Helmsdale

..and the Sutherland Gold Rush

This attractive village sits snugly below Eldrable Hill at the foot of the Strath of Kildonan, with an uninterrupted view across the ocean to the distant lands of Moray and Aberdeenshire, its once busy Herring Port now home to a small fleet of inshore Prawn fishing boats.

Look for the heritage centre with life size displays and audiovisual presentations, its geological gardens overlooking the well known salmon fishing River Helmsdale, and visit the many shops and restaurants.

Nine miles up the Kildonan Strath is the site of the Great Sutherland Gold Rush of 1869, though today one has more chance of finding fossils and gemstones on the shoreline than gold in the hills. But testimony to the fact there is still gold to be found, modern day prospectors are spotted, panning the waters of Bal-an-Or, the burn of gold, waiting for that rush of excitement that may make them a millionaire!

The photo below is from the Johnston Collection, which were thought to be the only genuine photos of a Gold Rush.

The 27th popular Helmsdale and District Highland Games are to be held on Saturday 18th August 2007. (To be confirmed)

History refers to the Roman historian Tacitus, who said the people of the area were tall and redheaded, the men fighting bravely with long swords and round shields. St Ninian came here to preach about 390 AD at Navidale. Christianity came under attack as the Vikings began their raids into the north in the 9th century.

When the Vikings mixed with the local population, the Clan system evolved, giving a way of life that changed little from century to century, the Clan Chieftain having power of life and death over all men, yet regarded by his clansmen as both protector and father figure.

A cairn was erected at Gartymore on the croft of John Fraser, a leading light in the land reform movement, founding the first branches of the Sutherland Association, the parent of the Highland Land league. These men by their efforts succeeded in bringing about the first Crofting Reform Acts, ensuring security of Tenure for crofters, that they never again be treated by owners of the soil, as good for nothing.

To the northeast on the coast near Berriedale is Badbea Old Village, the village of birches, another scene of the results of the clearances. Established in the early 19th the people of inland Langwell were evicted to earn whatever living they could scrape from homes they were forced to erect, clinging to the cliff edges so as not to imoinge upon the valuable agricultural land needed for the grazing of the sheep that was more precious to the landlords that the people. The area proved so inhospitable that it caused many to leave for New Zealand. Children had to be on a tethered by rope in case they fell over the cliffs.

The families were self-supporting and every home had a spinning wheel, and a few head of cattle, a pig and being near the sea, an abundance of fish. They sold flails of birch, used for threshing corn crops, with smuggling a common occurrence and when warning of approaching excise men was given, men could be seen running in every direction, hiding sacks of corn malt in the rocks and hills.