Boat of Garten (; originally: Garten) is a small village and

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

Badenoch and Strathspey Badenoch and Strathspey was a Districts of Scotland, local government district, created in 1975 as one of eight districts within the Highland (region), Highland region in Scotland. The district was abolished in 1996 when Highland was made a s ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In 1951, the population was less than 400; in 1971, it was almost 500; in 1981, it was almost 700, and the same in 2001.

Toponymy

Boat of Garten is also known informally as "Osprey village", due to the significant population of

Osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

s in the area.

Etymology

The current name of the settlement, Boat of Garten, refers to the nearby site of the old ferry over the

River Spey The River Spey () is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom and the third longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is an important location for the traditions of salmon fishing an ...

. However, Pont's map of 1600 and Roy's map of 1750 named the location simply "Garten".

Geography and Transportation

Boat of Garten is located between

Aviemore Aviemore (; ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popular for skiing and ...

and

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey () is a town in the Highland Council Area, Counties of Scotland, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorms, Cairngorm mounta ...

. It lies northeast of Aviemore, just north of Auchgourish and east of Kinveachy. Grantown is away. Loch Garten lies to the southeast of the village. To the east of the village is the small settlement of Drumuillie. Situated at an elevation of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

, it lies from the River Spey in the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park () is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of National parks of Scotland, two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National ...

. Being close to the

Cairngorm Mountains The Cairngorms () are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park (the Cairngorms National Park) on 1 September 2003. Althou ...

. it is in view of the Lairig Ghru and the northern

Braeriach Braeriach or Brae Riach (, 'the brindled upland') is the third-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui, rising above sea level. It is in the Scottish Highlands and is the highest point in t ...

corries. The area between Boat of Garten and Loch Garten is within

Abernethy Forest Abernethy Forest is a remnant of the Caledonian Forest in Strathspey, Scotland, Strathspey, in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. It lies within the Cairngorms National Park, close to the villages of Nethy Bridge, Bo ...

National Nature Reserve, Boat of Garten being on the forest fringe. Boat of Garten is also an intermediate station between Aviemore and Broomhill on the Strathspey Railway, originally part of the Great North of Scotland Railway, now run by the Strathspey Railway Company.

Flora and fauna

Alyssum alyssoides ''Alyssum alyssoides'' is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by several common names, including pale madwort and yellow alyssum. It is native to Eurasia, but it can be found throughout much of the temperate world as an intr ...

'', '' Cerastium arvense'', ''

Vaccinium vitis-idaea ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is known colloquially as the lingonberry, partridgeberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry, or cowberry. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throug ...

'' and '' Koeleria macrantha'' are found in the village, as are ''

Juniperus communis ''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the coo ...

'', ''

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ''Arctostaphylos uva-ursi'' is a plant species of the genus ''Arctostaphylos'' widely distributed across circumboreal regions of the subarctic Northern Hemisphere. Kinnikinnick (from the Unami language for "smoking mixture") is a common name in ...

'', ''

Empetrum nigrum ''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, mossberry, or, in western Alaska, Labrador, etc., blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. Desc ...

'' and '' Ptilium crista-castrensis''. Rare fungi include '' Amanita virosa'', '' Leucocortinarius bulbiger'', '' Pholiota spumosa'', ''

Tapinella atrotomentosa ''Tapinella atrotomentosa'', commonly known as the velvet roll-rim or velvet-footed tap, is a species of fungus in the family Tapinellaceae. Although it has gills, it is a member of the pored mushroom order Boletales. August Batsch described ...

'', '' Cantharellula umbonata'', '' Sarcodon imbricatus'', '' Dentipellis fragilis'' and '' Hydnellum scrobiculatum''. Boat of Garten has also significant population of

Landmarks

St Columba's Church was built in the summer of 1900, at a cost of £820, and the church hall was added in 1934. The village is also renowned for the nearby

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

reserve at Loch Garten, well known for ospreys. It is approximately to the east. The village features a golf course, originally designed by James Braid. Built in 1898, it was expanded in 1931. It has been ranked as one of the top 35 courses in Scotland. The Community Company created a garden in 2002 and in 2013 two sculptures and an information hub commissioned by the community were installed in the Station Square, adjacent to the Community Garden. The remains of a medieval

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

known as Tom Pitlac (or the hill of Bigla or Matilda) is located to the east of the village, adjacent to Drumuillie. It is a scheduled ancient monument, and is believed to date from the 12th or 13th century, with a historic link in the 15th century to Bigla, a daughter of Gilbert Cumin, Lord of Glenchearnach. Associated with the castle, to the south of Drumuillie was the Spey 'Miracle Stone', which commemorated a local legend in which the Spey river waters supposedly divided to allow a funeral to proceed to nearby

Duthil Duthil () is a small village, bypassed by the A938 road, at the junction with the road B9007, near Carrbridge in Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high el ...

. The commemoration stone was said to have been erected as a result of the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of Sc ...

. It was inscribed by one William Grant, and was erected in 1865 in memory of the wife of Patrick Grant. But as it was associated with scandal, the district residents destroyed it and threw it into the river.Reid, p. 70 File:St Columba's Church and War Memorial, Boat of Garten.jpg, St Columba's Church and War Memorial File:Deshar Road, Boat of Garten - geograph.org.uk - 244400.jpg, Deshar Road, Boat of Garten

References

External links

Boat of Garten Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Of Garten Populated places in Badenoch and Strathspey