West Inverness Photos (2)
New houses built by Robertsons on the former Craig Dunain Hospital site, part of their “Westercraigs” development of 50 houses. These are mainly 4 bedroom detached houses and, reflecting the massive inflation in local house prices, are priced in the £250,000+ range. (Photo March 2008). Hundreds more houses will be built in the years ahead.
Lomond Gardens just beside the Social Work buildings on Leachkin Road. Ten new houses were completed in 2008 by Albyn Housing Society in the former car park of the Kinmylies Building, with the land being given free of charge by the Council. The 10 homes comprise 8 bungalows (4 x three bedroom and 4 x two bedroom) and 2 x three bedroom houses. All of the units were available for affordable rent.
Long established local establishment: Loch Ness House Hotel is a popular 3 star hotel with excellent facilities located at the Tomnahurich Bridge. The dining room and the Copper Kettle Bar are popular with visitors and locals alike.
Highland Football Academy: The Inverness part of Highland Football Academy behind Charleston Academy was completed in January 2006 and comprises two high quality grass pitches, a grass training area and a floodlit “new generation” artificial pitch behind Charleston Academy. HFA is a partnership between a partnership between The Highland Council and local football teams Inverness Caley Thistle and Ross County.
Extra space: Demountable classrooms put up on a corner of the blaze area behind Charleston Academy in autumn 2007 to meet the chronic accommodation pressure within the 820 pupil school. The school is very crowded at present with numbers not expected to begin falling for another year or two.
Tomnahurich Bridge: shown here after th re-surfacing works carried by Scotland Transerv in February and March 2008. The view is looking west along the A82 towards Dunain.
Ness IslandsImprovements: Inverness West Liberal councillor Alex Graham at the opening of the long overdue Ness Islands improvements in September 2007. Supported by £160,000 from the Inverness Common Good Fund and other funders, the improvements cost £440,000 and comprised the creation of a central arena, oak benches, two new bridge balustrades, and new features at the three entrances to the Islands. There were also extensive tree management works, new street lighting, litter and dog waste bins, footpath repairs and work to the repair the river banks and two new bridge decks as well as repair and re-painting of existing footbridges. Educational story sacks were produced for schools and nurseries and a Ness Islands Management Plan to safeguard future maintenance was established.
The Inverness Common Good Fund is not named on the information board,
and credit for its contribution is given to the Highland Council.
Canal banks: Looking from the Tomnahurich Bridge along the Caledonian canal towards Kinmylies and Scorguie, which lie on the slopes of Craig Phadrig hill which is in the centre of the photograph. A fortress at the top of Craig Phadrig is thought to have been the stronghold of the Pictish King Brude, who was converted to Christianity by Saint Columba about 580 AD. It is believed that the fortress was destroyed by fire in the 700s.