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Helmsdale (Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic languages branch of Celtic languages. This branch also includes the Irish language and Manx language languages....
 Bun Ilidh) is a village
Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
 on the east coast of Sutherland
Sutherland

Sutherland is a registration county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and historic administrative Counties of Scotland of Scotland. It is now within the Highland Council areas of Scotland....
, in the Highland
Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east....
 region of Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. Settled by the Norse
Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language. The meaning of Norseman was "people from the North" and was applied primarily to Nordic people originating from southern and central Scandinavia....
, and once the site of an impressive medieval castle, the modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding strath
Strath

For Strathcona, see Strathcona.A strath is a large valley, typically a river valley that is wide and shallow .An anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic language word srath, it is one of many that are have been absorbed into common use in the English_language language....
s as part of the Highland Clearances
Highland Clearances

The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands between the 18th. and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the coast, the Scottish Lowlands and abroad....
. A fishing port, it lies at the estuary
Estuary

An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
 of the River Helmsdale and was once the home of one of the largest herring
Herring

Herring are small, oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Baltic Sea....
 fleets in Europe.






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Helmsdale (Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic languages branch of Celtic languages. This branch also includes the Irish language and Manx language languages....
 Bun Ilidh) is a village
Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
 on the east coast of Sutherland
Sutherland

Sutherland is a registration county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and historic administrative Counties of Scotland of Scotland. It is now within the Highland Council areas of Scotland....
, in the Highland
Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east....
 region of Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. Settled by the Norse
Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language. The meaning of Norseman was "people from the North" and was applied primarily to Nordic people originating from southern and central Scandinavia....
, and once the site of an impressive medieval castle, the modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding strath
Strath

For Strathcona, see Strathcona.A strath is a large valley, typically a river valley that is wide and shallow .An anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic language word srath, it is one of many that are have been absorbed into common use in the English_language language....
s as part of the Highland Clearances
Highland Clearances

The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands between the 18th. and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the coast, the Scottish Lowlands and abroad....
. A fishing port, it lies at the estuary
Estuary

An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
 of the River Helmsdale and was once the home of one of the largest herring
Herring

Herring are small, oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Baltic Sea....
 fleets in Europe. The main river itself is well known for its fishing.

Helmsdale is on the A9 road, at a junction with the A897
A897 road

The A897 single track road is entirely within the Highland Council areas of Scotland of Scotland. It runs generally north from the A99 road at Helmsdale to the A836 road near Halladale Bridge, east of Melvich....
. It has a railway station
Helmsdale railway station

Helmsdale railway station is a railway station serving the village of Helmsdale in the Highland Council areas of Scotland, northern Scotland. It is located on the Far North Line....
 on the Far North Line
Far North Line

The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick, Highland....
, an independent youth hostel, a heritage centre
Heritage centre

A heritage centre is a museum facility primarily dedicated to the presentation of history and cultural information about a place and its people, including, to some degree, nature....
, an art gallery
Art gallery

An art gallery or art museum is a space for the art exhibition, usually visual art. Paintings are the most commonly displayed art objects; however, sculpture, photographs, illustrations, installation art and objects from the applied arts may also be shown....
, and an inn
Inn

Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging and, usually, food and drink. They are typically located in the country or along a highway....
. It is home to Bunillidh Thistle F.C.
Bunillidh Thistle F.C.

Bunillidh Thistle Football Club is a Scotland association football club from Helmsdale. They compete in the North Caledonian Football League and play at Couper Park....
 and Helmsdale United.

History

Helmsdale castle, of which there are no modern remains, was the location of the murder of the 11th Earl_of_Sutherland in 1567.

The last force-fire
Force-fire

The force-fire , or a fire produced by friction, was used in folk magic practice in the Scottish Highlands up until the 19th century. Believers considered it an antidote against witchcraft, as well as the pandemic, murrain and all infectious diseases among cattle....
 in Helmsdale was about 1818.

Gold rush


Two tributaries of the river experienced a gold rush
Gold rush

A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers into the area of a dramatic discovery of commercial quantities of gold.Eight gold rushes took place throughout the 19th century in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States....
 in 1869. The history of Kildonan's gold started in 1818, when a single nugget of gold was found near the Suisgill and Kildonan burns. Scotland ensured its place in the history books late in 1868, when a brief announcement in a local newspaper stated that gold had been discovered at Kildonan in the county of Sutherland. The credit for the discovery goes to Robert Nelson Gilchrist, a native of Kildonan, who had spent 17 years in the goldfields of Australia. On his return home, he was given the permission by the Duke of Sutherland to pan the gravels of the Helmsdale River and he prospected all the burns and tributaries.

During World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts....
 built Loth Chain Home
Chain Home

Chain Home was the codename for the ring of coastal radar stations built by the British before and during World War II. The system comprised two types of radar....
 radar
Radar

Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic radiation waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain....
 station at Crakaig a few miles South West of Helmsdale. There was also an RAF Chain Home Low radar station Navidale about a mile North East of Helmsdale. During the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
 there was a Composite Signals Organisation radio monitoring station in Helmsdale itself, the CSO is associated with GCHQ
Government Communications Headquarters

The Government Communications Headquarters is a United Kingdom intelligence agency responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance to the Her Majesty's Government and British Armed Forces as required, under the guidance of the Joint Intelligence Committee ....
.

New Developments

The Highlands and Islands Council announced on the 3rd of August 2008 plans to modernise and catalyse industry in Helmsdale and its surrounding areas, this included a £3.5 million re-vamp of the harbour and the development of two battery processing factories. Work on the harbour is set to begin in Spring 2009 while the battery plants are expected to open before May 2009. It is hoped up to 50 new jobs will be created.

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