Sir William Wallace stormed Edinburgh and Glasgow to declare the Forth Valley the true heart of Scotland’s History. Organised by a history and tourism project called Forth’s Timeline, his quest took place before the launch of a major new BBC series examining Scotland’s history on Sunday (9th November).

Wallace’s trip was organised by the 16 museums, galleries and historic buildings behind the Forth’s Timeline project. The £134,000 development is the first collaboration by museums and galleries across all three Forth Valley council areas.

The Forth’s Timeline sites are all within a 30-mile area and hold historic and cultural exhibits going back over 2000 years. Visitors can unearth stories from the time of Scotland’s tribal beginnings, the Roman era, William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots and the industrial revolution - right up to Scotland’s first planned town. With many of the attractions accessible by train and less than an hour’s journey from Glasgow and Edinburgh, there is a whole host of history out there to discover.

Together, the Forth’s Timeline museums, galleries and historic buildings welcome over 350,000 tourists a year. The project aims to raise the profile of the area and bring additional economic benefit to a region that finds over 10% of its workforce in tourism related occupations.

During this financial year, Forth’s Timeline received £134,000 from the Regional Development Challenge Fund. A £3.5 million fund managed on behalf of the Scottish Government by Museums Galleries Scotland to develop Scotland's museum sector through local partnerships

Falkirk Council lead the project in partnership with Clackmannanshire Council and the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum. The project has brought on board supporters such as First ScotRail, Scotland’s national train operator, as travel partner and VisitScotland to target international visitors for Homecoming Scotland 2009.

The Forth’s Timeline visitor brochure and website, www.forthstimeline.net, connect the project’s buildings and objects using three themes, ‘Crucible of Industry’, ‘Power Struggles’ and ‘Landscape of Inspiration’. The next stage in the project will involve a trail of interactive audio information beside selected objects and a series of video podcasts.

Councillor Adrian Mahoney, Falkirk Council's Convener of the Environment and Heritage Committee, said: "The Forth Valley area has some great museums and historic buildings - telling fantastic stories going back thousands of years. Hopefully the Forth's Timeline project will make people more aware of the amazing heritage we have in this area and encourage lots more people to pay us a visit."

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For more information about Forth's Timeline and today's photocall please call Joe Walton at Matthews Marketing, 0141 419 9000, 07968022684, joe@mmarketting.org.uk.

For more information on First ScotRail please contact Lally Cowell Public Relations Manager First ScotRail, 0141 335 4788, lally.cowell@firstgroup.com.

For more information on Museums Galleries Scotland and the Regional Development Challenge Fund please contact Museums Galleries Scotland P: 0131 550 4100.

For more information on tourism in the Forth Valley please contact James Lakie, Regional Corporate Press Officer, VisitScotland. P: 0131 472 2410 E:James.lakie@visitscotland.com.