Langholm’s Old Town grew out of a settlement dating back to the 1400s. Its New Town was developed by Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch, in the late 1700s. They are separated by the River Esk which flows south to the Solway Firth.

Four of the five mills were on the Old Town side of the river, as was the railway station, at the end of a spur off the Edinburgh-Carlisle line. The mill buildings and chimneys can be seen in the photo below. The houses on the hill in the foreground belonged to mill owners and the distillery owner. To the left of the houses is the railway.

The town hall can be seen in the distance with its clock tower (colorised photo below). The second building on the left is the Crown Hotel, one of six hotels in the High Street.

Below, the three storey building on the left is the British Linen Bank. At the far right is Giles Latimer’s ironmongery shop.

Langholm Bridge (now Thomas Telford Bridge) over the Esk was constructed in the 1770s. One of the masons was Thomas Telford (1757-1834) who grew up in the neighbouring parish of Westerkirk and went on to design numerous infrastructure projects. In later life he made donations to the Langholm Library and the Westerkirk Library.