The school leaving age was raised to 14 – no more children going to work in the Mill at 11, or even younger.
The Depression hit the wool trade and there were bleak years when only one loom ran but then there were also boom years when all 98 looms worked flat out.
Wages rose and fell accordingly.
There was a cinema in the Public Hall where silent films were shown to the tinkling of a piano and the serial was very popular.
Sometimes, the projectionist went to the George Hotel in the interval and the films were then shown upside down.
Dances and the Club Balls were well attended and always started with the Grand March.

Walkerburn wages were never high but the work was dependable from age 14 to retirement and the Mill owners paternalistic, looking after workers who were sick and providing more and more recreation activities as working hours were slowly cut and leisure time increased.
In a new park beside the river there were two tennis courts, a swing park and a putting green.
Only the swing park survives!
And in 1929 the local authority began to provide public housing in Walkerburn as more and more families sought a higher level of accommodation.

In 1932 the first village Summer Festival for the children was held with a football match against Innerleithen school for the ‘Paul Cup’.
The festival still takes place over the last week of the school year in June and the Paul Cup is as hotly contested as ever.
The school leaving age was raised to 14 – no more children going to work in the Mill at 11, or even younger. The Depression hit the wool trade and there were bleak years when only one loom ran but then there were also boom years when all 98 looms worked flat out. Wages rose and fell accordingly. There was a cinema in the Public Hall where silent films were shown to the tinkling of a piano and the serial was very popular. Sometimes, the projectionist went to the George Hotel in the interval and the films were then shown upside down. Dances and the Club Balls were well attended and always started with the Grand March.
Walkerburn wages were never high but the work was dependable from age 14 to retirement and the Mill owners paternalistic, looking after workers who were sick and providing more and more recreation activities as working hours were slowly cut and leisure time increased. In a new park beside the river there were two tennis courts, a swing park and a putting green. Only the swing park survives! And in 1929 the local authority began to provide public housing in Walkerburn as more and more families sought a higher level of accommodation.
In 1932 the first village Summer Festival for the children was held with a football match against Innerleithen school for the ‘Paul Cup’. The festival still takes place over the last week of the school year in June and the Paul Cup is as hotly contested as ever.
Walkerburn