Geograph - photograph every grid square

These photographs attempt to show the route and remaining structures of the ‘Innerleithen Dam’, the local name for the mill lade that carried water for about 2.5km through the town before discharging into the Tweed after an overall drop of 40m. Along its length were up to 10 waterwheels powering textile mills, sawmills, a printing works, a smithy and a farm.
The original weir was built in 1788 diverting part of the flow of the Leithen Water to power the Caerlee Mill and in 1846 a second weir was built upstream for two more mills. Later in the 19th century the mills converted to steam power, but in 1897 a water turbine was added to generate electricity for a sawmill and to light some nearby houses – Innerleithen’s first electricity supply.
The 1846 weir is still in good repair and the remains of the 1788 weir can still be seen. Some sections of the Dam have been culverted but several bridges, sluices and lengths of the open channel are still visible and much of the route can be traced along the whole length to the Tweed.
For this information I am indebted to Jim Lyon, producer of the DVD ‘DAM – Innerleithen 2011’ which documents the history and current state of this important piece of industrial archaeology.