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Inverness
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Inverness is a city in northern Scotland. The city is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and it is promoted as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland. Inverness is unusual, however, in that although there are letters patent, dating from 2001 and now held in Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, the city has no statutory boundaries. According to Telegraph.co.uk 3 February 2008, Inverness is Europe's fastest growing city and is ranked fifth out of 189 British cities for its quality of life.
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Inverness is a city in northern Scotland. The city is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and it is promoted as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland. Inverness is unusual, however, in that although there are letters patent, dating from 2001 and now held in Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, the city has no statutory boundaries. According to Telegraph.co.uk 3 February 2008, Inverness is Europe's fastest growing city and is ranked fifth out of 189 British cities for its quality of life.
The city lies where the River Ness enters the Moray Firth and is a natural hub for various transport links. A settlement was established by sixth century AD, the first royal charter being granted in the thirteenth century. It lies near the site of the eighteenth century Battle of Culloden.
Because Inverness has no statutory boundaries, population figures vary from about 40,949 to 51,832 or more depending on what boundaries are used. Inverness is twinned with three other European cities. Inverness College is the hub campus for the UHI Millennium Institute. City status was granted in 2001.
Scottish Gaelic appears on the majority of road signs around Inverness, with around 3,555 people (5.47% of the population) speaking the language.
Toponymy
The name Inverness is Gaelic and means 'mouth of the river Ness'. See Aber and Inver as place-name elements. Since the town predates Gaelic settlement, it is likely the name is a Gaelic adaptation of an older form with Aber-. In the colonial period the name was given by expatriates to Inverness, Nova Scotia and other places.
History
Inverness was one of the chief strongholds of the Picts, and in AD 565 was visited by St Columba with the intention of converting the Pictish king Brude, who is supposed to have resided in the vitrified fort on Craig Phadrig (168 m), 2.4 km west of the city. A church or a monk's cell is thought to have been established by early Celtic monks on St Michael's Mount, a mound close to the river, now the site of the Old High Church and graveyard. The castle is said to have been built by Máel Coluim III (Malcolm III) of Scotland, after he had razed to the ground the castle in which Mac Bethad mac Findláich (Macbeth) had, according to much later tradition, murdered Máel Coluim's father Donnchad (Duncan I), and which stood on a hill around 1 km to the north-east.
Inverness had four traditional fairs, one of them being Legavrik (leth-gheamradh).
William the Lion (d. 1214) granted Inverness four charters, by one of which it was created a royal burgh. Of the Dominican friary founded by Alexander III in 1233, only one pillar and a worn knight's effigy survive in a secluded graveyard near the town centre. On his way to the Battle of Harlaw in 1411, Donald, Lord of the Isles, harried the city, and sixteen years later James I held a parliament in the castle to which the northern chieftains were summoned, of whom three were executed for asserting an independent sovereignty.
In 1562, during the progress undertaken to suppress Huntly's insurrection, Queen Mary was denied admittance into Inverness Castle by the governor, who belonged to the earl's faction, and whom she afterwards therefore caused to be hanged. The Clan Munro and Clan Fraser took the castle for her. The house in which she lived meanwhile stood in Bridge Street until the 1970s, when it was demolished to make way for the second Bridge Street development. The city's Marymass Fair, on the Saturday nearest August 15th, (a tradition revived in 1986) is said to commemorate Queen Mary as well as the Virgin Mary.
Beyond the then northern limits of the town, Oliver Cromwell built a citadel capable of accommodating 1000 men, but with the exception of a portion of the ramparts it was demolished at the Restoration. The only surviving modern remnant is a clock tower. In 1715 the Jacobites occupied the royal fortress as a barracks. In 1727 the government built the first Fort George here, but in 1746 it surrendered to the Jacobites and they blew it up.
Culloden Moor lies nearby, and was the site of the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which ended the Jacobite Rising of 1745-1746.
On September 7, 1921, the first UK Cabinet meeting to be held outside London took place in the Town House, when David Lloyd George, on holiday in Gairloch, called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Ireland. The Inverness Formula composed at this meeting was the basis of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Geography
Inverness lies at the mouth of the River Ness, and it is from this that the city derives its name: Inbhir Nis is Scots Gaelic for "mouth (or confluence) of the Ness". In nominal terms, the river mouth is at the southwestern and most inland extremity of the Moray Firth . The Beauly Firth may be seen, however, as a westward and more inland extension of the Moray Firth. Also, Inverness Firth has some currency as a name for the section of the Moray Firth between the mouth of the River Ness and the more eastward promontory of Fort George .
The river flows from nearby Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal and connects Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy.
Islands in the River Ness, the Bught and the river banks form a pleasant series of walks, as do the forested hills of Craig Phadraig and Craig Dunain. The city is well served with shops, as it is the main shopping centre for an area of nearly 26,000 km².
Health
Raigmore Hospital
Raigmore is the main hospital in Inverness and the entire Highland authority. The present hospital opened in 1970, replacing wartime wards dating from 1941. Raigmore is also a teaching hospital catering for both the Universities of Aberdeen and Stirling.
Economy
Employment
Most of the traditional industries such as distilling have been replaced by high-tech businesses, including the design and manufacture of diabetes diagnostic kits. Highlands and Islands Enterprise has partly funded the Centre for Health Science with a view to attracting more businesses in the medical and medical devices business to the area. Inverness is home to Scottish Natural Heritage following that body's relocation from Edinburgh under the auspices of the Scottish Government's decentralisation strategy. SNH provides a large number of jobs in the area.
City Centre
Inverness City Centre lies on the east bank of the river and is linked to the west side of the town by three road bridges (Ness Bridge, Friars Bridge and the Black (or Waterloo) Bridge) and by one of the town's suspension foot bridges, the Grieg Street Bridge. The traditional city centre was a triangle bounded by High Street, Church Street and Academy Street, within which Union Street and Queensgate are cross streets parallel to High Street. Between Union Street and Queensgate is the Victorian Market, which contains a large number of small shops . The main Inverness railway station is almost directly opposite the Academy Street entrance to the Market. From the 1970s, the Eastgate Shopping Centre (Inverness) was developed to the east of High Street, with a substantial extension being completed in 2003.
Education
The city has a number of different education institutions including a number of primary schools, secondary schools and the higher education institution of Inverness College. The city also has a specialised gaelic primary school and a new Centre for Health Sciences.
Inverness College
Inverness College is situated in the city and is the largest member of The UHI Millennium Institute, which is a federation of 15 colleges and research institutions in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland delivering higher education. As part of the UHI the college offers university level courses, and ultimatley aims to become part of a University of the Highlands and Islands with its participation in the UHI Millennium Institute.
New Campus Plans
Architects and planning agents have been appointed to draw up a master plan for the proposed new Inverness College UHI campus which will include research facilities, a business school, student residences and a regional sports centre of excellence.
The 200-acre campus at Beechwood, just off the A9 south of Inverness, shown on the right, is considered to be one of the most important developments for the region over the next 20 years. An outline planning application could be submitted by early 2009.
MAKE Architects and planning agents Turnberry Consulting have been appointed to come up with the blueprint.
The deputy principal and secretary of UHI, James Fraser, said: “This is a flagship development which will provide Inverness with a university campus and vibrant student life. It will have a major impact on the city and on the Highlands and Islands. UHI is a partnership of colleges and research centres throughout the region, and the development of any one partner brings strength to the whole institution."
Centre For Health Science
A new Centre for Health Science is located behind Raigmore Hospital. This is being funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Scottish Executive and Johnson and Johnson. Phase I of this opened in early 2007, phase II is under construction and phase III has been funded. The University of Stirling is moving its operations from Raigmore Hospital to the CfHS. The UHI also has strong links with the centre through its Faculty of Health.
Transport
Inverness is linked to the Black Isle across the Moray Firth by the Kessock Bridge. It has a railway station with services to Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Aberdeen, Thurso, Wick and to Kyle of Lochalsh. Inverness is connected to London by the Caledonian Sleeper, which departs six times a week and by the Highland Chieftain which runs 7 days a week. Inverness Airport is located 15 km east of the city and has scheduled flights to airports across the UK and Republic of Ireland including London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin and the islands to the north and west of Scotland. Some local controversy arose when British Airways sold off the landing slots at Heathrow for the three daily flights to and from Inverness as part of the proposed link up with American Airlines which eventually failed.
Three trunk roads (the A9, A82 and A96) provide access to Aberdeen, Perth, Elgin, Thurso, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Inverness Trunk Road Link (TRL)
Plans are in place to convert the A96 between Inverness and Nairn to a dual carriageway and to construct a southern bypass that would link the A9, A82 and A96 together involving crossings of the Caledonian Canal and the River Ness in the Torvean area, southwest of the town.
The bypass, known as the Inverness Trunk Road Link (TRL), is aimed at resolving Inverness’s transport problems and has been split into two separate projects, the east and west sections. The east section will bypass Inshes Roundabout, a notorious traffic bottleneck, using a new road linking the existing Southern Distributor with the A9 and the A96, both via grade separated interchanges. This proposed new link road would bypass Inshes roundabout, as stated before, and separate strategic traffic from local traffic as well as accommodating proposals for new development at the West Seafield Retail and Business Park and also a new UHI campus.
At the west end, two options for crossing the river and canal were developed. One involving a high level vertical opening bridge which will allow the majority of canal traffic to pass under without the need for opening. The other involved a bridge over the river and an aqueduct under the canal. Both of these designs are technically complex and were considered in detail along by the key stakeholders involved in the project. Ultimately it was decided that a bridge over the river and a tunnel under the canal were the best option, allow more expensive.
In late 2008 the controversial decision by the Scottish Government not to include the full Inverness bypass in its transport plan for the next 20 years was made. The government's Strategic Transport Projects Review did however, include the eastern section of the route, which will see the A9 at Inshes linked to the A96.
But the absence of the TLR's western section, which would include a permanent crossing over the Caledonian Canal and River Ness, sparked dismay among several Highland councillors and business leaders in Inverness who feel the bypass is vital for the city's future economic growth.
When the Trunk Link Road is completed this will ease gridlock in the City Centre and provide opportunities for Transport Demand Management measures throughout the city as well as environmental enhancement in the City Centre in line with National Transport Strategy of reducing emissions and congestion in City Centres.
Upgrading of the A9 South
In late 2008 the Scottish Government's transport plan for the next 20 years was announced. It brings forward planned improvements to the A9 in an attempt to stimulate the economy and protect jobs.
Work costing a total of £8.5 million will take place at Moy, Carrbridge and Bankfoot. Northbound overtaking lanes will be created and the carriageways reconstructed at both Moy and Carrbridge. Junction improvements will also be made at Moy, with work due to get under way in September 2009. With the Carrbridge scheme is due to be begin in February 2009.
Nationally an extra £38 million is to be spent this financial year, followed by a further £232 million in 2009 and 2010.
It is estimated the move will help support in the region of around 4000 jobs across Scotland.
Politics
Local Government
- See also Politics of the Highland council area
Inverness was an autonomous royal burgh, and county town for the county of Inverness (also known as Inverness-shire) until 1975, when local government counties and burghs were abolished, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, in favour of two-tier regions and districts and unitary islands council areas. The royal burgh was then absorbed into a new district of Inverness, which was one of eight districts within the Highland region. The new district combined in one area the royal burgh, the Inverness district of the county and the Aird district of the county. The rest of the county was divided between other new districts within the Highland region and the Western Isles. Therefore, although much larger than the royal burgh, the new Inverness district was much smaller than the county.
In 1996, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, the districts were abolished and the region became a unitary council area. The new unitary Highland Council, however, adopted the areas of the former districts as council management areas, and created area committees to represent each. The Inverness committee represents 23 out of the 80 Highland Council wards, with each ward electing one councillor by the first past the post system of election. However, management area and committee area boundaries have been out of alignment since 1999, as a result of changes to ward boundaries. Also, ward boundaries are changing again this year, 2007, and the council management areas are being replaced with three new corporate management areas.
Ward boundary changes in 2007, under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, create 22 new Highland Council wards, each electing three or four councillors by the single transferable vote system of election, a system designed to produce a form of proportional representation. The total number of councillors remains the same. Also, the Inverness management area is being merged into the new Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate management area, covering nine of the new wards and electing 34 of the 80 councillors. As well as the Inverness area, the new area includes the former Nairn management area and the former Badenoch and Strathspey management area. The corporate area name is also that of a constituency, but boundaries are different.
Within the corporate area there is a city management area covering seven of the nine wards, the Aird and Loch Ness ward, the Culloden and Ardersier ward, the Inverness Central ward, the Inverness Millburn ward, the Inverness Ness-side ward, the Inverness South ward and the Inverness West ward. The Nairn ward and the Badenoch and Strathspey ward complete the corporate area. Wards in the city management area are to be represented on a city committee as well as corporate area committees.
City Status
In 2001 city status was granted to the Town of Inverness, and letters patent were taken into the possession of the Highland Council by the convener of the Inverness area committee. These letters patent, which were sealed in March 2001 and are held by Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, create a city of Inverness, but do not refer to anywhere with defined boundaries, except that Town of Inverness may be taken as a reference to the burgh of Inverness. As a local government area the burgh was abolished 26 years earlier, in 1975, and so was the county of Inverness for which the burgh was the county town. Nor do they refer to the former district or to the royal burgh.
The Highland area was created as a two-tier local government region in 1975, and became a unitary local government area in 1996. The region consisted of eight districts, of which one was called Inverness. The districts were all merged into the unitary area. As the new local government authority, the Highland Council then adopted the areas of the districts as council management areas. The management areas were abolished in 2007, in favour of three new corporate management areas. The council has defined a large part of the Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate area as the Inverness city management area. This council-defined city area includes Loch Ness and numerous towns and villages apart from the former burgh of Inverness.
In January 2008 a petition to matriculate armorial bearings for the City of Inverness was refused by Lord Lyon King of Arms on the grounds that there is no legal persona to which arms can be granted.
Parliamentary representation
There are three existing parliamentary constituencies with Inverness as an element in their names:
These existing constituencies are effectively subdivisions of the Highland council area, but boundaries for Westminster elections are now very different from those for Holyrood elections. The Holyrood constituencies are also subdivisions of the Highlands and Islands electoral region.
Historically there have been six Westminster constituencies:
Inverness Burghs was a district of burghs constituency, covering the parliamentary burghs of Inverness, Fortrose, Forres and Nairn. Inverness-shire covered, at least nominally, the county of Inverness minus the Inverness parliamentary burgh. As created in 1918, Inverness covered the county minus Outer Hebridean areas, which were merged into the Western Isles constituency. The Inverness constituency included the former parliamentary burgh of Inverness. As created in 1983, Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber was one of three constituencies covering the Highland region, which had been created in 1975. As first used in 1997, the Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, and Ross, Skye and Inverness West constituencies were effectively two of three constituencies covering the Highland unitary council area, which had been created in 1996.
Town twinning
Culture and sports
Inverness is an important centre for bagpipe players and lovers, since every September the city hosts the Northern Meeting, the most prestigious solo piping competition in the world. The Inverness cape, a garment worn by pipers the world over in the rain, is not necessarily made in Inverness.
Another major event in calendar is the annual City of Inverness Highland Games. In 2006 Inverness hosted Scotland's biggest ever Highland Games over two days in July, featuring the Masters' World Championships, the showcase event for heavies aged over 40 years. 2006 was the first year that the Masters' World Championships had been held outside the United States, and it attracted many top heavies from around the world to the Inverness area.
The current music scene within Inverness generally leans towards an emo/punk/hardcore style, but there are also bands who show features of different genres such as rock, metal, pop, classical, grunge, industrial and traditional Scottish music. The Ironworks venue has attracted a greater variety of music to Inverness.
The city is home to two football clubs. Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. was formed in 1994 from the merger of two Highland League clubs, Caledonian F.C. and Inverness Thistle. "Caley Thistle" of the Scottish Premier League play at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium and lay claim to have the longest name for any football club in the world. The town's second football club, Clachnacuddin F.C., play in the Highland League. Inverness Citadel F.C. was another popular side which are now defunct.
Highland RFC are the local rugby union club that compete regularly in the Scottish Hydro Electric National Leagues division two.
Inverness Blitz is a charity that promotes the development of American football in Inverness and the surrounding area. Bught Park, located in the centre of Inverness is the finishing point of the annual Loch Ness Marathon and home of Inverness Shinty Club.
Cricket is also a popular sport in Inverness, with both Highland CC and Northern Counties playing in the North of Scotland Cricket Association League and 7 welfare league teams playing midweek cricket at Fraser Park. Both teams have been very successful over the years. Highland joined the league in 1957 and won their first league title in 2002 and recaptured the title in 2007.
In 2007, the city hosted Highland 2007, a celebration of the culture of the Highlands, and will also host the World Highland Games Heavy Championships (21 & 22 July) and European Pipe Band Championships (28 July). 2008 saw the first Hi-Ex (Highlands International Comics Expo), held at the Eden Court Theatre.
Buildings
Important buildings in Inverness include Inverness Castle, Inverness College and various churches.
The castle was built in 1835 on the site of its medieval predecessor. It is now a sheriff court.
Inverness Cathedral, dedicated to St Andrew, is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church and seat of the ordinary of the Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness. The cathedral has a curiously square-topped look to its spires, as funds ran out before they could be completed.
The oldest church is the Old High Church, on St Michael's Mount by the riverside, a site perhaps used for worship since Celtic times. The church tower dates from mediaeval times, making it the oldest surviving building in Inverness. It is used by the Church of Scotland congregation of Old High St Stephen's, Inverness, and it is the venue for the annual Kirking of the Council, which is attended by local councillors.
Inverness College is the hub campus for the UHI Millennium Institute.
Porterfield Prison, officially HMP Inverness, serves the courts of the Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney Isles and Moray, providing secure custody for all remand prisoners and short term adult prisoners, both male and female (segregated).
Famous people
The former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, was born in Inverness.
Yvette Cooper, Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the Brown Cabinet, was also born in Inverness.
And also, Pat Nevin , Famous football player and football pundit was born in Inverness.
And also, Elspet Gray, actress, and Aeneas Chisholm, Bishop of Aberdeen.
Areas of the city
Towns and Villages
Apart from the former burgh of Inverness, the Highland Council's city management area includes Ardersier, Beauly, Culloden, Balloch, Drumnadrochit, Fort Augustus, Invermoriston, Smithton, Tomatin, Kirkhill and Kiltarlity.
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