Alves ( gd, An Àbhais or ') is a small agricultural village in
Moray, Scotland.
Geography
The
A96 runs east to west across Alves and connects the village to the nearest towns of
Forres
Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There a ...
(to the west) and
Elgin (to the east).
The hamlets of Garrowslack and Hillside lie to the southeast and are made up of isolated farms and houses.
Alves Wood to the west of the village is a large
conifer plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
. While out walking in 1981, Andrew Bain, a carpenter from
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, discovered what looked like an ancient
spiral ditch, 8 feet deep, 60 feet in diameter. This may be the only one of its kind in the world. The people who planted the trees on the ditch must have thought the ditch was landscaping recently done for the estate on which Alves Wood is situated, or perhaps an unfinished drainage system.
Recently there has been a small housing development on the corner of the road leading south out of the village. Just down this road is Royal Alves, comprising the disused railway station and cottages. The railway, (the main line running between Inverness and Aberdeen) is crossed by a small, weak bridge leading to Cloves and Mosstowie.
Name
The hamlet is named after the use of the railway station and some local buildings by the
British Royal Family, as Alves was the nearest railway stop to
Gordonstoun School
Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...
and was close to other Royal Estates in Moray.
Community
The old village pub, The Crooked Inn has been refurbished and is now a coffee shop with gifts and crafts. The pub was rebranded as Green Gables, a vibrant part of the community and an easy place to stop along the A96.
Churches
Alves has two churches, the old North Church (also known as Mary Kirk) was built in 1769 and is believed to occupy the same site as earlier churches here which records show date back to the 13th century. This church became disused in 1932 although it briefly housed members of the
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
in 1941 whilst they awaited the completion of their quarters at nearby
RAF Kinloss
Royal Air Force Kinloss or RAF Kinloss is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near the village of Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north east of Scotland.
The RAF station opened on 1 April 1939 and served as a training establishme ...
. The village cemetery, or kirkyard, is still located at this church. A recent survey by the Moray Burial Ground Research Group found a buried stone dated 1571, one of the earliest found by the group so far. The new South Church was built in 1878 as a Free Church and remains used to this day as part of the Presbytery of Moray. Services are held at 11.30 am on the first Sunday of the month. The bell in the South Church is actually the one removed from the old North Church after it closed.
Education
The local Primary School educates around 60 pupils (as of 2018).
Forres Academy
Forres Academy is a comprehensive community school serving the town of Forres, Scotland, and its rural catchment area in west Moray. Similar to other Scottish schools pupils are able to leave after the fourth year of schooling, therefore fifth and ...
in
Forres
Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There a ...
serves secondary students.
Football Team
Alves Primary had their own football team. In 2008 the team reached the semi-finals of the Dallas tournament after winning all their group games without conceding a goal. They lost the semi-final on penalties to Seafield primary school.
In the early 1990s Alves competed with the very best Primary School Football teams in Moray, despite having comparatively few pupils. In 1994 the School won the small schools league, while the previous year they had reached the final of the Morayshire schools final played in Forres, losing out on penalties to Applegrove.
Notable people
*
Douglas Mackessack (1903–1987), first-class cricketer, British Army officer, Deputy Lieutenant of Moray (1962), and managing director of the
Glen Grant distillery
*
Kenneth Mackessack (1902–1982), first-class cricketer, British Army officer and Deputy Lieutenant of Moray (1954)
*
Douglas Ross, Member of Parliament for
Moray (UK Parliament constituency) and current leader of the
Scottish Conservatives
The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...
- attended Alves Primary School
References
External links
Alves Primary SchoolVisit to Britain – Alves
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Villages in Moray