Time travel in Alyth

The Story Box, a new community-led oral history archive, has just been launched in Alyth Market Square.

Set to help revitalise the town after the devastating flooding of July 2015, The Story Box contains more than 100 stories, songs and poems about the town’s present, past and future.

Housed in an iconic red telephone box, the archive tells remarkable stories of the people of Alyth from pre-history, through to the present day and into the future.

They include tales of the Picts from pre-history and the monks of Alyth’s Fifth Century church, stories of the past lives of the farming folk of the fertile Strathmore Valley and of the people, industry and shops of this once thriving market town.

The stories also paint an audio portrait of the present day people and how the remarkable community spirit of this town helped it survive the devastating flash flood of July 2015.

The future of Alyth is told through imagined stories and songs written by the young people of the town recorded with digital and sound technology.

The Story box was the brainchild of Alyth resident Marian Bruce who says: “After three years of planning we are thrilled to be launching our time-travel phone box in Alyth. The project has really caught the imagination of the town. We have already collected more than 100 stories, songs and poems about the past through to the future of Alyth and the project will continue to gather more stories over the next 18 months of the project.” The box will be open daily at 2pm.