2000 – Centenary Celebrations
The Guild Council of the Church of Scotland held a Millennium Guild Banner Exhibiti
on where the selected entries were shown in churches and halls throughout Scotland and also in London. The book of the bible allocated to Moray West was 11 Thessalonians and the Guilds in the area all created relevant banners. Only one was put forward to be included in the exhibition and St Michaels Guild were honoured to have their banner, entitled ‘Go Forward in Faith’, selected to represent Moray West. The banner is proudly displayed in the church.
2000 – Sale of Kellas Estate
Kellas estate, which had been in the hands of the Christie family for a considerable number of years, came on the market and was purchased by the Jurgens family from Holland. The new owners started developing the estate along sporting lines.
2002 – Closure of Dallas Hotel
The hotel finally closed its doors at Easter 2002. This left the village without any accommodation for visitors to the area. It also left locals and visitors alike without bar or restaurant facilities.
2002 – Further Flooding
At the beginning of November, heavy rains fell in Dallas and the surrounding hills. However, this was largely localised. Around one inch of rain fell in Elgin whereas over 6 inches of rain was recorded at Torwinnie. Residents of Elgin were therefore totally unprepared for the flooding which ensued in their area. The water blocked many roads and resulted in a considerable number of families being forced to leave their homes for many months until repairs had been carried out.
2003 – Golden Jubilee.
Mrs Peg Anderson planted a Golden Cypress tree at the western end of the village on 3rd June 2003 to mark the Golden Jubilee of H.M. Queen Elizabeth.
2003 – Last General Shop in Dallas Closes
The last shop in Dallas closed early in 2003 although the Post Office side of the business continued to operate on a slightly restricted basis for some time afterwards. The general reduction in population of the area combined with the ease of travel to Forres or Elgin had made the running of a small local shop uneconomic.
2003 – Drought
The summer of 2003 consisted of long dry spells. Very little rain fell during March, April, June or July. Even the rain which fell in May was considerably less than usual. By the end of July, the drought had reduced the crop of grass to such an extent that a number of farmers were having to supply feed to their cattle. However, the dry spell resulted in the harvest being earlier with virtually all the farms in Dallas having finished cutting the crop before 12th August.
The dry weather continued into the Autumn. No spates occurred during the fishing season and, for the first time in many years, there were no seatrout, grilse or salmon caught during the year. A number of outlying farms and houses, which were not connected to mains water, suffered shortages due to springs having virtually dried up. However the first snow of the season, albeit slight, arrived early on 21st October and this was followed by some rain.
2004 – Wind Farms
With a view to providing more of the country’s energy requirements from a renewable source, work started in the early part of 2004 on a bank of wind turbines to be erected on Cairn Uish. The energy from these is to be linked to the main grid via a sub-station being installed at Blackhills Farm.
2004 – Re-opening of Post Office
The Post Office, which had been run as in conjunction with the shop which had ceased trading in 2003, closed in the early part of 2004. However, arrangements were made for a new Post Office facility to operate from the Houldsworth Institute from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays. This was welcomed by those entitled to state pensions etc so that they could continue to receive their benefits locally in cash. However, their joy was short-lived since, following a period of technical problems, the facility closed at the beginning of December of the same year.
2004 – Improved Bus Service
The bus service available to the people of Dallas increased following a re-organisation. Under this, the service increased from 2 to 3 days a week – Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The Monday service was a new introduction which travelled all the way through to Inverness.
2005 – Houldsworth Institute Extended
An extension to the hall was completed in the early part of 2005. This enabled the hall to comply with regulations regarding disabled access, disabled toilets, etc. The extension also provided an additional small hall and greatly improved storage facilities. Improvements to the overall building included the installation of oil fired central heating and double glazing throughout.
2006 – Bus Shelter
For the first time since the start of a bus service for the area, the village received its own purpose built bus shelter. This was installed outside the Houldsworth Institute and was of benefit not only to fare-paying passengers but also to the children waiting to take them to school in Forres. Prior to this people often had to cram into the telephone kiosk to seek shelter from the wind and rain.
2007 – Bus Service
The bus service available to the residents was further improved by the introduction of ‘Dial a Bus’. Under this, people could telephone, at least 24 hours in advance, for a bus provided there was no other suitable service.
2007 – Neighbourhood Watch
The village became an official Neighbourhood Watch area with signs being erected at all entrances to the village. Whilst the villagers had always looked out for each other’s welfare, it was felt that having signs erected might deter any outsiders who were intent on mischief.
2007 – Glen Cottage
Glen cottage, which had been occupied until fairly recently by Jimmy Findlay and which was situated at the south eastern end of the main street, was demolished and the site marketed for 3 new houses. One of the demolished outbuildings had contained the original Dallas School.
2007 – Dog Litter Bins
Following complaints by residents about dog owners not clearing up if their dogs fouled either the pavement, street or cut grass areas, the Council installed the first of a number of dog litter bins.
2008 – Change of Minister
The Rev Paul Amed, who had been our minister since 2000, left in January to take up a new position in Lewis.
2009 – Harsh Winter
The worst of the winter weather started with snow falling on 17th December, with little or no black ground being seen again before the end of February 2010. At least 9 farm buildings in the area collapsed under the weight of snow, resulting in the death of at least one cow. Ice built up in the guttering of houses during a period of hard frost and this, combined with snow eventually sliding off the roofs, meant that few houses escaped with their guttering intact.
2010 – New Minister
The Rev Donald Prentice was appointed minister of the churches at St Leonards, Forres, Rafford and St Michael’s, Dallas.
2014 – Weather
The 2013/14 winter had been very mild and this continued during the spring, with little or no rain having fallen. However, this came to an abrupt halt in mid August. A hurricane called ‘Bertha’ crossed the Atlantic, came up the North Sea and deposited several inches of rain on Moray during the night of 10th/11th August. The river Lossie overflowed its banks and created virtually a new river down the main street with many of the houses suffering quite severe flooding. Roads out of Dallas became impassible for nearly all vehicles that day.
The village suffered the worst flood in 69 years. One third of the 68 homes in the village were flooded and several residents were out of their homes for several months.
2015- Dallas War Memorial – William Anderson
As outlined earlier in these notes, William Anderson, who had been born in Dallas in 1882 and who had fought in the First World War, had been awarded the Victoria Cross. For some unknown reason, his name was not included on the Dallas War Memorial. This was rectified in February – 100 years after his death – during a special service in St Michael’s Church, the unveiling of a plaque on the war memorial and also the placing of a commemorative slab below the entrance of the Houldsworth Institute. The celebrations were attended by a number of Corporal Anderson’s surviving relatives who were delighted by the events correcting the original omission.
Dallas Flood Alleviation Scheme, April – August 2017
In August 2014 a major flooding event occurred in Dallas from the River Lossie, which has been estimated to be 1 in 1000 years. The flooding caused approximately £600,000 of damage to properties and infrastructure.
In November 2015 Moray Council approved a scheme to construct an embankment set-back from the river and allocated a budget of £300,000. The embankment is 1.2m high, 440 metres long and extends beyond the north east of the village to ensure water does not return along the road. Material for construction came from an area of high ground in the field south west of Dallas. This was supplemented by a Bentonite clay geotextile buried along the length of the embankment to act as a cut off for water seepage. A filter drain placed along the dry side of the embankment allows surface water to drain.
Work started on the 17th April 2017 with a few days of snow causing some initial delays. A flooding event in June also caused a few days of delay but also tested out the embankment, preventing several houses in Dallas from being flooded with only minimal damage to the part-constructed embankment. The project was completed in early August 2017.
