Balnain

Overview

The River Enrick runs past the village and through to Loch Meiklie. The village also has a primary school.

Balnain is a small village 5 miles north of Glenurquhart, Scotland. It is mostly dependent on tourism, forestry and farming. The first buildings were created in the 1880s and minor expansions occurred in the 1900s and 1960s. The River Enrick runs past the village and through to Loch Meiklie. The local guest house was called Meiklie House, but is now Glenurquhart House.

History

Glenurquhart used to be part of the lands of the Grants of Glenmorison, with the lands of the Frasers to the north for most of its time. The Fraser family of Balnain, Scotland, supported Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Climate

The weather is pleasantly warm and sunny in the spring and summer, cool and fairly rainy in the autumn and very cold and snowy (with some blizzards) in the winter.

Economy

Tourism, agriculture and local farming.

Local amenities

Recreational areas and parks

Balnain-park is the well-equipped village play park.

Public house

The nearby pub is called "The Steading".

Post office

It closed circa 1998, when the owner retired.

Balnain bike park

The Forestry Commission's adventure bike park was opened in early 2009 and closed in May 2011.

Primary school

It is a non-denominational, mixed sex school, with (as of 2012) 37 pupils. This was reduced to 35 pupils in 2013.

The main school building was built in circa 1880. The school did well in its 2006 and 2008 Ofsted reports. The leaky roof was fixed in 2008 after an Ofsted report commented on it 2 years earlier.

The school uniform is a red Balnain School sweatshirt, with either grey trousers, pinafores or skirts and white or red polo shirt, or a white shirt.

There are regular after-school activities and it caters for pupils between the ages of 5 to 12. In 2012, the top age was cut from 12 to 11.

The opening hours are 09.00 to 15.00 on week days and the headmistress was Mrs M. L. Livingstone in 2010 and now 2011. Ms Stephanie Wood took over by In 2015, Miss Janis MacRae became Head but was shortly delayed after she broke her ankle.

Transport

There was an occasional weekday bus service to Inverness (as of 1990–2005), which is now only twice daily. The bus stop is on the junction between the A831 and School Road End. Road transport is often disrupted by harsh winter weather during December and January.

Near by satellite settlements

Near-by places include Strathnacrow, Balnaglack, Balbeg and Lochletter Cottages

Local attractions

The Forestry Commission closed the 2 year old Bike-park and general access to cross-country cyclists in 2011, but walkers can still enjoy the scenery.