In the mid 1980's Forfar Sand and Gravel approached the owners about the possibility of quarrying at Murton. After much deliberation an agreement was made which allowed the firm to quarry, on the condition that the company would take responsibility for restoring the whole area to the highest possible environmental standard.

 

Some years later the quarry company was taken over by John Fyfe. In turn John Fyfe was absorbed by Bardon Aggregates, who later became part of Aggregate Industries.

Murton farm extraction began in 1992 as an extension to the Fledmyre deposit, keeping the Fledmyre quarry trading name for its materials.

Murton farm quarry produced a sand rich 60% and 40% gravel yield with production peaking at 250,000 tonnes per year. The quarry supplied materials to concrete, brick and block plants; the sand was used in coating plants throughout Tayside and Grampian in the manufacture of asphalt and road base. A bagging plant on site supplied pre-packed sand and gravel to builders merchants as far afield as Glasgow and Inverness.

Aggregate Industries continue to enjoy recognition from organisations such as the British Trust for Ornithology for its achievements in environmental protection and restoration of quarried sites. Indeed, the company has won awards for its progressive reinstatement of Murton farm and continues to aid Murton wildlife trust with many of our habitat enhancement projects.

No longer should industries of this nature be assumed to be plundering the countryside and returning little. Aggregate Industries repeatedly demonstrate through their restoration programmes that a change in land use from more traditional use such as intensive agriculture can greatly enhance an otherwise ‘sterile’ piece of ground.

Who would know that 4 million tons of material has been removed from Murton farm! And if they did – is it missed or does the country have something of far greater value.