Ewen Watson and Sathya Schlösser's new book 'Fantastic Forres' offers a fun insight into the town's historical sites and figures

TWO professional artists brought together through music have created a children’s book about the history of the town they love.

‘Fantastic Forres’ by musician Ewen Watson and illustrator Sathya Schlösser explores many of the area’s historical sites and figures in a universally accessible way.

Ewen explained: “I have lived here my whole life and have always been interested in the town’s rich history. Some of this has never really been presented in a way accessible to primary-aged children before.

“Fantastic Forres explores areas such as the history of Forres, its local landmarks and famous faces in a fun way. The town is brought to life through Sathya’s wonderful illustrations.”

Sathya is also an animator and previously worked with Ewen’s band Be Like Pablo on their music video for single ‘My Kind of Girl’.

Ewen, who has always been interested in writing children’s stories, found the time to start during the covid pandemic.

He said: “I came up with the idea of doing a non-fiction book about local history and everything just seemed to click.

“We tried to cover as much as possible: Nelson’s Tower, the Tolbooth, Sueno’s Stone, the old castle, Grant Park and much more in the book’s 32 pages

“ We even have a timeline of Forres from prehistoric times to the modern day.

“Readers will also find out about famous faces such as Hugh Falconer, Lord Strathcona and Alexander Grant.”

During their research, Ewen and Sathya consulted local experts such as archivists Graeme Wilson and Dr John Barrett, as well as Forres Heritage Trust and other Friends of the Falconer Museum.

They also spent considerable time visiting local sites of interest and reading books including ‘The Annals of Forres’ and ‘Forres: A Royal Burgh’.

“It was interesting to research the history of the Tolbooth in particular,” said Ewen. “It’s such a fascinating building. It’s huge inside and has had a lot of different uses over the years. It was closed to the public for so long so it’s brilliant to see it being used again.

“Sathya and I were able to explore - she even got to climb to the top of the clock tower. Exploring helped her draw the Tolbooth because she had never seen it from the inside before.”

He added: “I also really enjoyed researching mysteries of Forres such as the different theories about where Sueno’s Stone came from.”

Fantastic Forres is mostly self-funded but the pair are grateful for donations from Forres Community Activities Association and members of the community including Ray McDonald of local charity Ray’s Opportunities which supports local people with physical, learning and hidden disabilities.

“Any more funding will go towards making the book and its release even better,” said Ewen. “It will be self-published and available from July 8 at www.fantasticforres.com, in Forres shops and at local events.”

Meanwhile, the community will be able to see large prints of images from Fantastic Forres on display in Nelson’s Tower and the Tolbooth.

Addressing potential younger readers, Ewen added: “This brightly coloured book is full of fun facts and amazing illustrations about your town and its history, which your parents might not even know.

“There are pages full of characters that you can spend all day looking at.

“You can even take this book with you as you walk around the town and find the real locations.”