They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and there are few things more beautiful than a blooming mass of flowers. Forres has become famous for its continued success in national floral competitions, bringing home trophy after trophy for the displays that make our town such a pleasant place to be.
And what makes it more poignant, is that all this award-winning work is carried out by a small, but dedicated team of volunteers. It’s thanks to the green-fingered Forres in Bloom team that all this beauty is possible. And it’s no secret in the town, that their work is highly appreciated. They’ve even been recognised with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
You could say, we’re the flower capital of Scotland. Or perhaps there’s something which has a truer, deeper meaning.
As many know, Flower of Scotland is the unofficial anthem of Scotland, so much so that it is sung at football and rugby matches all over the world. And as luck would have it, the tune and lyrics were written by Roy Williamson of the Corries, who lived, and died, in Forres.
For some years, we have cheekily titled a page on our website ‘The Flower of Scotland’ demonstrating how we as a town, feel about our floral prowess.
The man from The Corries, he say ‘Yes’
But earlier this year, we decided to make it formal, and we contacted Ronnie Browne, the remaining member of The Corries, who gave us his official seal of approval to use the song title as a slogan for the town.
Furthermore, in May this year, we worked with Visit Scotland and The Times newspaper on an article to get Forres recognised as a UK town with outstanding floral displays. The national newspaper picked up on our slogan, and their article about alternatives to the £120-a-day Chelsea Flower Show, cited seven towns in the UK where you could get the highest calibre flower show, free of charge!
As it turned out, Forres was the only town in Scotland to be featured, and the Flower of Scotland nickname has gone on to be picked up in The National, the Westmoreland Gazette, The Forres Gazette and more as we speak.
We supplied several photos of the wonderful displays, and the article featured online and in the print edition.
