Dulnain Bridge

Dulnain Bridge Gaelic: Drochaid Thulnain
Inverness-shire, Morayshire
Dulnain Bridge (Morayshire side)
Location
Grid reference:	NH995245
Location:	57°18’16"N, 3°39’54"W
Data
Population:	129  (2001)
Post town:	Grantown-on-Spey
Postcode:	PH26
Dialling code:	01479
Local Government
Council:	Highland

Dulnain Bridge is a village on the boundary of Inverness-shire with Morayshire, the two shires separated by the bridge over the River Dulnain, which has stood over this river for centuries. The village is in Strathspey, next to the meeting of the River Dulnain and the River Spey, three miles south-west of Grantown-on-Spey.

History

The bridge here from which the village was named was swept away in a flood in 1829, but was re-built. The population is estimated at less than two hundred, and the surrounding area is popular with tourists, as it is surrounded by mountains.

The village lies near to the A95, in the Cairngorms National Park. The village comprises two communities:

• Dulnain Bridge itself is centred to the north of the bridge, and this particular part of the village lies in Morayshire.
• Skye-of-Curr is a crofting community which stretches for a mile to the south, and this is in Inverness-shire.

About the village

The Village Hall and Church in Dulnain Bridge

There are two hotels here, Tigh-na-Sgaith and the Muckrach Country House Hotel and Restaurant.

The village hall and church are on the main road in Dulnain Bridge, next to the village shop and garage. On the other side of the main road is the river, with Dulnain Bridge over it. On the other side of the bridge is a park and children's playground.

There are several golf courses in the area around Dulnain Bridge, including the Boat of Garten course.

Antiquated Farm Machinery Project

In the north of the village and next to the roches moutonnees, is the display of farm machinery, set up by the Dulnain Bridge and Vicinity Community Council. It features farming machinery that has been used for decades in the fields around the Dulnain Bridge area.

The council describe it as a 'collection of implements from a bygone age' and the machinery is donated by local residents. Moray, Badenoch and Straphypey Enterprise assisted the creation of the project.

Strathspey Railway

Dulnain Bridge is the current terminus of the famous Strathspey Railway, a steam train that runs to Broomhill (Dulnain Bridge) through part of the Highlands from Aviemore and a whole trip takes around an hour and a half, and is run primarily by volunteers. The society has plans to extend the railway beyond Broomhill to Grantown on Spey, another 4 miles north, and so to provide a service for locals as well as tourists.

Historical attractions

Roches Moutonnees

There are Pictish carved stones nearby and two Stone Age coffins were found in the 1880s in a burial cairn in Curr Wood.

At the north end of the village sit a display of glaciated rocks called the roche moutonnées, left from the age when glaciers carved the landscape, grinding down and shaping, smoothing the rock, left exposed after the glaciers retreated. Locally these rocks are a mixture of boulder and clay in other areas.

'Brigadoon' Protest in 2007

Entering Dulnain Bridge

The Dulnain Bridge

In 2007, nearly two hundred people from Dulnain Bridge and more from the surrounding area gathered to watch or take part in a protest march from the Dulnain Bridge village hall, across the bridge and through much of the village, before returning to the village hall. The protest took place on 5 July 2007.

The march was the result of a number of villagers' concerns about Dulnain Bridge's absence on official tourist literature and maps. The village was compared to fictional village Brigadoon, a story about a village that appears just once every one hundred years. Organisers of the march spoke of how they thought Dulnain Bridge disappears from people's minds. The march was to raise awareness of the village.

The march was the start of a campaign to get Dulnain Bridge 'on the map'. "The problem for residents is that, like the mythical village of Brigadoon, Dulnain Bridge keeps disappearing from the map," opined one resident. Villagers were disappointed by the village's absence from the map of the Outsider Festival that took place in the Highlands.

Wildlife

The surrounding forests of Caledonian pines contain many rare species, including birds such as the endangered capercaillie and the main population of twinflower - Linnaea borealis is found in Curr Wood on the southern side of the village. There are Scottish crossbills, crested tits, buzzards, golden eagles and, most famously in the Dulnain Bridge area, ospreys. Red squirrels also live in the woods.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Dulnain Bridge)

• Dulnain Bridge
• Auchendean Lodge B&B and Self Catering Flat
• Muckrach Lodge Hotel and Restaurant