Moray (1): Forres: Scotland '21 Part 3

Macbeth, Findhorn and Sueno's Stone

Why Moray?

Scotland

Moray

In September 2013 we visited North Korea. That is a strange start to a post about a town in Northern Scotland; you might even think Forres and Pyongyang have little in common, and you would be right.

That 2013 trip was the only group tour we have taken in our various travels. The other 13 members of group (and I am still in touch with several) were interesting and well-travelled people What we had in common was that between us, North Korea was the last country on earth none of us had previously visited (I exaggerate, but only slightly).

We found we had a substantial overlap in interests and places visited with Norma and Wilson who, when they are not travelling, are residents of the town of Forres in Moray. (Ah! We have a connection.) Their invitation to visit encountered problems finding a window when we were both available, then a firmish arrangement fell to the Covid demon, but now we have made it, and they housed us, fed us and advised us with great generosity.

Lynne (left) with Norma and Wilson outside their home in Forres

08-July-2021

Forres: Arrival and Orientation

We left the A9 Perth to Inverness road at Aviemore, followed the Spey Valley to Grantown and turned north towards Forres.

Moray (My thanks and apologies to the copyright holders of these maps!)

Dava Moor north of Grantown is not highlands, but is wild and wet country where few choose to settle. Shakespeare located Duncan’s castle in Forres which makes Dava Moor the ‘blasted heath’ where Macbeth met the witches. The historical Macbeth did succeed Duncan as King of Alba and violence was involved, but otherwise Macbeth (the play) is a product of Shakespeare’s fertile imagination.

Once beyond the moor, the landscape changes, becoming softer and gentler. The coastal plain of the north-facing coast from Inverness eastwards is speckled with small towns, set in rich agricultural land.

Forres, population 10,000, is one such town, a tidy and prosperous looking place. We followed Norma and Wilson’s directions to their home on its south-eastern edge with open fields on three sides. Their view includes the spring providing water for the Benromach distillery just across town.

After a warm welcome and refreshments, we set out on an orientation tour.

From Califer Hill viewpoint, 10 minutes’ drive east of Forres we looked north towards the sea. The coast of the Moray Firth is 10km away but the nearest part of Findhorn Bay (a tidal basin rather than a true bay) is just over half that distance.

Findhorn Bay and the Moray Firth from Califer Hill

On the way down to Findhorn (or perhaps on the way up the hill) I wondered aloud what people do for a living in this (to my prejudiced mind) remote and far away corner of the world. Wilson’s answer was so quick and assured, he must have been asked before and had done his homework. I promptly forgot it, but he kindly put it in an email for me later.

Forestry and wood processing, cattle farming (mainly Aberdeen Angus for beef), arable farming (seed potatoes and barley for whisky production*), whisky production itself (Benromach distillery), carrots (all Tesco organic carrots sold in the UK are processed and packed in Forres) and, most surprising of all, the space industry. A company called Orbex are developing a launch vehicle for micro- and nano-satellites. The first flight from the Sutherland spaceport on Scotland’s north coast is scheduled for late 2022. (Orbex, under its current and previous names, have promised much and delivered little in 7 years of existence, so who knows what will happen?)

Findhorn

The drive out to Findhorn, passes the former RAF Kinloss and the Findhorn Foundation. Kinloss was an important part of Wilson’s RAF career but has been an army base since 2012. The Findhorn Foundation’s Ecovillage is home to 400 people and has been called a ‘spiritual Utopian community’; I don't really know what that means. There is little to see of either of them from the road.

Findhorn is a small, pleasant seaside village jammed between the Moray Firth and the north-eastern corner of the lagoon. In the 17th century it was an important port, Moray’s gateway to the North Sea and the Baltic, but natural changes to the bay’s narrow, shallow entrance created obstacles to navigation which proved insurmountable. Findhorn may no longer have docks, but the bay is now home to Findhorn Royal Yacht Club.

Findhorn Bay

Fishing with small boats thrived in the 19th century, and an ice house was built to accommodate the catch until it could be transferred to markets on Findhorn’s branch railway. Small boat fishing declined in the early 20th century, stopped for World War I and never restarted. The railway has gone but the ice house has been nicely restored and is used as a small local museum.

Findhorn Ice House

Forres in Bloom

Back in Forres, Grant Park has some impressive floral sculptures. According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. It then links to a Forres in Bloom website giving an impressive list of awards from both RHS Britain in Bloom, and Beautiful Scotland in Bloom throughout the nineties and naughties but nothing after 2011.

Peacock, Grant Park, Forres

In Grant Park it is obvious that much effort and great expertise has gone into creating and maintaining the displays, so I presume the website has not been updated.

Butterfly, Grant Park, Forres

Neither the RHS, nor Beautiful Scotland websites are user friendly if you want to find lists of winners. [ Update: but the Forres Gazette of 23/09/2021 reports Forres In Bloom has earned a Gold Medal in the 'Medium Town' category in the Beautiful Scotland Awards for the third time in four years. I think that confirms my presumption.]

Grant Park, Forres

A Convivial Evening

In the evening Norma provided us with an excellent meal, the wine flowed freely and so did the conversation. We talked about North Korea and our other travels. Wilson has a fund of stories from his time at RAF Kinloss and later as the Military Attaché at the British embassy in Moscow. Many diplomatic wives take refuge in the diplomatic community, but Norma is an indefatigable explorer and they both have a vast knowledge of Russia and other lands of the former Soviet Union. They also know a lot about their local area (Norma was born in Elgin) and gave us some pointers as to where to go on the morrow.

09-July-2021

Sueno’s Stone

In the morning we set out with a well-planned and ambitious itinerary we could never complete.

Our first stop was still in Forres near the main road that would take us to Elgin.

At 6.5m, Sueno’s Stone is the largest surviving Picto-Scottish standing stone. It is decorated with battle scenes, a Celtic cross and assorted knotwork. The Cross, the lack of Pictic symbols and some carbon dated fragments of charcoal together suggest a date of between 850 and 950.

Sueno's Stone, Forres

The stone is named for Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark (r.986-1014), the father of King Cnut. He has no known connection with the area and the name was probably attached later. The truth is that nobody knows who erected the stone nor why they did it.

Four maps were made in the 17th and 18th centuries and all show two stones at this site. Either one has disappeared completely or the earliest map was in error and all the others copied it.

A number of sources mention the ‘second stone.’ Undiscovered Scotland give a lot of weight to the earliest map by the remarkable Timothy Pont. He drew his Moray map around 1590 though it was not published for several decades. While acknowledging he could have made a mistake, they are excited about the possibility of finding a sibling for the existing stone.

Wilson tells me there is a second stone a couple of miles away on the Altyre Estate south of Forres. He writes It is in the middle of a field…but it has not been protected and is in a much worse condition. It is merely surrounded by wooden railings to stop the cattle using it as a scratch pole: I think that any inscriptions or carvings have weathered away. Maybe it was naïve to expect the second stone to be right beside the first, or maybe this is a red herring.

Leaving these mysteries behind us, we drove out of Forres in the direction of Elgin and the next post

*I am glad the barley is not wasted. In 2010 on Day 7 out of 36 of the epic South-West Odyssey walk, we slogged up the scarp side of Breedon Hill and discovered acres of barley on the gentle dip slope. A sign told us it was destined for the production of Carling lager. Now that’s a waste.

Scotland 2021

Part 1 Edinburgh (1): The Castle and National Museum
Part 2 Edinburgh (2): The Royal Yacht and the Royal Mile
Part 3 Moray (1) Forres
Part 4 Moray (2) Elgin and Craigellachie
Part 5 Fort George and Brodie Castle
Part 6 Lanark, New and Old