the Scottish Government announced a further 10 year project with the following aims:
- aim to establish a commercially viable driven grouse moor. Within the time frame of the project, it is the intention to sell driven grouse days producing an annual income in excess of £100,000.
- aim to restore an important site for nature conservation to favourable condition
- seek to demonstrate whether the needs of an economically viable grouse moor can be met alongside the conservation needs of protected raptors, especially the hen harrier.
The Langholm Project is a joint venture between Buccleuch Estates, Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Natural Heritage is a Scottish public body. It is responsible for Scotland's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government and acts as a government agent in the delivery of conservation designations, i.e...
, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is a British charitable organisation, principally associated with the shooting industry, promoting game and wildlife management as an essential part of nature conservation...
, RSPB and Natural England
Natural England
Natural England is the non-departmental public body of the UK government responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved...
.