Alness Community Association

History

Alness Community Association is one of the oldest community groups in Alness. It began life in the ‘30s as Alness Shopkeepers Association and then in 1945 after the war a group of local people, business people, farmers and professional people from Alness and Ardross began the Alness Ratepayers Association.

There were members from the whole village and surrounding district and committee members were voted on by ballot of the whole village. Democracy came early to Alness!

When the huge sea change came to Alness in the late 1960s the Ratepayers Association had to evolve to encompass all the new towns-people. Alness grew at this time to a town  of 8,500 from a steady 1,200 during the previous two hundred years. The town now has approximately 6,000 inhabitants.

In 1969 Alness Ratepayers Association became Alness Community Association and the Association was heavily involved at that time in the integration of all our new arrivals. Many clubs were set up and ACA held dances and functions to welcome the new towns-people.

Over the years since then ACA has played a large part in the running of the town. It was the umbrella organisation which helped many small clubs get started. They ran Galas and functions throughout the years and in 1989 became Alness Community Association Ltd. a charitable company limited by guarantee.

In 1991 and 1994 Alness Community Association hosted the Scottish Pipe Band Championships. Over a hundred pipe bands and almost 10,000 people descended on Alness. Many went away certain it was the best Pipe Band Championships they had ever attended.

In 1989 ACA Ltd began the Alness and District Times, our local community newspaper which is produced by local volunteers in the Heritage Centre and comes out on the first Thursday of each month. To date we have produced over 220 editions.

In 2000 ACA Ltd bought the property of 102-106 High Street, a former bakery and later shoe shop with a large garden to turn into their long awaited Heritage Centre.  During the years ACA has collected a large archive of photographs and papers.  They are now collating them and gathering new ones from ‘old Alnessians’ and visitors alike. We also have a large archive of Alness through the war years, when the Catalina and Sunderland squadrons flew from Alness.

We hope when you visit Alness, on the Web or in person, that you will get in touch with ACA Ltd. We are always delighted to meet people with Alness connections or old Alnessians, people with an interest in old history or people who are looking for a friendly town with attractive shops, beautiful flowers and lovely surrounding country-side.

You will always be made very welcome in Alness.