Former Forfar cattle dealer, farmer and businessman, Jimmy Nicoll, has died aged 83.
He ran a successful cattle business from North Mains where his family had farmed for several generations.
North Mains also grew cereals and Jimmy rented out land for potato growing.
Marafun
He was also one of the founders of the Forfar Marafun, through Forfar Rotary Club, which raised £180,000 for Ninewells Cancer Campaign.
Jimmy Nicoll was born at North Mains where his father, Doug, and his father before him had farmed.
His mother, Mary, was a school teacher at Kilry and then Padanaram, and he had one sister, Dorthy (Parr).
Studies
Jimmy was educated at primary level in Forfar and then Forfar Academy before studying agricultural at college at Craibstone in Aberdeen.
It was there he met his future wife Sybil, the daughter of a Torphins dairy farmer.
The couple married at Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen in 1964 and went on to have three daughters, Louise, Elaine and Gillian.
Jimmy and Sybil set up home at North Mains and developed their cattle dealing business, buying from marts in Aberdeen and around Angus.
At one point Jimmy had 66 bulls hired out across Scotland and led a busy life delivering them and collecting them along with long-serving cattleman Fred Findlay.
Golf driving range
Around 20 years ago, the couple took a step back from the cattle business and farming and developed Forfar Golf Range and Coffee Shop on eight acres of land.
It is now a thriving enterprise, with the coffee shop open seven days a week and employing around a dozen staff.
Jimmy was hands on with the business and took a particular interest in keeping the grass in prime condition.
Groundkeeping
Sybil said: “He cut the grass all summer and was something of a perfectionist in keeping straight lines.
“He also had to contend with crows swooping down to pick up golf balls and discovered that they thought they were eggs and were trying to smash them against a trough in another field.”
Jimmy played golf at Forfar and was a past president of the Rotary Club of Forfar and Forfar Curling Club. He received a Paul Harris Fellowship for his work on behalf of Rotary.
Both Jimmy and Sybil were skilled curlers who played in international invitation matches at Aviemore, once winning the mixed category and emerging as overall runners-up.
You can read the family’s announcement here.
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