News

Events lined up to put spotlight on historic buildings

AN organisation which looks after two of the town’s most historic buildings has a year of events lined up to ensure the attractions remain popular.

The Forres Heritage Trust is responsible for the town’s Tolbooth which sits in the centre of the High Street and Nelson’s Tower which stands on Cluny Hill.

Next week, the Forres Heritage Trust will host its second Winter Talk of the year, with the first having been a near sell-out event.

The Tolbooth courtroom will be the location for an event held in association with the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival for a second consecutive year and Nelson’s Tower will be the focus for a free family fun day.

There are also plans in place to commemorate 75 years since VE Day in May and the courtroom will be the venue for a wedding – the first to ever be held in the building.

Murray Drummond, who is one of the twelve trustees, co-ordinates the annual talks and helps plan the other events said: “Last year, we introduced some new events to the Heritage Trust’s schedule and they all proved very popular and successful, so we are giving them a go again. The Winter Talks are always well attended and often sell-out.”

He added: “We are also delighted to be part of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival again and to be including a new event for VE Day, although the plans for that are under wraps at the moment. Our ever-popular photographic exhibitions will be back too and we will once again be taking part in Moray Doors Open Day. There is rarely going to be a month when there is not something happening at the Tolbooth or the Tower.”

The next Winter Talk will take place on February 13 with a presentation from Forres-born Jane Yeadon who will reflect on her writing family. This will be followed by the final talk of the series by David Baxter from the National Maritime Museum in Portsmouth who will return to explore the aftermath and legacy of Trafalgar.

The family fun day at Nelson’s Tower will take place on April 18 and visitors will be able to scale the Tower, make crafts and enjoy a bouncy castle and face painting.

“Last year, our family fun day was hugely popular, and it was a great way to get young people up to the monument to enjoy all that it has to offer. We welcomed over 300 people who enjoyed taking part in a cannon ball hunt and the opportunity to make crowns, swords and shields.”

Over the last year, the Tolbooth has been undergoing renovations and is becoming a popular venue for events and in September will host its first wedding.

“We are thrilled we are getting recognised as a venue,” explained Murray, “and although clearly a private event, we are delighted to be hosting a wedding in the beautifully renovated courtroom. It just goes to show that all the hard work from our volunteers is paying off, and that there is scope to keep both the Tolbooth and Nelson’s Tower relevant in 2020.”

For further information contact Claire Doughty on 07846145050 or email claire@clairedoughtypublicity.uk

Volunteers needed for new visitor attraction

January 18, 2022January 18, 2022

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 …

Clock will chime on

December 6, 2021

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 …

On the hunt for corks!

November 8, 2021

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 …

FHT supports Rotary with polio campaign

October 13, 2021

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 …

Mystery History Walk

October 8, 2021

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 …

Barriers are final step in tourism project

October 8, 2021

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: …

School boy invited to close tower

September 30, 2021September 30, 2021

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 …

Building warrant moves clock tower project on

September 6, 2021

A PROJECT to develop the clock tower in one of the town’s most historic buildings into a new tourist attraction is gathering pace. Listed building consent, planning permission and a building warrant to install safety barriers on a walkway around the clocktower at the Tolbooth have been secured and the Forres Heritage Trust who own the building has also received some further funding. It is hoped the works will be complete by September with a view to opening the attraction to the public shortly after. The latest successful funding of £11,301.60 was secured from The Beatrice Partnership Fund and …

Nine year old queues in rain to be first up Tower

August 1, 2021August 1, 2021

A nine-year-old boy stood for over an hour in the rain to make sure he was the first person to visit a north east monument after it re-opened for the first time since the Coronavirus pandemic hit. Nelson’s Tower in Forres opened on Saturday. It had not been open since it closed for the season in September 2019. And Teddy Gadalla who was a regular visitor to the Tower before the pandemic made sure he was first in the queue. He said: “I was very excited when I found out it was opening. I used to visit it every …

Nelson’s Tower to re-open following Covid pandemic

July 29, 2021July 25, 2021

Nelson’s Tower is set to re-open later this month for the first time since the Coronavirus pandemic hit. The Tower has not been open since it closed for the season in September 2019. But now, the Forres Heritage Trust which looks after the Tower has said it is looking forward to welcoming back visitors. The Tower which stands on Cluny Hill in Grant Park usually opens every day from the start of April until the end of September, but now will open Friday to Monday 2pm-4pm from July 31. The Trust is also hoping that more volunteers will come …