Peebles Civic Society

Peebles Town Walk was originally designed as part of Peebles Civic Society's contribution to European Architectural Heritage Year. The full walk will take rather more than two hours to complete, but a shorter walk is also provided for in the published booklet which is available from "Visit Scotland" office on the High Street.

Many of the notable historic buildings referred to are indicated by small metal plaques featuring the Peebles Burgh crest, i.e. "three salmon counter-naiant" ( 1 swimming upstream and 2 swimming downstream), with the town's motto "CONTRA  NANDO INCREMENTUM" ("Increase by swimming against the current") marking the importance of the Tweed as a breeding river of this noble fish.

The Society's first adviser on local history was the late Iain Lawson. His "Town Walk" was revised and extended by Douglas Harper and further changes were made in 2010 to incorporate the following paragraphs about James Grieve and the Northgate Garden.

James Grieve, the famous horticulturist and hybridisation expert was born in Peebles in 1841 and lived with his family in the Northgate. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society and raised several hybrid rhododendrons, carnations and pinks but is remembered for producing a number of new apples, the most popular being the dessert apple "James Grieve".

Also in the Northgate is the "Northgate Garden" designed by Bonnie Peebles Committee to incorporate the four pedestal tablets of the Mercat Cross which were in use from 1895 until 1965.