The landscape around Nethy Bridge convinces me that I am in the far north of Scotland. Of course, this is sentimental nonsense: compared to True North, this is a mild glacial valley. But walking through the woods with my host, even I can spot the path of the glacier that carved out the plateau.
The focus of the settlement lies where the river Nethy empties onto the haughlands beside the Spey but clusters of houses are widely scattered along the valleys of the Allt Mhór, Dorback and Nethy and in the forest between.
What surprises me are the fragments of information that deny my assumption that I am standing in an ancient forest. If I was alert to the width of the trees, I would probably have noticed this already. In the river, a single rotting plank marks the former location of a mill. The straight lines of the trees is another clue. Less than a century ago, this area was more like a factory, a production line, than the shining example of wilderness my urban mind believed it to be.
The impact of glacial erosion is less obvious here than further up Strathspey but large volumes of
meltwater debris cover the ground and were the river Nethy cuts through this the terraces are enormous. The lowest of these is wisely avoided by habitations in recognition of folk memories of inundation by the Muckle Spate that damaged the Thomas Telford’s bridge in 1829 and drowned The Dell.
The past shapes the present inhabitation of the area. The advantages of watered soil are balanced against the problems of flooding. They used the river to send the cut wood down to the central belt. The river would be flooded, after a fashion, on purpose.
The Dell forms a natural corridor through the settlement. A path meanders along the river bank amongst alder, willow and hazel. The river is used by dippers and is a very attractive natural feature in the core of the settlement. Higher up the slopes of the river, there are pine, birch and juniper, with some fine veteran trees growing amongst the houses that line either side of the Nethy. These large garden trees provide habitat for tawny owls, tits and finches, and bats. Woodcock are a common sight over the houses here at dusk in spring and summer, as they fly out and back to the woods on ‘roding’ display flights.
I am unable to identify any of the varieties of wood... I peek into back gardens to look for the veteran trees. I heard an owl last night. I was pleased with myself for not mistaking it for a ghost. Far enough in, and I am slightly lost...
Densely wooded slopes and small areas of pasture back the settlement, merging into the extensive pine woodlands that cover the slopes and lower hills of the braes of Abernethy. The vicinity to the forest means that pinewood wildlife are often seen within the village; red squirrel, crested tit, great spotted woodpecker and crossbills.
The past shapes the present inhabitation of the area. The advantages of watered soil are balanced against the problems of flooding. They used the river to send the cut wood down to the central belt. The river would be flooded, after a fashion, on purpose.
The Dell forms a natural corridor through the settlement. A path meanders along the river bank amongst alder, willow and hazel. The river is used by dippers and is a very attractive natural feature in the core of the settlement. Higher up the slopes of the river, there are pine, birch and juniper, with some fine veteran trees growing amongst the houses that line either side of the Nethy. These large garden trees provide habitat for tawny owls, tits and finches, and bats. Woodcock are a common sight over the houses here at dusk in spring and summer, as they fly out and back to the woods on ‘roding’ display flights.
I am unable to identify any of the varieties of wood... I peek into back gardens to look for the veteran trees. I heard an owl last night. I was pleased with myself for not mistaking it for a ghost. Far enough in, and I am slightly lost...
Densely wooded slopes and small areas of pasture back the settlement, merging into the extensive pine woodlands that cover the slopes and lower hills of the braes of Abernethy. The vicinity to the forest means that pinewood wildlife are often seen within the village; red squirrel, crested tit, great spotted woodpecker and crossbills.
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