Nethy Bridge

Coordinates: 57°15′48″N 3°39′17″W / 57.26335°N 3.65459°W / 57.26335; -3.65459

Nethy Bridge
Nethy Bridge  Nethy Bridge shown within the Badenoch and Strathspey area
Council area	Highland
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Nethy Bridge
Postcode district	PH25
Dialling code	01479
Police	Northern
Fire	Highlands and Islands
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Nethy Bridge (Scottish Gaelic: Cinn Drochaid or Drochaid Neithich) is a small village in Strathspey in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Abernethy and Kincardine. There is a community Facebook page where you can find out what is going on, just go to Facebook, Nethy Bridge, Community

History

Often affectionately referred to simply as "Nethy" the village has, since Victorian times been a tourist destination noted for its quiet and secluded location at the edge of the Abernethy Forest.^[1] It is situated in the heart of Strathspey in the Highlands of Scotland between Aviemore and Grantown.

A primary industry of Nethy Bridge was forestry,^[2] with at one time several sawmills in the area, but this has long since subsided, now much of the income is derived from tourism.

The name is derived from the River Nethy, a tributary of the nearby Spey, which runs through the village, and the arched bridge which was built in 1810, to a classic Telford design, and is in the heart of the village. It had to be repaired after the August 1829 Moray (N.E. Scotland) Flood when part of it was washed away.^[3] In total, there are 4 Telford bridges in Nethy.

Originally called Abernethy (Scottish Gaelic: Obar Neithich), Nethy Bridge was renamed when the railways came this far north in the 1860s. The Great North of Scotland Railway already had a village called Abernethy on its line further south, so renamed this one Nethy Bridge to differentiate the two. The place name Abernethy is still frequently used around here - Abernethy Highland Games,^[4] Abernethy Forest, Abernethy Primary School etc.

Community and tourism

There is a community Facebook page where you can find out what is going on, just go to Facebook, Nethy Bridge, Community

In 2001 the population of Nethy Bridge was 498,^[5] this is likely to be higher now due to housing developments.^{[citation needed]}

Nethy Bridge was one of the first communities in the area to establish a tourist association website.^[6] The site won an award in 2006.^{[citation needed]} A major part of the website is to record all properties with their individual history, and several village "elders" have been enlisted to research and record the facts.^[6] The Nethy Bridge Tourist Assn has launched a "Nethy's Going Greener" campaign to raise awareness of green issues locally, and also took the initiative to launch a periodic eNews letter to keep in touch with anyone interested in the village.

The village has a full range of accommodation from hotels to bed and breakfast, self catering establishments or hostels.

References

1. ^ Li, Martin (2005), Adventure Guide to Scotland, Hunter Publishing, Inc, p. 376, ISBN 9781588434067 
2. ^ "Anger as Peer fells ancient pine forest", New Scientist: 6, 8 March 1984, http://books.google.com/books?id=qcAt-iSl2q0C&pg=PA6 
3. ^ House of Commons papers, Volume 4, HMSO, 1831, p. 42, http://books.google.com/books?id=jDcSAAAAYAAJ 
4. ^ "Abernethy Highland Games official website". Abernethyhighlandgames.co.uk. http://abernethyhighlandgames.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 
5. ^ Population^{[dead link]}
6. ^ ^{a b} "Nethy Bridge Tourist Association". http://www.nethybridge.com/member/.