Auctioneer pays emotional tribute to staff and customers as the doors close at the Scottish auction market
The last sale of livestock at Forfar Mart under Lawrie and Symingtons ownership took place on Wednesday.
Most of the regular buyers and sellers seemed resigned to this being end of the road for an auction market in Anguss county town but there may still be a glimmer of hope.
Addressing the ringside before the sale of prime cattle Lawrie and Symington director and Forfar farmer Andrew Steel thanked the staff and customers for their support over the 24 years the Lanark-based company had owned the market.
We hope to have a statement ready for release at the beginning of next week . I cannot say what is in it but I will say never say never.
Tribute
Auctioneer Helen Rickard also paid an emotional tribute to her staff and customers before setting about selling an especially well-presented offering of 24 prime cattle.
Regular consignor David Lumgair of Gask Farm, Letham said it was a sad day.
His family had bought and sold cattle through Forfar Mart for 90 years and often sold butchers cattle at top prices.
He and his son John would carry on producing prime cattle but he was unsure where they would market them.
Dundee butcher George Jarron of family firm Scott Brothers had attended Forfar market every Wednesday since the Dundee market closed in 1988.
It is the end of an era but it is mostly really an inconvenience.
End of an era
We already buy privately as well as through the market and have done since foot and mouth in 2001. But the market has been a very good way to balance our re4quiremnts for cattle.
We have also bought all our sheep through the ring here so we will need to find an alternative.
The first auction market in Forfar opened its doors in 1869 as James Scotts Mart. It became Scott and Graham in 1889 just ahead of the emergence of Strathmore Auction Co as a competitor.
The two businesses competed fiercely for business on neighbouring sites until they amalgamated in 1967 as Angus Marts.
