Speyside Railway and River Spey - geograph

Strathspey (, ) is a region of the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

comprising part of the valley of the Spey. It includes the towns of

Aviemore Aviemore (; ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popular for skiing and ...

, Boat of Garten,

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey () is a town in the Highland Council Area, Counties of Scotland, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorms, Cairngorm mounta ...

, and

Aberlour Aberlour () is a village in Moray, Scotland, south of Elgin, Moray, Elgin on the road to Grantown-on-Spey, Grantown. The Lour Burn (landform), burn is a tributary of the River Spey, and it and the surrounding parish are both named Aberlour, bu ...

. Strathspey, as traditionally defined, stretches from Upper Craigellachie (near Aviemore) to Lower Craigellachie (near the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

of the same name). Above it is

Badenoch Badenoch (; ) is a district of the Scottish Highlands centred on the upper reaches of the River Spey, above Strathspey. The name Badenoch means the drowned land, with most of the population living close to the River Spey or its tributaries ...

and below it is the low-lying region of Speyside. The region is administratively divided between

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

and the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

council area. Speyside is one of the main centres of the Scotch

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

industry, with a high concentration of single malt distilleries in the region, including the Glenfiddich and Balvenie distilleries. Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail is a tourism initiative featuring seven working Speyside distilleries, a historic distillery and the Speyside Cooperage. The concept was created in the early 1980s. The region is a natural for whisky distillers because of three benefits: it is close to barley farms, contains the River Spey and is close to the port of Garmouth. The region also hosts the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.

Twin towns

, the capital of Strathspey, is twinned with Notre-Dame-de-Monts,

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.Touques, Calvados, France

Notable residents

* John Robert Grant (1729–1790), a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

officer during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and refugee settler in Summerville, Nova Scotia. * Fr. Allan MacDonald (1859-1905), a

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' re ...

and highly important figure in modern

Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literary works composed in the Scottish Gaelic language, which is, like Irish and Manx, a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Gaelic literature was also composed in Gàidhealtachd communities ...

, had family roots in Strathspey. * Iain Ruadh Stiùbhart (1700–1752), Jacobite Army officer and

war poet War poetry is poetry on the topic of war. While the term is applied especially to works of the First World War, the term can be applied to poetry about any war, including Homer's ''Iliad'', from around the 8th century BC as well as poetry of th ...

during the rising of 1745.

References

Glens of Scotland Badenoch and Strathspey Moray Landforms of Moray Valleys of Highland (council area) {{Highland-geo-stub

Twin towns

Notable residents

See also

References