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Last-minute bid to get more stories entered into Moray competition

Jim Royan contemplates on an old Elgin bottle
Jim Royan contemplates on an old Elgin bottle

The organisers of a short story competition are making a last-minute drive to fire the imagination of Moray residents.

The team behind a historical trail project aimed at linking three of Elgin’s most legendary landmarks have encouraged residents young and old to celebrate the town’s colourful past by writing creative tales about local life in years gone by.

The winning entrant will receive £350, and their story will be used to help promote the town as a destination spot for tourists keen to sample areas of historic interest.

Chairman of the Castle to Cathedral to Cashmere project, Jim Royan, has appealed for more amateur writers to come forward with ideas before the competition deadline at the end of the month.

The stories should be set in the 18th or 19th centuries, and Mr Royan has suggested that ancient buildings like the town’s former Thunderton Inn or Tolbooth prison could provide material.

Mr Royan said that timeframe represented a pivotal turning point in the town’s past as it shifted from a state of “filth” to relative prosperity.

He added: “At the beginning of the 19th century Elgin was described as exceeding all towns in the north-east in terms of filthiness.

“But by 1828 it had been transformed by philanthropy and a new prosperity.

“Fortunes made abroad financed some of Elgin’s finest buildings, like Dr Gray’s Hospital and Anderson’s Institution.

“A new St Giles Church replaced the old building in 1828, a group of clever men contributed to the city’s transformation.”

Writers have until May 31, to submit their stories – which must be no more than 3,000 words long and previously unpublished.

The competition, which is being sponsored by Elgin’s Rotary Club, will award £150 to a runner-up.

The winner will be announced at the Spirit of Moray Book Festival in September.

More details are available at www.ccc-heritage.co.uk