Carrbridge ( sco, Carrbrig, gd, Drochaid Chàrr) is a village in

Badenoch and Strathspey Badenoch and Strathspey is a former district of Highland region, Scotland. The district was created under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as one of the eight districts of the Highland region. The same legislation abolished countie ...

in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

. It lies off the A9 on the A938, west of Skye of Curr and southeast of

Tomatin Tomatin ( gd, Tom Aitinn) is a small village on the River Findhorn in Strathdearn in the Scottish Highlands, about southeast of the city of Inverness. The name derives from the Scottish Gaelic name ''Tom Aitinn'' (hill of juniper). The river Fi ...

, near Bogroy. It has the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands and the nearby ancient pine forest contains the Landmark Forest Adventure Park.

Geography

Carrbridge is about north of

Aviemore Aviemore (; gd, An Aghaidh Mhòr ) 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 po ...

and forms a gateway to the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park ( gd, Pàirc Nàiseanta a' Mhonaidh Ruaidh) is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Tros ...

. It was an early centre for

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

in Scotland. In the 2001 census the village had a population of 708 people, with the majority employed in

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. Until the construction of a bypass in the 1980s, the A9 ran straight through the village. Carrbridge is served by Carrbridge railway station on the Highland Main Line. Local debate still rages regarding the name Carrbridge itself, with some preferring to see it hyphenated to ''Carr-bridge''. The word "Carr" has nothing to do with motorised transport but is derived from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

word for ''boggy area''.

Attractions

Carrbridge's most famous landmark is the old

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low parapets so ...

, from which the village is named. The bridge, built in 1717, is the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands. It was severely damaged in the " muckle spate" of 1829 which left it in the condition seen today. In 1847 someone wrote to the '' Inverness Courier'' giving it as an example of one of the "all but deserted ridges of whichthe most useful and picturesque ought to be preserved". It is now unstable and is recommended only to be viewed from afar. Jumping off the bridge into the River Dulnain below had long been a popular pastime for younger locals and the more adventurous tourists. Landmark Forest Adventure Park is set in an ancient pine forest at the south end of the village. It has a variety of attractions, including a wild water coaster, steam powered saw mill and the UK's first nature trail, Treetop Trail. There has been a

Boys' Brigade The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values. Following its inception ...

campsite in the village for many years. Duthil Old Parish Church and Churchyard, located nearby, includes many graves and memorials of

Clan Grant Clan Grant is a Highland Scottish clan. History Origins One theory is that the ancestors of the chiefs of Clan Grant came to Scotland with the Normans to England where the name is found soon after the conquest of that country, although some ...

Events

The village plays host to two popular annual competitions: The ''Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship'' and the ''"Carve Carrbridge" Scottish Open Chainsaw Carving Competition''. Both contests offer keen but friendly competition, drawing entrants and spectators from all over the world. Throughout the year, many events are held by Carrbridge Community Arts, a dynamic and innovative local community group, which include Music, Art, Theatre, Celebrations and Festivals.

In the news

In 2009 the village took on the BBC claiming that the Corporation constantly got the weather wrong which was putting off tourists. Local businesses claimed that BBC weather reports on television and on their website constantly reported rain despite there being no rain whatsoever. Locals stated that the BBC generalised the weather to "rain in Scotland". Carrbridge became a minor celebrity with the story appearing on national news networks and the quiz show Have I Got News for You.

Sport

The village has its own

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team, Carrbridge FC which plays in the Strathspey & Badenoch Welfare FA League and in local cup competitions. They won the League in 1986 and 2008, but were unable to field a team in 2009 & 2010. Their home ground is in the centre of the village (next to the main car park) and their home colours are black & white vertical stripes. Golfers are catered for with a challenging 9-hole golf course. The village also has a pony trekking centre and a bowling green.

Wildlife

The surrounding area is popular destination for bird and wildlife watchers. The local pine forests are home to

crossbill The crossbill is a genus, ''Loxia'', of birds in the finch family (Fringillidae), with six species. These birds are characterised by the mandibles with crossed tips, which gives the group its English name. Adult males tend to be red or orange in ...

crested tit The crested tit or European crested tit (''Lophophanes cristatus'') (formerly ''Parus cristatus''), is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in coniferous forests throughout central and north ...

red squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbe ...

s and deer. Nearby areas provide summer habitats for

common snipe The common snipe (''Gallinago gallinago'') is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. The breeding habitats are marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout the Palearctic. In the north, the distribution limit extends from Iceland ov ...

, greenshanks, Eurasian oystercatchers,

northern lapwing The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tew-it, green plover, or (in Ireland and Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Eurosiberia ...

s and others. On the nature trail in Landmark Forest Adventure Park, there is a special feeding area that attracts pine wood birds and the

- endangered in most of the country due to competition from the introduced grey squirrel. Around the area, there are rarely seen

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird ...

s on the mountains and

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey bac ...

s are more common.

Osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

s fly to their summer home in Loch Garten and

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of ...

are commonly seen.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Badenoch and Strathspey