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The Beauly River

The Beauly has always been important to the village. It was undoubtedly a key route for the earliest Scots when travelling in the days when journeys on land were much slower than by water. It was also a valuable source of food with abundant salmon and eels. It's hard to believe now but Beauly used to have its own harbour where sailing ships would take cargoes of wool through the Moray Firth, across the North Sea to the Low Countries.

Today the river continues to be important - as a source of power. In the 1950s a large hydro electric scheme was built upstream. Rising in the mountains surrounding Glen Afric and Glen Cannich, flowing through enlarged lochs and miles of tunnel, the river passes through several turbines before reaching the Beauly Firth.

Nowadays the river is home to a wide variety of wildlife including seals, otters, herons and even an occasional osprey.

Enjoy the tranquility as you walk along Riverside Drive towards Beauly Priory.

A stroll around Beauly with the Downright Gabbler
  1. A place to relax, eat and shop
  2. Ferry Road, Lovat memorial Garden and traditional estate cottages
  3. The Beauly River
  4. Beauly Priory
  5. The Square
  6. Mid Street, King Street and Fraser Street
  7. Crofting and the coming of the railway
  8. Cnoc-Na-Rath and the magnificent game of shinty
  9. Station Road, the Phipps Hall and The Lovat Estate Office
  10. The Downright Gabbler