Alves, Moray
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Alves ( or ') is a small agricultural village in
Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...
, Scotland.


Geography

The A96 runs east to west across Alves and connects the village to the nearest towns of
Forres Forres (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the County of Moray, Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin, Moray, Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several ...
(to the west) and
Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * Elgin, Manit ...
(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 Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
. While out walking in 1981, Andrew Bain, a carpenter from
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
, discovered what looked like an ancient
spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...
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 The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...
, as Alves was the nearest railway stop to
Gordonstoun School Gordonstoun School ( ) is an elite co-educational private school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip and his son King Charles III. Musician Davi ...
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 in 1941 whilst they awaited the completion of their quarters at nearby RAF Kinloss. 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. As in other Scottish schools, pupils are able to leave after the fourth year of schooling; therefore, the fifth an ...
in
Forres Forres (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the County of Moray, Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin, Moray, Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several ...
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) Moray ( ; ; or ') was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) by the first pa ...
and current leader of the
Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Ki ...
- attended Alves Primary School


References


External links


Alves Primary School

Visit to Britain – Alves
{{authority control Villages in Moray Parishes in Moray