Achnasheen (

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

''Achadh na Sìne'') is a small village in

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

council area of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The village is situated on the River Bran at the junction of two roads built by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

, the A832 and the A890. Despite the size of the village, Achnasheen is also the name of a postal district which covers several much larger communities including Kinlochewe, Poolewe and Laide. This dates from the time when the village railway station, built in 1870, was an important stop on the Kyle of Lochalsh Line, serving a large area of Wester Ross. The railway still operates but all freight and mail, and most passengers, now travel by road. In 1893, a scheme was considered to build a railway from Achnasheen to Aultbea, but it was soon dropped. Between 1961 and 1991, the village was the location of a

Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December ...

monitoring bunker, to be used in the event of a nuclear attack. It remains mostly intact.

Facilities

Facilities in the village are limited. The Ledgowan Lodge Hotel is a mile west of the village, but the Achnasheen Hotel (by the railway station) burnt down in the early 1990s and has never been rebuilt. There are a couple of small cafes in the community. There is also a regular train service, with the station in the centre of the community. At the train station car park there are public toilets and an electric car charging point. There used to be a school in Achnasheen, but the last pupil attended in 2004. By 2010, with no children in the area, the school was formally mothballed. Children in the former Achnasheen catchment area, until 2022, attended Kinlochewe school. But, when the school roll at Kinlochewe fell to one, children from both the Achnasheen and Kinlochewe area now attend Gairloch Primary. The secondary school catchment is also at

Gairloch High School Gairloch High School (Gaelic: ''Ard-Sgoil Ghearrloch'') is a six-year secondary school in Gairloch, Scotland. Being situated in a remote area of the Highlands, it serves a large catchment area, with over 70% many of the pupils relying on school ...

. Within the village hall, the post office service has a weekly service to the community.

Cultural references

Symphonic power metal band

Gloryhammer Gloryhammer (often stylized in all capital letters as GLORYHAMMER) is a British power metal band founded by keyboardist Christopher Bowes, lead vocalist of the band Alestorm. Each member of the band represents a character in the story concept. ...

mentioned the 'valley of Achnasheen' and the 'seas of Achnasheen' in their 2019 songs "The Land of Unicorns" and "Hootsforce" respectively.

References

External links

Populated places in Ross and Cromarty {{Highland-geo-stub