Achness Water Falls on the River Cassley - geograph

Achness Falls, also known as the Achness Waterfall or Cassley Falls, is a waterfall located on the

River Cassley River Cassley - geograph

The River Cassley ( ...

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire ( ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, near

Rosehall Rosehall is a remote hamlet in the Parish of Creich near the confluence of the River Cassley and the River Oykel, 1 mile northwest of Altass, in Sutherland, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland Highlands or upl ...

and Invercassley. Its name is derived from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

''Ach-an-eas'', the "field of the waterfall". The falls descend a narrow gorge with the upper fall being a drop. The lower fall is a thin broken sheet of water down about of rock and when in spate this becomes a torrent which has several pools providing a means for salmon to ascend. The location is the

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

and best-studied area of the Achness Thrust, a

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...

which dips 40 to 50° to the south at the falls. Present nearby are the ruins of a broch and a more modern chapel. By the side of the river is an old cemetery and there are woodland walks. Atlantic salmon fishing on the River Cassley has a long history. Achness Falls is a temporary barrier to the fish each spring; they do not advance beyond it until the water warms above . In the late 19th century, plans to destroy the waterfall to improve the

salmon run ''Salmon Run'' is a 1982 video game for the Atari 8-bit family created by Bill Williams and distributed via the Atari Program Exchange. ''Salmon Run'' was the first game in Williams's career, followed by a string of successes noted for their ...

were considered.

References

Bibliography

* * Landforms of Highland (council area) {{Scotland-geo-stub