This month a Highland Town is preparing to reveal the “socking truth” about its origins 250 years ago. The community is now willing to introduce legalised money laundering as its latest economic benefit project.

Grantown-on-Spey, one of the country’s best preserved and most interesting Georgian planned settlements, was founded as a “manufacturing town”. It specialised in the weaving and knitting of stocking. The town’s founder, James Grant of Grant, later known as the Good Sir James, invested over £5000 of his own money to promote business and help the new town to prosper. Some 250 years later Grantown’s citizens aim to raise a similar amount to invest in the future prosperity of the town. They are, indeed, “stocking up” for the future at a time when no less than four major businesses have closed, yet at a time when the town is on the cusp of a bright future with a thriving High Street and a vision for improvement.

An innovative “Socks and Shares” scheme

On May 14^th Grantown Square will become a local “Stock(ing) market” and will witness an audacious and colourful event as Citizens hang up, on washing lines between the trees, socks and stockings containing donated cash. Each donation of £10 or more will receive a numbered share certificate which will later be drawn to give the proud owner a 10% share of the total takings.

This “Socks and Shares” scheme will help finance the Grantown 250 festival in June which aims to enhance economic activity and showcase Grantown as an important Georgian planned town and Strathspey as a unique environment, a first class business location, an excellent centre for sport and a wonderful tourist destination.

The investment from these willing “stocking souls” will help Grantown flourish with an enhanced place on the map of Scotland. It is the year of innovation, architecture and design and a special focus, here, will be on the architecture and layout of planned villages, of which Grantown is one of the finest examples. We shall celebrate and promote the music of the Spey, traditional and modern crafts and businesses, sporting successes, tourism, hospitality, the legacy of the “Highland Enlightenment” and the wonderful scenery and attractions of “Romantic Strathspey”.

Whilst in these days of austerity keeping money in a sock under the bed may be a useful way of saving, local banks have agreed to become part of a local “sock taking” and accept donations for “Grantown 250” The town has a celebrated banking history with the origins of the TSB, Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland reaching back well the early 19^th century and the Grantown 250 is proud to announce the banks’ participation with sox boxes for donations.

Citizens to wash their dirty linen in public

Grantown “Stocking Day” on May 14^th will feature this unusual washing line as well as Information and displays on knitting socks and recycling old socks and stockings. There will be competitions, a very special, as yet secret, “socker special” and a literary stocking event. A display entitled “an old fashioned wash day” will also feature. Many helpers will be in period costume, others with a “shocking stocking” attire. It is expected young and old will be legging it to this unusual 21^st century on-line stock taking festival.

Sock it to me!            By Sockrates our own, not very sockcinct correspondent