- Nairn
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For other uses, see Nairn (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 57°35′00″N 3°51′41″W / 57.583472°N 3.861510°W
Nairn Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Narann 
St Ninians Church in Nairn
Nairn
Nairn shown within the Highland council areaPopulation 8,418 [1] OS grid reference NH887563 Council area Highland Lieutenancy area Nairn Country Scotland Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town NAIRN Postcode district IV12 Dialling code 01667 Police Northern Fire Highlands and Islands Ambulance Scottish EU Parliament Scotland UK Parliament Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey List of places: UK • Scotland • Nairn (
/ˈnɛərn/ nairn; Gaelic: Inbhir Narann) is a town and former burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around 16 miles (26 km) east of Inverness. It was the county town of the wider county of Nairn also known as Nairnshire.The town is now best known as a seaside resort, with two golf courses, a community centre/mid-scale arts venue ( Nairn Community & Arts Centre), a small theatre (called The Little Theatre[2]) and one small museum, providing information on the local area and incorporating the collection of the former Fishertown museum.
Contents
History
King James VI of Scotland visited the town in 1589 and is said to have later remarked that the High Street was so long that the people at either end spoke different languages to one another – English and Gaelic. The landward farmers generally spoke English and the fishing families at the harbour end, Gaelic.[3] Nairn, formerly split into Scottish Gaelic- and Scots-speaking communities, was a town of two halves in other ways. The narrow-streeted fishertown surrounds a harbour built by Thomas Telford while Victorian villas stand in the 'West End'. It is believed that the Duke of Cumberland stayed in Nairn the night before the battle of Culloden.
In 1645, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the battle of Auldearn was fought near the town, between Royalists and Covenanters.
Seal of the Burgh of Nairn, depicting Saint Ninian (from a 1906 book).
It was not until the 1860s that Nairn became a respectable and popular holiday town. Dr. John Grigor (a statue of whom is located at Viewfield) was gifted a house in this coastal town and spent his retirement there. He valued its warm climate and advised his wealthy clients to holiday there. Following the opening of the Nairn railway station in 1855, new houses and hotels were built in the elegant West End. The station is on the Aberdeen to Inverness Line. Originally this was the last stop on the line from London due to the inhospitable terrain on what is now the main Dava branch line to Inverness.
Sport
Nairn is known as a world class golfing destination, with two 18 hole Championship golf courses. One of these, The Nairn Golf Club is one of the greatest traditional links courses in the world and was established in 1887. Its designers include Archie Simpson, Old Tom Morris and James Braid. It has hosted many tournaments culminating in the 1999 Walker Cup and is visited by golfers from all over the world. It is currently ranked number 24th in the definitive list of the Top 100 courses in Britain & Ireland 2010/2011 and will be the venue for the 2012 Curtis Cup. The second is Nairn Dunbar Golf Club.
Nairn is also the home of Scottish Under-21 champion Kelsey MacDonald – currently a top Scottish female amateur.[4][5]
The local football team is Nairn County F.C., who play in the Highland Football League. They recently picked up their first trophy in 31 years when they won the North of Scotland Cup 3-1 against local rivals Forres Mechanics F.C. at Grant Street Park, Inverness. The town has another football team, Nairn St Ninian, who are a junior outfit.
Culture
The town also hosts the Nairn International Jazz Festival[6] each August, usually attracting some well-known and world class musicians. In 2010 Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton, who lives in Nairn, created a film festival entitled "Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams" which was created out of an old bingo hall in the town. It generated worldwide press about the festival and Nairn.[7]
Nairn is also the host for the annual Nairn Book & Arts festival which takes place every year in June at the Nairn Community & Arts Centre.
Nairn stages one of the biggest Highland games in the North. The first event was held in 1867, and it is now one of the few where entry remains free. The games are a major event in the local social calendar.
Climate
As with the rest of the British Isles and Scotland, Nairn experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. It is one of the driest location's in Scotland due to the rain shadowing effect of the surrounding mountains.
Climate data for Nairn, 23m asl, 1971-2000, Extremes 1951-1980 Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C (°F) 15.0
(59.0)15.0
(59.0)17.8
(64.0)19.4
(66.9)25.9
(78.6)27.8
(82.0)29.0
(84.2)30.6
(87.1)25.0
(77.0)24.4
(75.9)17.9
(64.2)14.3
(57.7)30.6
(87.1)Average high °C (°F) 6.3
(43.3)6.9
(44.4)8.7
(47.7)10.7
(51.3)13.8
(56.8)16.0
(60.8)18.3
(64.9)18.0
(64.4)15.5
(59.9)12.4
(54.3)8.8
(47.8)6.9
(44.4)11.86
(53.34)Average low °C (°F) 0.5
(32.9)0.3
(32.5)1.9
(35.4)3.2
(37.8)5.7
(42.3)8.4
(47.1)10.5
(50.9)10.1
(50.2)8.1
(46.6)5.8
(42.4)2.7
(36.9)1.0
(33.8)4.85
(40.73)Record low °C (°F) −12.8
(9.0)−16.7
(1.9)−11.1
(12.0)−6.7
(19.9)−3.3
(26.1)−2.2
(28.0)2.0
(35.6)0.5
(32.9)−1.9
(28.6)−3.3
(26.1)−10.6
(12.9)−12.2
(10.0)−16.7
(1.9)Precipitation mm (inches) 51.94
(2.0449)36.79
(1.4484)42.51
(1.6736)38.01
(1.4965)43.92
(1.7291)50.56
(1.9906)48.38
(1.9047)55.33
(2.1783)60.34
(2.3756)55.59
(2.1886)57.49
(2.2634)50.32
(1.9811)591.18
(23.2748)Sunshine hours 44.18 76.18 101.39 129.58 175.39 156.08 153.68 146.95 114.94 88.50 53.84 33.49 1,274.2 Source no. 1: Met Office[8] Source no. 2: ScotClim[9] Notable people
- William Whitelaw, the British deputy Prime Minister 1979–88, was born in Nairn and has a street named after his family.
- James Augustus Grant who discovered the source of the Nile together with Speke was born at Househill, attended Nairn Academy and died at Nairn in 1892. There is a plaque to his memory in St Paul's Cathedral.
- Charlie Chaplin used to holiday every year in Nairn and stayed at the Newton Hotel.
- David St John Thomas British author and publisher resides here.
- British actress Tilda Swinton and her children have resided in Nairn since 2007.
Current developments
Nairn Town HallThe A96 from Inverness to Aberdeen currently passes through Nairn town itself. Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, has been canvassing for a Nairn by-pass to be developed.[10]
At present Scottish Executive investment in the transport infrastructure has focused on the Inverness to Nairn stretch of road, especially to improve links to Inverness Airport.[11]
However, there are no current plans to build a Nairn by-pass until after 2011. A consultation is currently planned to 2007, which is expected to determine both the feasibility of a Nairn by-pass, as well as a potential time-scale for development.
In the meantime, land to the east and south of the town is being considered for the further development of 1400 houses, with additional plans submitted by Lord Cawdor to double the size of the town over the next 10–15 years through private investment.[12]
Parliamentary burgh
The burgh of Nairn was a parliamentary burgh, combined with the burghs of Inverness, Fortrose and Forres, in the Inverness Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 to 1918. The constituency was abolished in 1918 and the Forres and Nairn components were merged into the then new constituency of Moray and Nairn.
References
- ^ 2001 Population of Main Highland Towns & Villages, Highland Council
- ^ Nairn Drama Club – The Little Theatre
- ^ "Nairn" Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved 16 October 2011.See also Thomson, David (1998) Nairn in Darkness and Light. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09-959990-6
- ^ "Student Athlete of the Month" inthewinningzone.com. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ "MacDonald top again as she completes treble." Aberdeen: The Press and Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ^ Nairn International Jazz Festival
- ^ Ballerina Ballroom
- ^ "Caldecott 1961-90 averages". Met Office. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/stationdata/nairndata.txt. Retrieved 02 Nov 2011.
- ^ "Nairn extremes 1951-1980". ScotClim. http://www.weather.org.uk/climate/scotclim.html. Retrieved 02 Nov 2011.
- ^ Parliamentary Questions & Answers
- ^ A96 Corridor Plan
- ^ Ross, Calum. – "A96 corridor may house extra 9000".- The Inverness Courier. – 8 August 2006
Categories:- Nairn
- Ports and harbours of Scotland
- Royal burghs
- Scottish county towns
- Seaside resorts in Scotland
- Towns in Highland (council area)
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