The burgh or town of Galashiels lies on the Gala Water river in Selkirkshire, which falls within the Scottish Borders area of Scotland.
Galashiels received its burgh charter in 1599 and is proud of its historic connection to Scotland’s textile industry. There were several mills in the area and the Mill Lade still forms a link to the historic site of mills that were once providing employment at Wheatlands Road, Netherdale, Wilderhaugh, Bank Street and the Fountain among others.
Today, Galashiels is home to the renowned Heriot-Watt University’s School of Textiles and Design as well as the Galashiels Academy. The towns serves as an important commercial centre for the entire region, as the only other larger towns are Edinburgh to the north-east and Glasgow to the north-west. Galashiels also has good road connections with the east coast, where Berwick-upon-Tweed is the largest town within easy driving distance.
The wool trade brought many riches to few people but employment to a large number of workers who had previously been employed as farm labourers or as unskilled workers in the fishing industry.
“Piecers” were usually small girls employed in textile mills to mend broken threads. Every time they mended threads that were running through the fast weaving machines they ran the risk of getting their arms or hair caught in the machinery. As late as 1908 children as young as nine had to work a 12-hour shift in the US. Charles Dickens famously worked in a blacking factory when he was just 12-years-old and it was usually children who were sent to do the most dangerous jobs. Earning merely 10 to 20% of an adult male’s job, around two-thirds of the young workers in a water-powered cotton mill would be children at the end of the 18th century. In 1833, a Royal Commission recommended that children aged 9 to 11 should work no more than 8 hours!
Children who suffered an accident would have been dismissed, deemed unfit for working in the loud, dusty, fast working environment of the cotton or wool mills. Today, we thankfully have legislation in place that forbids such practices and any worker, no matter what age, is protected when a negligent employer is the cause of an accident.
With the help of an accident solicitor in Galashiels, a young adult “piecer” today would be able to claim compensation, if her arm got caught in unattended or faulty machinery.
Where do you find an accident solicitor in Galashiels?
If you suffered an injury in an accident that was somebody else’s fault, speak to the Accident Advice Helpline’s advisers or visit their website, where completing a simple 30-second test will tell you if you qualify for making a personal injury claim with an accident solicitor in Galashiels or other specialist. A compensation calculator will provide you with an estimate of how much compensation your claim might be worth.
Call the Accident Advice Helpline free on 0800 689 0500 or 0333 500 050 – lines are available 24/7 and all their legal partners offer no win, no fee* services.
Accident Advice Helpline’s patron is Esther Rantzen, TV presenter and outspoken defender of children’s rights. She is proud to support this compensation provider, as the Accident Advice Helpline’s legal partners have helped thousands of accident victims to receive justice for over 13 years.