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Forfar
Scottish Gaelic: Baile Fharfair
Scots: Forfar
Forfar  Forfar shown within Scotland
Population	13,206 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	NO455505
Council area	Angus
Lieutenancy area	Angus
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	FORFAR
Postcode district	DD8
Dialling code	01307
Police	Tayside
Fire	Tayside
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Angus
Scottish Parliament	North Tayside
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Forfar

Forfar is also a traditional market town, serving the outlying lowland farms of Strathmore in central Angus.

Chiefs met at a castle by Forfar Loch to plan how best to repel the Romans who invaded on several occasions between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. Ultimately the Romans prevailed, only to be displaced in the Early Middle Ages by the Picts.^[1] The Romans established a major Roman camp at Battledykes, approximately three miles north of Forfar; this camp was analysed to have held 50,000 to 60,000 men.^[2] From Battledykes northward the Romans established a succession of camps including Stracathro, Raedykes and Normandykes.^[3]

A "claimant" to the throne, the daughter of the leader of the Meic Uilleim, who were descendants of King Duncan II, had her brains dashed out on Forfar market cross in 1215 while still an infant.

The Meffan Museum is in the heart of the town. It was built by a daughter of the Provost Meffan as a bequest in 1898. It is home of the Forfar story. It is also an art gallery and a meeting place for local speakers, summer clubs for children and groups. The story of Forfar takes you from the history of the little cobbler shops to the burning of the witch Helen Guthrie. There is also a good selection of Pictish stones found in and around Forfar and Kirriemuir. The Large Class 1 Pictish stone, with a rare carving of a flower, is called the Dunnichen Stone. It was found when a farmer in the parish of Dunnichen was ploughing, and it was sent to the Dundee museum to be put on show. After the Meffan had been renovated it was brought back to Forfar on a long term loan. There is also a canoe, excavated from Forfar Loch, that dates back to the 11th century (one of two that were found).

The town is located just off the main A90 Perth to Aberdeen road which now bypasses the town but once passed through the town. The town had a railway station until September 3, 1967 when it closed as part of the Beeching cuts. It was located on the main line of the Caledonian Railway from Glasgow to Aberdeen, which was the furthest north link in the chain of the West Coast Main Line from London. Lines also went to Dundee, Arbroath, Brechin and Kirriemuir. There was a major locomotive shed here too, but was demolished and replaced by a housing estate. Some bridges and cuttings still survive but the site of the goods station, which was also the town's original railway station before the one near the county buildings was built, is now mainly residential properties. There are bus services to Dundee, Arbroath, Kirriemuir, Brechin etc.

The town has a third division football club, Forfar Athletic, who play at Station Park, as well as two junior clubs, Forfar West End and Forfar Albion. Dundee United Reserves also play at Forfar Athletic's ground, Station Park. Youth and Women's Football is also available in the town, with Forfar Boys F.C (boys only), Lochside Boys F.C [1](boys only) and Farmington F.C[2](boys, girls and womens) All the clubs have SFA Quality Mark Award at some level.

Rugby Union is represented in the town by Strathmore Rugby Football Club, who play their home games at Inchmacoble Park, beside Forfar Loch. Strathmore Cricket Club[3], founded in 1862, has played at Lochside Park since 1873. Forfar Loch is home to Forfar Sailing Club [4]

The town has a swimming pool and a separate dedicated leisure centre. It also has an ice rink which was built in the early 1990s and this is home to the local curling club. There are also many bowling clubs, and the Forfar Golf Club [5]which is situated at Cunninghill to the east of the town. Angus Gliding Club operates at Roundyhill, between Glamis and Kirriemuir.

Whitehills Primary School in Service Road. The Head Teacher is Brenda Davie.

Strathmore Primary School in St James' Road.

Langlands Primary School in Glamis Road. (Reopened in May 2009 after the original school buildings were demolished and an extensive period of rebuilding and relandscaping was carried out.)

There is one secondary school in the town:

Forfar Academy [6] in Taylor Street, which has a roll of around 1,200 pupils making it one of the largest schools in Angus.

Healthcare

The local community hospital, the Whitehills Health and Community Care Centre, was built on the site of the old Whitehills Hospital building (the former hospital for infectious diseases) and opened in Spring 2005.

The new hospital replaced Forfar Infirmary, formerly the town's main hospital, as well as Whitehills Hospital. The Forfar Infirmary site has since been completely demolished, and sold off to developers.

The Fyfe-Jamieson maternity hospital closed some time ago; it was across the road from the Forfar Academy, but the site has since been built over with houses.

Places of worship

East and Old Church, originally the parish kirk, with a tall slender spire, with steeple clock overlooking the town centre.

Lowson Memorial Church, off Montrose Road. This is a category A listed church in late Scots Gothic style built in 1914 by A Marshall Mackenzie, who also designed Crathie Kirk. The church contains notable stained glass windows by Douglas Strachan. The church serves the east side of Forfar, and provides a mix of traditional and contemporary styles of worship.

St Margaret's Church, in the West High Street, originally a Free Kirk.

It had been decided (by a Church of Scotland arbiter) that the East and Old Parish Church would close, and the congregation would be moving to St. Margaret's Church. This was brought back for discussion at Angus Presbytery due to a large vote against this decision. Now the East and Old and St Margaret's are to remain individual churches as they have always have been.

The East & Old Church is built on the site of the original place of worship that some of the monks of Restenneth Priory built hundreds of years before the one today. The adjoining graveyard has famous 'residents' such as botanist George Don, quite a few scholars and a man who blamed the witches of Forfar for poisoning him after ill words were exchanged between them.

The steeple is a focal point of Forfar, visible when entering the town from any direction. Although abutting the East & Old building, it is owned by the 'Town' and is not formally part of the church property; it is all but certain to be retained following any disposition of the church building.

The town also has churches of other denominations, including:

St John the Evangelist Scottish Episcopal Church, East High Street, designed by Sir R Rowand Anderson and consecrated in 1881. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later to become Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, was confirmed in this church.

St Fergus Roman Catholic Church.

Other items of interest

The town is home to the renowned Forfar bridie, popular with locals and visitors. The Forfar bridie has been featured on many TV programmes. A recipe for the Forfar bridie was also featured in "Maw Broon's Cookbook".

Another feature of the town is the Forfar Loch Country Park, which is popular amongst locals as a walking venue. It is said that the Forfar Loch extended over much more of Forfar in the 1800s, going as far up as Orchardbank and Wellbrae. A drainage project brought the water level down. In about the same time period the loch was used to dump raw sewage; thankfully this practice is no longer continued: it is now treated sewage.

Her Majesty The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited the town and surrounding area in 2004 (the first time in around 30 years).

The town lies in Strathmore and is situated just off the main A90 road between Perth and Aberdeen, with Dundee (the nearest city) being 13 miles (21 km) away. It is approximately five miles (8 km) from Glamis Castle, home to the Bowes-Lyon family and where the late Princess Margaret, younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, was born in 1930.

The town is near to the Angus Glens, including Glen Shee, Glen Clova and Glen Prosen, that are popular with skiers and hill walkers. The area is notable for the beautiful scenery of the mountains and Strathmore.

The town holds many events throughout the year such as the bi-annual Forfar Mara-Fun, which raises money for charity, and the annual Forfar Food Festival highlighting some of the local food. There is also a monthly farmers' market.

Agriculture and tourism are some of the town's major industries. It also acts as an administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex currently on the outskirts of the town.

Forfar is also home to the Strathmore Mineral Water Co., Ltd., a bottled mineral water producer. The company's products are shipped worldwide.

Public services

Forfar and the surrounding area is supplied with water by Scottish Water from Lintrathen and Backwater reservoirs in Glen Isla. Electricity distribution is by Scottish Hydro Electric plc, part of the Scottish and Southern Energy group.

Waste management is handled by Angus Council. There is a kerbside recycling scheme that has been in operation since September 2005. Cans, glass, paper and plastic bottles are collected on a weekly basis. Compostable material and non-recyclable material are collected on alternate weeks.^[4] Roughly two thirds of non-recyclable material is sent to landfill at Angus Council's site at Lochhead, Forfar and the remainder sent for incineration (with energy recovery) outside the council area.^[5]

A recycling centre is located at Queenswell Road. Items accepted include, steel and aluminium cans, cardboard, paper, electrical equipment, engine oil, fridges and freezers, garden waste, gas bottles, glass, liquid food and drinks cartons, plastic bottles, plastic carrier bags, rubble, scrap metal, shoes and handbags, spectacles, textiles, tin foil, wood and yellow pages. Angus council publishes details of where and how each product is processed.^[6] There are also glass banks at the Abbeygate and Tesco car parks.^[7] The Angus Council area had a recycling rate of 34.7% in 2007/08.^[4]

Healthcare is supplied in the area by NHS Tayside. The nearest hospitals with accident and emergency departments are Arbroath Infirmary^[8] and Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.^[9] Primary Health Care in Forfar is supplied by several pracitices, based at Ravenswood Surgery on New Road, Academy Medical Centre in Academy Street and Lour Road Group Practice.^[10][11][12]Forfar, along with the rest of Scotland is served by the Scottish Ambulance Service.^[13]

Law enforcement is provided by Tayside Police^[14] and Forfar is served by Tayside Fire and Rescue Service.^[15]