Forres Heritage Trust

The spotlight is set to be shone on three historic Forres monuments after a planning application was submitted to The Moray Council to illuminate the buildings. Permission is being sought to light up Nelson’s Tower, The Tolbooth and the Mercat Cross. The application has been submitted by the Forres Heritage Trust who own the Tolbooth and look after Nelson’s Tower on behalf of the Council. Leading on the project on behalf of the Forres Heritage Trust are trustees Bob James and Bill Budge. Bob James explained: “We are very excited to be exploring this project which will see these …

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The Forres Heritage Trust is launching an exciting new tourist attraction and is looking for volunteers to help get the project off the ground. A new tour at the Tolbooth will show visitors around the old police office and cells, the newly renovated courtroom and provide them with a trip up to the parapet around the clock tower which has never been open to the public. However, to make the project work, the Forres Heritage Trust which owns the Tolbooth, needs more helpers to act as a tour guides. Volunteers crucial to success George Alexander, chairman of the Trust …

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The clock on one of the town’s most historic buildings is chiming again after its mechanism was replaced. The restoration to the clock on the Tolbooth is the final stage of a project which will see the parapet around the clocktower being opened to the public as a tourist attraction. The mechanism was replaced by clockmakers Smiths of Derby and George Alexander, chairman of the Forres Heritage Trust which owns the building said it was great to hear the clock chiming again. He said: “This is the final stage in a huge project to get the clocktower open to …

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The Forres Heritage Trust needs your help. As part of its redevelopment of the old police office and cells in the Tolbooth, the Trustees have been undertaking some very serious research involving the 19 Crimes wines. The 19 Crimes wine was inspired by those who, beginning in 1787, were transported to Australia for a life of hard labour and the Trust has found some stories of that very thing happening to some local folk and want to make a feature from the corks. Transportation was an alternative to hanging during the Victorian era. Convicted criminals were transported to the colonies …

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The Forres Rotary Club is celebrating World Polio Day this month and has sought the help of another town-based organisation to do so. The Tolbooth, located on Forres High Street will be lit up in purple, after the Forres Heritage Trust which owns the building agreed to help. The colour purple signifies the colour dye used on the little finger of a child who has received their life saving polio drops on mass polio immunisation days in many countries, to show they have received their life saving vaccine. Rotary Clubs across the world have been campaigning since 1985 when there were …

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A trail which takes users on a mystery history tour has been launched for an area of Forres. The Forres Heritage Trust, working in association with Moray Treasure Trails has created the walk which incorporates key local sites and sees participants scanning QR codes which provide them with information about some of the stops. The trail starts and ends in the same location and generally focusses on Grant Park and Cluny Hill. The Trust began doing trails last Autumn when it launched a Halloween walk. This was followed by a Christmas themed trail and one for Spring The new …

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SAFETY barriers which are one of the last stages of a project to turn one of Forres’ most historic buildings into a tourist attraction have been installed. The walkway around the clocktower in the Tolbooth situated in the centre of the High Street is now set to be opened to the public for the first time. The barriers which were fabricated and installed by local company AJ Engineering were put in place last week. The Tolbooth is owned by the Forres Heritage Trust and chairman George Alexander said he is delighted the clocktower project is almost complete. He said: …

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A young boy who was the first person to visit a north-east monument when it re-opened for the first time since the Coronavirus pandemic hit was invited back to help close it for the season. The Tower is usually open from the start of April, but only re-opened for the first time at the start of August following the outbreak of Covid 19. Volunteers were delighted when they arrived at the Tower to find Teddy queuing in the rain to ensure he was the first visitor and they thought it was only fitting he was there to close it …

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