New Tartan Launched for Return to the Ridings
A new Tartan has been created to celebrate Return to the Ridings, a major Homecoming Scotland 2009 event taking place in the Scottish Borders.
The tartan not only represents the history, heritage and colours of the Scottish Borders Common Ridings & Festivals but, using Scottish Borders textile expertise, the tartan also incorporates Retroreflective® reflective yarn for night-time safety.
The Return to the Ridings tartan, a project managed by the Scottish Borders Council Homecoming Scotland team, was designed at Heriot-Watt University and woven by Robert Noble of Peebles.
The tartan, which has been submitted to the Scottish Tartans World Register, was created as part of Return to the Ridings, a celebration that brings eleven of the Scottish Borders Common Ridings & Festivals together for Homecoming Scotland 2009. The inclusion of the tartan in the Scottish Tartans World Register will create a lasting legacy for Homecoming Scotland in the Scottish Borders.
During the Homecoming year of 2009, the towns of Hawick, West Linton, Selkirk, Peebles, Melrose, Galashiels, Jedburgh, Duns, Kelso, Lauder and Coldstream join together to celebrate their historic Common Ridings and Festivals. These 11 towns in the Scottish Borders focus their ride-outs around the use of the horses.
The tartan was designed by Emma Arthur-Daniels a Heriot-Watt University textiles masters student. Emma created a design which blends the traditional values of the Border Common Ridings with modern yarns. Each of the eleven towns participating in Return to the Ridings is represented in the tartan with the inclusion of their colours in the tartan over-checks. The main ground of the tartan is green, to symbolising the Borders countryside and land which the Common Ridings were designed to protect.
Emma incorporated a modern, reflective yarn into the traditional tartan design. Retroreflective® yarn, which is designed to increase night-time safety, has minute glass beads and reflects light back to the source. Equestrian products such as saddle cloths or horse rugs for travelling are two possible uses for the cloth combining a very smart tartan with increased functionality.
Emma, who is originally from London, joined the master's course at Heriot-Watt University as it is one of the few educational establishments that offers such advanced levels of expertise.
Robert Noble, a textile manufacturer based in Peebles, specialises in working with modern technical fabrics, for example fire retardant textiles for us in airplane interiors. Using Robert Noble's expertise the Retroreflective® yarn was twisted with wool and woven into the tartan. Bruce Anderson, the Selkirk Weavers Standard Bearer for 2009, was part of the team that produced the Tartan. The Scottish Borders is one of the few places that has such technical expertise and companies who can successfully combined this specialist yarn with a brand new tartan.
The tartan has been used to create garments for the Peebles Beltane Festival Cornet Gareth Harrison (29) and his Lass Laura Robson (25). Principles are selected to represent their local town during the Common Ridings.
To celebrate the launch of the new Return to the Ridings tartan, Leony Mayhew, Heriot-Watt University Fashion Technician, designed a floor length tailored coat for Laura, the Cornet's Lass and with the help of Sandra Darling (fashion technician) and Jane Robertson (department superintendent) made both the coat and a waistcoat for the cornet Gareth.
If you would like to comment on or register an interest in the Tartan a discussion board has been set up on the Return to the Ridings Facebook Page, available through www.returntotheridings.co.uk.
Emma Arthur-Daniels a Heriot-Watt University textiles masters student, said:
"This was a very exciting project to be involved in and a real opportunity to develop my work in the use of textiles. Heriot-Watt has such a fine reputation in the textiles industry and it was a challenge to represent that reputation in such an important design. However I think the final product holds true to the values of the Scottish Borders Common Ridings & Festivals, while incorporating the new concept of weaving modern yarns into this type of fabric."
Alistair McDade, Robert Noble, said:
"The Scottish Borders has a wealth of textiles knowledge and this type of project pushes those boundaries yet again. As far as I know the use of a reflective yarn in tartan is a new concept but it is these new ideas which help keep the Scottish Borders at the forefront of the textiles industry."
Kate Pearson, Homecoming Scotland Coordinator, said:
"Return to the Ridings is a major Homecoming Scotland 2009 event which aims to attract visitors back to the Scottish Borders Common Ridings & Festivals. Projects such as the creation of the Return to the Ridings tartan will leave a lasting Homecoming legacy in the area and beyond."
Andrew Johnstone, Chair of the Common Ridings and Festivals Association, said:
"The creation of a Return to the Ridings tartan helps put the Scottish Borders Common Ridings & Festivals on the international map as we aim to attract as many people to the events in this Homecoming year. The tartan itself has been designed to represent each of the Ridings and it something we can all be proud of now and in the future."
Councillor Vicky Davidson, Executive Member for Economic Development, Scottish Borders Council, said:
"This is a great example of inspiration from the past combining with technology of the future and is the type of successful collaboration between the research expertise of the School of Textiles & Design with the product development expertise available within companies in the textiles sector here in the Borders that will take our economy forward. We hope that this type of activity can be expanded into bigger collaborative ventures between HWU and local businesses."
Although there are no plans to put the tartan into full production Return to the Ridings organisers will monitor demand and, if demand is sufficient, could consider commercial production. See Return to the Ridings Facebook page to register your opinion.