A SERIES OF TALKS organised by the Forres Heritage Trust will open this evening at the Tolbooth with a look at the towns history as a ‘Hotbed of Witches’.
The ‘Winter Lectures’ series will run through until March with three topics discussing the roles the Moray town has had in shaping Moray and Scottish life.
For the opening talk this evening at 7pm discussion will be led by the highly regarded historical speaker Dr Alex Sutherland, formerly of Aberdeen University.
Dr Sutherland, who is originally from Forres, returns to familiar turf to dig up and dish out details of local witchery from years gone by. The more well know witches of Macbeth and the folklore surrounding the witches stone that lies on Victoria Road will be explored, as well as many other lesser known characters and fables.
Next in the series will be on Wednesday February 15, when David Baxter of the National Maritime Museum will present on ‘The Battle of Trafalgar’ while local architect and heritage consultant Andrew Wright will take to the lectern on Wednesday March 15 to celebrate local hero Joseph Mitchell.
Explaining the thinking behind the series, Forres Heritage Trust trustee Murray Drummond said: “The idea for the talks came originally when we were looking at ways of using the Tolbooth over winter for the benefit of the local community.
“The Trust comes into contact with some amazing, passionate, historians in the course of its work so we thought why not ask a few of them to do a talk for us in the Tolbooth Courtroom itself.”
Entry to each talk is £3.50 with refreshments provided and an opportunity to ask questions. Tickets can be purchased at the door.