Balnain

Balnain
A view of Balnain in 1999
Balnain  Balnain shown within the Inverness area
Population	300 (1991) estimated
OS grid reference	NH433305
Council area	Highland
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Postcode district	IV63 6
Police	Scottish
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
List of places UK Scotland

Coordinates: 57°20′11″N 4°35′11″W / 57.336476°N 4.586312°W / 57.336476; -4.586312

Balnain is a small village in Glenurquhart, Scotland, about 5 miles west of Drumnadrochit. 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.

Overview

The River Enrick runs past the village and through to Loch Meiklie.^[1][2][3] The village also has a primary school.^{[4][5][6][7][8][8][9][10]}

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.^[11]

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.^[12]

Public house

The nearby pub is called "The Steading".^[13][14][15]

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.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}

Primary school

It is a non-denominational,^[26] mixed sex school,^[26] with (as of 2012) 37 pupils.^[26] This was reduced to 35 pupils in 2013.^[27]

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.^[4][28][29]

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.^[30]

Years	Trousers and skirt	Shirt and blouse	Jumper	Head gear
2012 and later	Either grey trousers, pinafores or skirts	White or red polo shirt, or a white shirt	Red Balnain School sweatshirt	Non.[30]
2009 - 2012	Either navy, grey or black skirts and trousers	non	Red Balnain School sweatshirt	Non.[31][32][33][34]
2008	Either navy, grey or black skirts and trousers	White shirt (optional for boys) or non for girls	Red Balnain School sweatshirt	Non.[10]
2007	Either grey or shorts for boys or trousers for both genders	White polo-shirt for girls and a grey shirt or red polo-shirt for boys	Red Balnain School sweatshirt	Non.[35]
Early-mid 2000s	Either navy, grey or black skirts, trousers or jog pants	White polo shirt or blouse	Red Balnain School sweatshirt	Non.
Mid-late 1990s	Brown trousers, jog pants or skirt	Yellow polo shirt	Yellow Balnain School sweatshirt	A yellow baseball cap.
Early 1990s	Either navy, grey or black skirts and jog pants	White polo shirt or blouse	Red Balnain School sweatshirt	Non.
Pre-1990s	Either navy, grey or black skirts and trousers	White shirt or blouse	Red jumper	Non.

There are regular after-school activities and it caters for pupils between the ages of 5 to 12.^{[4][32][33][34]} In 2012, the top age was cut from 12 to 11.^[26]

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.^{[4][32][33][34]} Ms Stephanie Wood took over by ^[27]

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.^[36] 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,^[21][37][38] but walkers can still enjoy the scenery.^[39]

Imagery

• 

  A picture of the forests above Balnain in 1999.^[1]

• 

  A picture of Balnain in 1996.

• 

  4 images of Balnain Village in 1998. The local loch is top right.

• 

  4 images of Balnain Village in 1998.

• 

  A picture Balnain in 1998. The Shelter by the workmen is the new 1990s bus shelter and the white concrete shelter behind the van is the old 1970s bus shelter.

• 

  A picture of Balnain in the winter 1995.

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Forestry.gov.uk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balnain.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lochletter, Highland.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Strathnacrow, Highland.

See also

• Inverness
• Charles Kennedy MP
• Simon Fraser of Balnain
• Balbeg
• Corrimony
• Altnaharra

References

External links

• Tripadvisor.co.uk
• Balnain.2day.ws
• Geo.ed.ac.uk
• Scotlandbandbs.co.uk
• Hmie.gov.uk