Country Scotland Post town Nethy Bridge Police Scottish Local time Friday 6:48 PM Council area Highland Scottish parliament Inverness and Nairn | Sovereign state United Kingdom Postcode district PH25 Fire Scottish Dialling code 01479 Lieutenancy area Highland | |
 | ||
Weather 7°C, Wind SW at 5 km/h, 64% Humidity UK parliament constituency Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey | ||
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.
Contents
Map of Nethy Bridge, UK
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. 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, 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. 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, Abernethy Forest, Abernethy Primary School etc.
Community and tourism
In 2001 the population of Nethy Bridge was 498, this is likely to be higher now due to housing developments.
Nethy Bridge was one of the first communities in the area to establish a tourist association website. The site won an award in 2006. 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. The Nethy Bridge Tourist Association 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.