Second volume of Forfar history looks back at properties

A historian has taken a trip down memory lane to produce a second book exploring Forfar in years gone by.

In Forfar – Its Streets And Its Places, Alex Whyte has moved away from street names and their derivations to reveal the history behind the town’s buildings, their uses and their occupants.

It follows Forfar and District Historical Society’s 2001 publication, Looking Down On Forfar.

It covers an array of properties and features, including banks and burns, churches and cinemas, private and public buildings.

Mr Whyte has trawled the archives for his research, drawing on information from valuation rolls, directories and local newspapers.

“Much else of the information is from hearsay, gossip, people’s memory and opinion,” he said.

The illustrations used are from photographic collections of the late Ernie Mann and Frank Thomson, as well as his own.

Volume 2 of Forfar – Its Streets And Its Places is again published by Forfar and District Historical Society.

It is on sale for £5 at Small’s Sweet Shop in Castle Street and James McLaren bakers in Market Street and the Cross.

It is also available at the society’s monthly meetings, which take place at 7.30pm on the first Thursday of the month in the East and Old Parish Church.

Mr Whyte will give a talk on volume two at the society’s November meeting.

He said: “Most of my books appear as a result of research and reading done over the past 60 years or so.

“At present, there are no plans for a volume three.”