Clashnessie

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Clashnessie Bay and de-crofted house

Clashnessie is a small crofting community on the North-West coast of Scotland; specifically in the Assynt area of Sutherland.

The township (the old Scottish term for a crofting village) is scattered around the sandy beach of Clashnessie Bay and derives its name from the Gaelic 'clais en easaidh' meaning glen (clais) of the (na) waterfall (easaidh), referring to the waterfall at the head of the shallow glen in which most of the houses stand. Although 100 miles north of Inverness, the village's micro-climate is generally mild, due to the closeness to the Atlantic Ocean Gulf Stream.

Today Clashnessie has just fourteen houses distributed widely over roughly a square mile area. Three of these houses, however, are of recent construction, indicating a reverse in the decline the area had previously experienced because of its extreme remoteness in part of what has been called 'Europe's last great wilderness'.

In 2006 its oldest inhabitant was 93 year-old Alistair McLeod, who was born in the village, although he worked away for some years. He remembers that in his youth there were up to thirty houses and families in Clashnessie. Photographs of early twentieth century Clashnessie in the local tourist centre show many single storey houses constructed of stone, with turf roofs. Most of these houses have now disappeared, including a typical Clashnessie black house in which, Alistair McLeod recalls, both people and beasts entered the one door; the people turning left into the one-room living quarters and the beasts turning right into the byre. However he remembers that the place was always spotless, with new paper on the walls every year.

The current small-scale revival in the number of Clashnessie residents is largely due to the appeal of its natural beauty and quiet seaside location. Whilst these features appeal to people of every age, the difficulties of schooling young children and maintaining a job mean that younger families find the remote location problematic. Recent incomers therefore tend to be retirees and those seeking an escape from city life, both from Central Scotland or even further afield, in one case as far as Swaziland. Only six of the fourteen houses are permanent homes, the rest being second or holiday homes.

Residents who croft will typically combine a variety of activities such as running sheep and cattle on their own land together with driving the local school bus and providing practical support for the local tourism industry. With the arrival of broadband in the village cyber-crofting has recently become more feasible, adding to the long-term viability of the township.

Through the continuity provided by its permanent, all-year-round residents Clashnessie retains a strong sense of community and is said to exert a lasting tug on the hearts of those who visit.