A programme of indoor cricket for young people between the ages of eight and 15 years gets underway at Lochside Leisure Centre, Forfar on Sunday, February 26 from 2 pm to 4 pm.

Sessions cost £2 and are suitable for both those who have played before and young people new to the game.

The sessions will be run by Strathmore Cricket Club and its team of qualified coaches.

They are designed to ease existing club members in to a new cricket season, which will begin in April, and provide a fun introduction to the game for those who want to give it a try for the first time.

The emphasis in the sessions will be on playing games, with a mix of street 20 cricket and team games designed to develop cricket skills in a fun way.

The sessions will run right through until the Easter holiday break, and are likely to be followed by a cricket camp over the school holiday period.

Angus Cricket Development Group and Cricket Scotland are in the process of appointing a community cricket coach who will be working in Forfar primary schools from March onwards.

The sessions at Lochside are intended to complement the work in schools.

If children and young people have a first experience of the game at school, the club sessions provide them with the opportunity to develop their interest further and become involved in a whole range of coaching and playing opportunities.

REHEARSALS have now begun for Forfar Musical Society’s “summer spectacular” which will run in the Reid Hall, Forfar in June.

The show promises to be a mixture of old favourites and more modern songs, with a children’s section devoted to “Disney”.

The society held a workshop last Wednesday evening and as a result the younger members of the cast will begin rehearsals on Wednesday, February 29 in the B.B. Halls in Queen Street.

The adults are now busy rehearsing with musical director Billy Muir but they would dearly love more members to come forward.

Vice-president Scott McIntosh explained the show would run from Tuesday, June 5 to Saturday, June 9 in the Reid Hall.

He said: “As well as the children’s Disney section we will have a section for Rodgers and Hammerstein numbers.

“We will also feature an up to date West End section and are still looking for new members to come along with any ideas of songs they would like to perform, not just from the musicals.”

The adults are now rehearsing on Wednesday evenings at 7.30 p.m. in the B.B. Hall – everyone will be made more than welcome.

For more information contact Scott on 07837 401 027.

Pupils at Forfar Academy were given the opportunity to learn another language without speaking when Deafblind Scotland’s “Touching Lives” project came to visit the school.

A member of Deafblind Scotland Fiona Linton along with her Guide/Communicator Fiona McCreadie taught the class of second year pupils deafblind manual. This is a tactile communication method used by deafblind people, where the letters of the manual alphabet are delivered onto the hand of the deafblind person.

The teachers Mrs Innes and Mr Martin were impressed by how much it raised their own awareness as well as the pupils, They said: “It was one of the most interesting talks we have had from a visiting speaker in a long time!”

The “Touching Lives” project continued in Forfar Academy over the next two weeks raising awareness and teaching deafblind manual to 240 pupils at the school.

Duel sensory impairment affects more than 5000 people in Scotland These sessions are funded by the BIG Lottery fund under the “Touching lives” project and are aimed at promoting awareness of this uniquely disabling condition while creating practical skills within the population, particularly young people.

For more Schoool News turn to page 21.

Are you living with arthritis? The Angus Arthritis Forum invites you to comepop in the Parkview Community Care Centre in Carnoustie on Wednesday, February 29 between 6.30pm and 8.30pm.

Angus Community Health Partnership (CHP) in conjunction with the Arthritis Forum has organised this informal evening and would encourage anyone living with arthritis, their family and friends to come along for this informal two-hour session.

This will be the first meeting of the Angus Arthritis Forum to be held in Carnoustie. The evening’s three topics will focus on providing practical advice and support and will look at a range of equipment and adaptions that can help make things easier at home as well as information on benefits and advice on mobility.

Staff from Angus Community Health Partnership’s occupational therapy department and physiotherapy department will be joined by a representative from Angus Council and will be on hand during the evening to answer questions.

During the evening attendees will also have the chance, over a cup of tea, to meet others affected by arthritis.

If you would like more information about the evening, please contact Rhona Guild, Angus Community Health Partnership, on 01307 474889.

BRECHIN City were the only Angus team to take away a win following the action last weekend.

While Arbroath drew, Forfar Athletic and Montrose were doomed to defeat.

So, to the winners first. Brechin took away the three points at Stirling Albion after being 1-0 down at half time. Those points will perhaps have gone some way to soften the blow of losing captain Charlie King for the next two weeks. Influential skipper King picked up a knock in training and according to manager Jim Weir he will be out for a fortnight.

Arbroath got their half time lead taken away from them by league leaders Cowdenbeath in the second half at Gayfield. However, with Arbroath looking to face an out of form Forfar Athletic this weekend they might have an opportunity to close their four point gap with the leaders.

Talking of Forfar Athletic they had a disaster of a trip across the Tay with a 4-0 defeat to East Fife. Despite things looking up off the pitch for the Loons (see more on page five) they will have to step up their game if they want to ensure another second division season come August.

It has been a while since Montrose last recorded a win, January 14 against Clyde to be exact, and unfortunately they were unable to break the dubious record on Saturday against Peterhead. Despite a goal from Third Divison wonderkid, Martin Boyle, the Gable Endies found themselves on the wrong end of a 1-3 scoreline at the end of the 90 minutes.

The Links Park side have been given a boost to the squad however with the loan signing of Kevin Brown from Arbroath. With Brown being usurped by the more experienced Chris Innes at Gayfield the move will hopefully give him more playing time.

HAVING gained a solitary point from six over the course of the past week, Forfar Athletic remain very much on the fringes of the relegation battle.

The Loons drew one-each at home to strong-going Dumbarton last Tuesday evening, but were then crushed four-nil at East Fife on Saturday.

The results leave the Loons with a lot to do if they are to escape from the nether regions of the Scottish second division.

And, the matches don’t get any easier!

On Wednesday evening (tonight), Forfar are due to make the trip to on-form Arbroath, for the latest derby encounter.

Fast and dangerous up front, the Lichties defeated Forfar four-two on their own patch just recently, and they will be keen to keep the pressure on front-runners Cowdenbeath in the race for the second division title.

Following the derby match, Forfar are at Albion Rovers this coming Saturday, with East Fife due at Station Park for a rescheduled match on Tuesday evening of next week.

If Forfar can play anything like they did at home to Dumbarton last midweek then they are more than capable of picking up vital points.

It was end-to-end stuff in the opening period, with both sides having their chances.

Joe Shaughnessy saw a great headed effort well saved by the keeper after only eight minutes while, at the other end, it took a brilliant double save from Marc McCallum to deny Mark Gilhaney.

The keeper then did the trick again soon after, somehow stopping a Pat Walker effort from a yard out and clawing the follow up from the very goal-line.

Having survived a siege, the Loons went up the park to take the lead.

With half an hour gone, Dale Hilson was the home hero, smashing the ball into the net after the keeper had blocked his initial effort.

Back came Dumbarton to level just on the break, Bryan Prunty firing low into the corner after finding acres of space in the Loons defence.

Both sides could have won the game in the second half, Hilson coming closest for Forfar and Gilhaney seeing another effort brilliantly saved by McCallum.

It was on to East Fife on Saturday - for a game to forget as far as Dick Campbell’s men were concerned.

The visitors were behind to a spot-kick conversion after only 11 minutes, Robert Sloan netting after Nicky Low was judged to have fouled Steven Hislop at a corner-kick.

Sloan soon doubled his tally with a superb 25-yard drive and then set up Hislop to head home on 36 minutes.

Ryan Wallace claimed the hosts’ fourth 20 minutes from the end with Sloan once again providing the assist.

The fourth goal killed the game stone dead as far as the Loons were concerned, although it was always going to be a tough ask coming from three down anyway.

The result leaves Forfar in third bottom spot - just above Albion Rovers and Stirling Albion.

But there’s still plenty of football to be played, although it would be easier on the nerves if the Loons can get points in the bag sooner rather than later, and so remain in the Scottish second division for another season.

East Fife - Brown, Durie, Campbell, White, Cook, Linn, Muir, Janczyk, Sloan, Hislop (Dalziel)and Wallace (McQuade).

Forfar Athletic - McCallum, Wilson, Shaughnessy, Iain Campbell, McCulloch, Byers (Mowat), Sellars (Coyne), Fotheringham (Ross Campbell), Low, Templeman and Hilson.

THE on-going problem of dogs’ dirt in Forfar is not going away, with more and more residents contacting the “Dispatch” to speak of their “utter disgust” at the mess that is now being left throughout the town (writes Janet Thomson).

One Forfar resident of 20 years popped into our office in Castle Street last week, clearly distressed about the embarrassment of walking through the town centre the previous Saturday with a friend from Dundee.

Mrs Ann Smith was upset about the state of the town, stating that on her way to our office she had passed four large piles of mess in Queen Street.

However, it was the mess she and her friend witnessed in East High Street on the Saturday that forced her to speak out - after her friend said she would no longer visit the town because of the mess on the pavements.

She said: “It was an embarrassment. It has always been bad but it is getting worse. People just don’t seem to bother picking up after their dogs. It’s disgusting in a wee place like Forfar.

“ I think the owners should be fined if they don’t pick up after their dogs. I feel so strongly about it.

“We have police officers and, I believe, only two wardens for the whole of Angus. It is absolutely disgusting.

“ I always take my shoes off before I go into my house to check I haven’t walked in anything - it’s that bad.

“I am 72 years old and would never approach anyone with a dog who failed to pick up their dogs’ mess.

“But it is such a shame that a nice wee place like Forfar is being destroyed - it is an embarrassment to us all.”

The Forfar Dispatch Facebook page has been littered over the last few weeks with people highlighting problem areas.

Jacqueline Gilchrist said: “I am sick and tired of walking down the high street and not being able to look up from the pavement.

“It seems like every 30 seconds I tell my kids; “watch your feet”.

“It’s right across the road from the police station, it’s right across the road from the CCTV camera above Subway.

“It’s at the bus stop at The Cross, which is looked at by a camera above The Queen’s Hotel. Why does nobody stop these people?”

Jacqueline’s frustration was echoed by Ryan Urquhart who posted on Wednesday: “I would like to raise the following problem: as I walked from the Westfield area in Forfar towards Langlands school on Tuesday through Kemsley Place and down Taranty Road the amount of dog excrement was unbelievable!

“There was even a used condom lying on the pavement near the flats in Lowson Avenue.

“I find this firstly frustrating regards the dogs’ dirt this is utterly unacceptable and a used condom next to a primary school!

“I would like to see the council do something regards the fouling in Forfar.

“It is unacceptable that a minority of dog owners can’t pick up the mess and it give ALL other dog owners a bad name.”

A spokesperson for Angus Council said: “Dog fouling is regularly highlighted as an issue nationally as well as locally and is one of the problems most complained about by communities. Angus Council remains committed to tackling the problem of dog fouling and irresponsible dog owners across Angus.

To assist in resolving the problem and to allow clean-ups to take place, we would encourage residents to continue to report occasions of dog fouling and offending dog owners to the ACCESSline on 08452 777 778.”