Forres
Coordinates: 57°36′00″N 3°37′00″W / 57.59999°N 3.61673°W
| Forres | |
| Scottish Gaelic: Farrais | |
 Forres
Forres shown within Moray |
|
| Population | 8,967 (Census 2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | NJ034578 |
| Council area | Moray |
| Lieutenancy area | Moray |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | FORRES |
| Postcode district | IV36 |
| Dialling code | 01309 |
| Police | Grampian |
| Fire | Grampian |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | Moray |
| Scottish Parliament | Moray |
| Highlands and Islands | |
| List of places: UK • Scotland • | |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009) |
Forres (Scottish Gaelic: Farrais), is a town and former royal burgh situated in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately 30 miles east of Inverness. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions.[1] There are many geographical and historical attractions nearby such as the River Findhorn, and there are many historical artifacts and monuments within the town itself[citation needed].
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[edit] Brief history and overview
Forres is thought to be the "Varris" shown on maps by Ptolemy from the first century AD. A royal castle was in the area from at least 900 AD, and around 1140 AD Forres became a royal burgh. Royal burghs were founded by the Kings of Scots of the 12th century to encourage trade and economic improvement. The local abbey was plundered by Wolf of Badenoch.
On 23 June 1496 King James IV of Scotland issued a Royal Charter laying down the rights and privileges that the town's people are believed to have held by an earlier charter since the reign of King David I some 300 years earlier.
The population of Forres has grown in recent years and now has almost 9,000 inhabitants.[2] Sitting between the floodplain of the River Findhorn and the wooded slopes of Cluny and Sanquhar Hills, Forres is well known for its award-winning floral sculptures and is steeped in local history and traditions. Local bars and pubs include The Newmarket, The Red Lion, locally known as the "Beastie", The Mosset Tavern,[3] and The Carlton Hotel.[4]
The town is the location of Sueno's Stone, an enormous carved stone probably created by Picts to commemorate a battle against Norse invaders. The stele is 20 feet (6 metres) tall and encased in glass structure to protect it from the elements and graffiti. Suenos Stone translates to Svens Stone. Brodie Castle lies near the town.
Other attractions to Forres include Dallas Dhu Distillery, which lies just south of the town. Although no longer in production, the distillery is maintained in working order by Historic Scotland. Benromach Distillery[5] is an active distillery with a visitors centre and is located just north of the Forres bypass.
Shakespeare's play Macbeth locates Duncan's castle in Forres. Macbeth's castle was located at Inverness.
Forres has a network of footpaths that have been established and waymarked by the Forres Footpaths Trust in recent years (needs approximate years).[6]
Forres has also just completed a multi-million pound flood prevention scheme at Chapletonmoss and in front of the Mosset Tavern in the town centre.
[edit] Parliamentary burgh
Forres was a parliamentary burgh, combined with Inverness, Fortrose and Nairn, in the Inverness Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. The constituency was abolished in 1918 and the Forres and Nairn components were merged into the then new constituency of Moray and Nairn.
[edit] Climate
As with the rest of the British Isles and Scotland, Forres experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest official Metoffice weather station for which online records are available is Kinloss, about 3 miles north east of the town centre. The lowest temperature to be recorded in recent years was −16 °C (3.2 °F) during December 2010.[7]
| Climate data for Kinloss 5m asl, 1971-2000, extremes 1960- (Weather station 3 miles (5 km) NE of Forres) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 15.1 (59.2) |
16.1 (61.0) |
18.2 (64.8) |
24.9 (76.8) |
28.3 (82.9) |
27.7 (81.9) |
30.7 (87.3) |
31.2 (88.2) |
26.2 (79.2) |
24.4 (75.9) |
18.8 (65.8) |
15.8 (60.4) |
31.2 (88.2) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 6.6 (43.9) |
7.1 (44.8) |
9.0 (48.2) |
10.8 (51.4) |
14.1 (57.4) |
16.4 (61.5) |
18.7 (65.7) |
18.4 (65.1) |
15.8 (60.4) |
12.7 (54.9) |
9.0 (48.2) |
7.0 (44.6) |
12.2 (54.0) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 0.6 (33.1) |
0.5 (32.9) |
2.0 (35.6) |
3.4 (38.1) |
5.9 (42.6) |
8.7 (47.7) |
10.8 (51.4) |
10.6 (51.1) |
8.5 (47.3) |
5.8 (42.4) |
2.7 (36.9) |
1.0 (33.8) |
5.1 (41.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −15.6 (3.9) |
−14.4 (6.1) |
−10.7 (12.7) |
−7.3 (18.9) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
1.5 (34.7) |
1.3 (34.3) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−13.1 (8.4) |
−16.5 (2.3) |
−16.5 (2.3) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 55.4 (2.181) |
39.0 (1.535) |
45.7 (1.799) |
42.0 (1.654) |
45.4 (1.787) |
52.9 (2.083) |
52.5 (2.067) |
57.4 (2.26) |
64.7 (2.547) |
58.4 (2.299) |
59.4 (2.339) |
51.4 (2.024) |
624.4 (24.583) |
| Sunshine hours | 43.7 | 73.5 | 102.3 | 126.3 | 180.1 | 156.6 | 152.8 | 140.4 | 112.5 | 85.6 | 51.6 | 36.0 | 1,261.4 |
| Source no. 1: Met Office[8] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute/KNMI[9] | |||||||||||||
[edit] Transport
Forres is situated on the A96 trunk route connecting the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. The River Findhorn was originally crossed by fording near Waterford Farm. A Suspension Bridge was opened in 1831 to cross the river at the west end of the town. This bridge was replaced by the current bridge in 1938. Due to high volumes of traffic passing through the town centre, a bypass was built in the late 1980s to reduce congestion in the town centre. The A980 connects Forres with Grantown-on-Spey, Aviemore and the south directly without the requirement of driving via Inverness. The B9011 connects Forres to RAF Kinloss and Findhorn Bay.
Forres railway station is situated just outside of the town and is operated by First ScotRail. The town of Forres was once a junction in the Highland Railway network, travelling through Forres was once the quickest route to reach Inverness from the south. Originally the station had three platforms; two of which operated on the route between Inverness and Aberdeen and a third which operated a service to Grantown-on-Spey. Only one platform remains in service today. The service to Grantown-on-Spey was closed in the 1960s and now forms part of The Dava Way, a scenic footpath connecting the two towns.[10] The Inverness-Aberdeen down platform was also closed in the 1960s; although it still exists, it remains abandoned in-situ and its rail track and over-bridge have been removed.[11]
Inverness Airport is approximately 30 minutes away by road and provides links mainly to other airports within the UK.
[edit] Education
- Anderson's Primary School, High Street (state primary school)
- Applegrove Primary School, Orchard Road (state primary school)
- Pilmuir Primary School, Pilmuir Road (state primary school)
- Forres Academy, Burdsyard Road (state secondary school)
- Moray Steiner School, Drumduan House, Clovenside Road (private school for 5–16-year-olds)
Dyke Primary School
[edit] Sport
Forres has a host of various sporting activities within it including Forres Golf Course, which has held the Scottish Young Professionals championships a number of times.[12] It also plays host to Highland Football League team, Forres Mechanics and Junior club Forres Thistle. Forres also hosts the Official Moray 5-a-side Superleague which runs every week at Forres Community Centre.
Forres Harriers is the local running club with around 80 members.[13] The most famous Harrier is Don Ritchie who at one time held 14 World Best Times for ultra distance running events ranging from 50 km to 200 km.[14]
Forres has two swimming clubs - the long established Forres Bluefins, as well as the UK's only specialist sprint swimming club, Free Style SC. [15]
[edit] Town twinning
[edit] References
- ^ "Forres in Bloom" ForresinBloom.co.uk
- ^ "Scotland's Census Results Online" SCROl.gov.uk
- ^ "Mosset Tavern" "mossettavern.co.uk"
- ^ "The Carlton Hotel" "forresweb.net/carltonhotel"
- ^ "Benromach Distillery" "benromach.com"
- ^ "Forres Footpaths Trust" ForresFootpathsTrust.org.uk
- ^ "2010 Temperature". Greenpeace. http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/more-very-low-temperatures-and-snow/.
- ^ "Kinloss 1971-2000 averages". Met Office. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/sites/kinloss.html. Retrieved 02 Nov 2011.
- ^ "Kinloss Extremes". KNMI. http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/mapserver/anomaly.php?indexcat=**&indexid=TNn&year=1995&seasonid=18&create_image=true&minx=-1123809.5238096&miny=-4427142.8571429&maxx=609523.80952386&maxy=-3127142.8571428&MapSize=560%2C420&imagewidth=560&imageheight=420&mainmap.x=293&mainmap.y=187&CMD=QUERY_POINT&CMD=QUERY_POINT#bottom. Retrieved 02 Nov 2011.
- ^ "Tourist Information — Walks and Cycling" Moray.gov.uk
- ^ "Network Rail Report" Transport Scotland
- ^ "Welcome to Forres Golf Club" ForresGolfClub.co.uk
- ^ "Welcome to the Forres Harriers Website" ForresHarriers.org.uk
- ^ "A Brief Club History" ForresHarriers.org.uk
- ^ "Welcome to our specialist sprint swimming club" "FreeStyleSC.org.uk"
[edit] External links
- Forres-net — original town website
- Forres Web — official town website
- The Forres Gazette — local newspaper
- Census data
- grid reference NJ035585
- Falconer Museum
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