Aviemore

Aviemore
Scottish Gaelic: An Aghaidh Mhòr
Aviemore
 Aviemore shown within the Badenoch and Strathspey area
Population 2,397 [1] (2001 census)
est. 2,440 (2006)
LanguageHighland English
Scottish Gaelic
OS grid referenceNH898129
    Edinburgh  90 mi (145 km) 
    London  420 mi (725 km) 
Council areaHighland
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town AVIEMORE
Postcode district PH22
Dialling code 01479
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentInverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
Scottish ParliamentSkye, Lochaber and Badenoch
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 57°11′38″N 3°49′23″W / 57.194°N 3.823°W / 57.194; -3.823

Aviemore (i/ˌæviˈmɔər/; Scottish Gaelic: An Aghaidh Mhòr "The big [mountain] face") 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 other winter sports, and for hill-walking in the Cairngorm Mountains. There are excellent views of the Cairngorms from various places within the town, especially from the railway station. The Aviemore stone circle is located within a residential neighbourhood of the town.

History

Prior to 1790 it was in an exclave of the county of Moray and from 1890 to 1975 it was in the county of Inverness-shire, until the later date being within the Civil Parish of Duthil and Rothiemurchus. The village began to grow as a result of it becoming a railway junction in 1898,[2] following which the Highland Railway became a major employer constructing housing for its staff and the Aviemore Hotel. Aviemore became one of the first skiing resorts to be established in Scotland with the opening of the chairlift in 1961[3] and is also notable for being near the freely grazing reindeer herd at Glen More, the only one in the United Kingdom.[4] The resort has since grown into Britain's most visited ski resort during the winter months.[5]

The Aviemore Hotel was destroyed by fire in 1950, and its site and that of its golf course were used in the 1960s for the construction of the Aviemore Centre. It was opened by Lady Fraser of Allander in 1966, (wife of Sir Hugh Fraser 2nd Baronet- House of Fraser).[6]"The Centre", as it became affectionately known, quickly developed into a major Scottish tourist destination, and in its heyday royalty were regular visitors, including Prince Charles and Princess Anne who attended Royal Hunt Balls hosted in the Aviemore Centre's Osprey Rooms. The very popular BBC TV show "It's A Christmas Knockout" was held in the complex twice in the 1970s.

Rothiemurchus Golf Club, Aviemore (now defunct) was founded in 1906. The club and course closed at the time of WW2.[7]

In around 1998 many of the original John Poulson buildings were demolished as part of a promised £50 million overhaul. Although the visitor buildings were replaced, many of the other leisure facilities were not. In 2006 a privately led tourist organisation began a programme of attracting tourists to the area.[8]

Geography

Panorama

Aviemore lies on the B9152 (the "old" A9 road since the main road from Inverness to Perth was rebuilt further west in 1980). Aviemore railway station is on the Highland Main Line and Aviemore is also the southern terminus of the Strathspey Railway, a heritage railway.

Climate

Aviemore features an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb), with cool temperatures and rainfall throughout the year.

Climate data for Aviemore (228m asl, averages 1981-2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 5.0
(41)
5.5
(41.9)
7.8
(46)
10.9
(51.6)
14.3
(57.7)
16.5
(61.7)
18.7
(65.7)
18.1
(64.6)
15.3
(59.5)
11.4
(52.5)
7.7
(45.9)
5.1
(41.2)
11.36
(52.44)
Average low °C (°F) −1.0
(30.2)
−1.0
(30.2)
0.3
(32.5)
1.9
(35.4)
4.2
(39.6)
7.3
(45.1)
9.5
(49.1)
9.1
(48.4)
6.8
(44.2)
4.1
(39.4)
1.4
(34.5)
−1.3
(29.7)
3.44
(38.19)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 123.5
(4.862)
90.5
(3.563)
85.9
(3.382)
55.9
(2.201)
58.8
(2.315)
63.8
(2.512)
59.7
(2.35)
69.8
(2.748)
78.7
(3.098)
102.2
(4.024)
99.1
(3.902)
89.3
(3.516)
977.2
(38.473)
Average rainy days (≥ 1 mm) 16.3 13.4 15.4 11.4 12.8 12.0 11.7 12.3 13.4 16.1 14.5 13.4 162.7
Mean monthly sunshine hours 33.3 63.5 98.3 135.0 178.4 148.5 149.7 136.5 110.6 77.4 43.3 30.7 1,205.2
Source: [9]

Gallery

References

  1. "Comparative Population Profile: Aviemore Locality". Scotland's Census Results Online. 29 April 2011. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  2. Edinburgh Geological Society (1899). Transactions. p. 416. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  3. Huxley, Michael (1979). The Geographical magazine. IPC Magazines. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  4. "Cairngorm Reindeer". Cairngorm Reindeer. Archived from the original on 29 January 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  5. Andrews, Robert; Teller, Matthew (August 2004). The Rough Guide to Britain. Rough Guides. p. 1213. ISBN 978-1-84353-301-6. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  6. "Welcome one and all to "Auld Aviemore"". Auldaviemore.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  7. “Rothiemurchus Golf Club”, “Golf’s Missing Links”.
  8. "Private tourism firm begins work". BBC News. 5 September 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  9. "Aviemore climate". Met Office. Retrieved 16 October 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aviemore.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Aviemore.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.