yourmoray.com

Resources for people in or interested in Moray, Scotland

You are here: Home / Archives for peter brash

Misheard in Moray

by Leave a Comment

Everyone says things wrong at times.

When I read the first Harry Potter book to my children – which was before any of the films came out – I called the lead female character (Hermione) Her-me-OH-nee throughout.

Take “Moray”, for example.

That’s pronounced MURR-ee.

As in, Andy MURR-ee.

If you work in any customer-facing business in Moray, you’ll hear interesting pronunciations of local place names.

Conversations with visitors tend to include questions like: Where are you staying? Where else do you plan to visit?

Continue Reading

Historic road signs in Moray

by Leave a Comment

The Worboys report of 1964 revolutionised road signage in the UK.

Pre-Worboys signs remained across Moray until quite recently and you can see examples on other websites of signs for Lossiemouth and Keith (in Elgin) and Findhorn and Burghead (in Kinloss), taken within the last 10 years or so.

The artist’s impression, below, shows a road sign from North Street, Elgin, in the 1950s.

This is how the sign would have looked for southbound traffic on the A941, approaching Elgin High Street from the direction of Lossiemouth.

The internal ring road for the A96 which created Alexandra Road and St Giles Street was not constructed until the 1980s.

In the 1950s, North Street ran continuously from its junction with High Street right up into Bishopmill and formed part of the main A941 north-south arterial route.

The background of the sign is coloured according to the colour scheme of the time for road signs of this nature.

You can see the original image – from which the artist’s impression is a detail – on the website of Grigor & Young, Solicitors.

Road sign at the gable end of 1-7 North Street, Elgin, during the 1950s

Modern statues depicting Elgin’s historic past

by Leave a Comment

In 2016, a diverse trio of statues was unveiled in central Elgin, Moray.

On the grassy area to the east of the A96 between the Tesco roundabout and the roundabout at the Royal Mail Sorting Office stands the Wolf of Badenoch. At a height of about 6½ feet, David Annand’s creation commemorates the Earl of Buchan, infamous for setting fire to Elgin Cathedral in 1390.

The Drummer Boy (with his Dog) is at the east end of the Plain Stones close to the Market Cross.

The most controversial statue is the Dandy Lion.

To describe it as a 7-foot “mermaid lion” wearing colourful clothes, does not really prepare you for the assault to the senses it provides.

Continue Reading

Elgin Cathedral

by Leave a Comment

The ruins of Elgin Cathedral sit on the banks of the meandering River Lossie, close to the Landshut Bridge.

Elgin Cathedral is still an impressive and imposing edifice despite its largely skeletal state.

Elgin Cathedral, looking east.

The Cathedral was established in 1224.

It had a chequered history, suffering its first damaging fire in 1270 and extensive damage – again, by fire – when it was attacked by Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, also known as the Wolf of Badenoch.

The Cathedral was renovated and enlarged following these fires. The octagonal Chapter House was built during the extension works following the fire of 1270.

Chapter House ceiling at Elgin Cathedral.

The gable end at the two westerly towers has a double-door entrance and is nearly complete. These towers have been reroofed by the custodians, Historic Scotland, and the north-west tower is a good viewpoint over Cooper Park and in all directions.

An enormous protective wall surrounded the Cathedral precinct.

But only a small section remains.

The wall had 4 access gates, one of which – the Pans Port – is still in existence.

View of Elgin Cathedral, looking west through the Pans Port.

The decay of the structure continued right through to the beginning of the 19th century and it was not until the end of the 20th-century that significant improvements were made to the two Western towers to enhance the visitor experience with better all-weather access to explanatory materials and exhibits.

The Cathedral forms part of Elgin’s Castle to Cathedral to Cashmere Trail.

The two western towers of Elgin Cathedral.

Image credits both aerial photos by Gilbert Pellegrom on Unsplash

The two west towers of Elgin Cathedral with an inscribed stone in the foreground.