Helmsdale

Helmsdale is a Village 69 miles north of Inverness, 51 miles south of John O Groats on the northeast coast of Scotland, on the North Coast 500 driving route. The village was laid out by the Sutherland's from 1814, partly to house Farmers they were forcing off their land.

Helmsdale is popular for the Emigrants Statue at the south entrance to the village, Multisports Centre, Timespan local history museum, Salmon Fishing, and walking or cycling on the old un-used Road with Hairpin Bends 2 miles north.

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The top image right shows the Helmsdale Emigrants Statue at the south side of the Village by the new Bridge.

The Statue is in Cooper Park, erected on 2007, made by the sculpture Gerald Laing, paid for by a local named Dennis MacLeod, a Crofters son who made a fortune in Gold Mines in South Africa.

Small scale Farmers from this area were forced off their land by the Sutherland's from 1813, some moving to Helmsdale for Fishing and other jobs, with others emigrating to Canada, America and Australia in search of Land to farm.

The Multisports Centre is at the north end of the New Bridge with football, tennis, basketball and many other sports.

The Timespan Museum is a short walk along Shore Street by the Old Bridge and War Memorial, giving information on the Clearances, Fishing and other Local History.

The War Memorial was built in 1924, there is an Ice House from the early 1800s below the Memorial for preserving Salmon, with the River Helmsdale claimed to be one of the top Salmon Rivers in Scotland.

The Old Bridge was built by Thomas Telford in 1811 as he built a new winding road north to Wick and John O Groats.

The New Bridge and New Road were built from 1970, taking out most of the bends.

2 miles north of Helmsdale, at a large Layby on a steep straight incline, there is a path that leads to the Old Road for walking. You can walk or cycle round the bends with Cats Eyes and plastic Roadside Markers with red reflectors on them. Locals state the road from this area up to Wick before 1970 was amazing, real steep with Hairpin Bends, some had to be taken in first gear.

The Bridge Hotel was built in 1816 as the Commercial Inn, now used as a Guest House.

Helmsdale Free Church of Scotland is just round to the left at the Bridge Hotel, built from 1890, may be getting converted to a home.

Helmsdale 9 Hole Golf Club is just round from the Church.

The Belgrave Arms Hotel is at the north side of the New Bridge, built in 1819 as a Travelers Inn.

The Bannockburn Inn with a Beer Garden and Meals is also at the north side of the New Bridge, built in the early 1800s.

There are also small local shops in this area, a restaurant and fish and chip shop.

Helmsdale Harbour is at the mouth of the River Helmsdale, on the east side of the New Bridge, built by the Sutherland's at a time they were forcing Crofters off their land, encouraging them to take up fishing for Herring that was booming at that time.

There were about 200 Herring Fishing Boats at Helmsdale by the late 1800s.

The Harbour today is split between Fishing Boats and a Marina with the Fishing Boats going after cod, ling, mackerel, flatfish, haddock, pollack, coley, and wrasse. Mackerel, herring, sprat, and blue whiting are targeted by the larger vessels. Shellfish like crabs, lobsters and scallops are targeted by the smaller boats.

Helmsdale History

1235 - the Earldom of Sutherland was created for William de Moravia (William Sutherland), with the Sutherland's land growing to about 580 square miles, largest private Estate in western Europe.

1270s - the earliest parts of Dunrobin Castle were built for the Sutherland's, 16 miles south of Helmsdale, becoming the main Castle of the Sutherland's.

1488 - Helmsdale Castle was built for the 7th Countess of Sutherland at the south side of Helmsdale Harbour as a Hunting Lodge, where the New Bridge is today, nothing remains of the Castle, just a Stone Marker in the Car Park for the Emigrants Statue.

1567 - the 11th Earl of Sutherland and his Wife were poisoned to death at Helmsdale Castle by Isobel Sinclair, aunt of the Earl as she wanted her own Son to become the Earl of Sutherland.

Her own Son drank the poison intended for the 11th Earls Son, leading to his death as well, and the 11th Earls Son becoming the 12th Earl of Sutherland. Isobel killed herself before being executed in Edinburgh. Castle Information

This event started a series of battles between the 12th Earl of Sutherland and the Sinclair, Earls of Caithness.

1766 - the one year old Elizabeth Sutherland became the 19th Countess of Sutherland after her parents died of Typhus, her mothers family had owned Slave Plantations in Jamaica. Elizabeth spent most of her childhood in Edinburgh and London.

1807 - Elizabeth Sutherland had about 300 people removed from the land in the area of Lairg, 35 miles southeast of Helmsdale, to make way for her first big Sheep Farm, that would pay more rent than the small scale Farmers.

1811 - the Old Bridge was built at Helmsdale by Thomas Telford as he built the first road north to Wick and John O Groats, this road being full of hairpin bends as it had to cross many high points.

Before this time, most Trade was done by Boats, or Pack Horses on old trails.

Some remote villages in north Scotland were still using Pagan rituals up to the 1800s, with Christian Ministers of the time recording they were having problems controlling them.

Pagans worshiped the Sun, Seasons, and Deities / Supernatural Beings.

1813 - Clearances at Kildonan, 10 miles east of Helmsdale, led to riots with the Army being called in to keep the peace and oversee those being cleared were paid a fair price for their cattle.

Many Farmers houses had their roofs removed to prevent them returning, or the houses were set on fire.

Many of the Farmers emigrated to Canada, America, New Zealand, and Australia rather than move into coastal villages for fishing, villages for coal mining, and other industries being set up by the Sutherland's.

Many people from Helmsdale traveled to the Red River Settlement in Canada, that is now Winnipeg.

Some that emigrated to Australia became rich from Gold fields, with Robert Nelson Gilchrist, a native of Kildonan who found Gold in Australia, returning to find Gold at Kildonan, setting off the Kildonan Gold Rush in 1869.

Some Farmers were given small plots of rocky land barely enough to live off, with these being known as Croft's.

1814 - the Helmsdale Village seen today was laid out by the Sutherland's by the Harbour, partly to house Farmers being removed from their homes. The Sutherland's tried to get the Farmers to work in the Herring Fishing industry that was booming at the time, also Kelp harvesting, and Coal Mining.

The Herring Industry employed a lot of men for fishing and making barrels to store the fish. Women were mainly employed to gut the fish and pack them into the barrels.

Elizabeth Sutherland claimed she was trying to reduce poverty in the area by finding the small scale Farmers other work, in some cases she would have been right, for others, she was seen as being brutal.

1821 - the large scale Clearances had come to an end after the Sutherland's had forcibly removed around 15,000 people from their homes and land. Elizabeth Sutherland Information

1841 - Helmsdale Parish Church was built by the Sutherland's, with people soon accusing the Sutherland's of using the Church to control them.

1870 - the Railway reached Helmsdale, allowing the Herring to be transferred around the UK in a matter of hours, a lot faster than by ships.

1800s late - there were about 200 Herring Boats operating out of Helmsdale.

1880s on - cheep imports of Lamb from Australia led to large Estates in Scotland hitting hard times.

1890 - Helmsdale Free Church of Scotland was built, with Free Churches built by the People so Landowners and Politicians could not interfere with them.

1894 - the Estate Death Duty was introduced, leading to some Estates having to sell much of their land to pay the Tax.

1895 - the 9 hole Helmsdale Golf Club opened.

1900s early - the first Cars began traveling on the winding Helmsdale road.

1911 - the Government began introducing Land Reforms to break up large Estates.

1913 - the 4th Duke of Sutherland died, with his Death Duties forcing the sale of much of their land.

Between cheep imports of Lamb from Australia, Land Reforms, and Death Duties, the Sutherland's Estate was cut from over 1 million acres to under 400,000 acres in a few decades.

1950s - large Forests with fast growing Sitka Spruce Trees were being planted all over Scotland, mainly on Sheep Farms that had become un-profitable, with these Trees taking about 35 to 40 years to grow large enough to be cut down for Timber.

1970 - the New Bridge and Road were built through Helmsdale with the remains of Helmsdale Castle being demolished at that time to make way for the Bridge.

1973 - Dunrobin Castle was opened to the public to help with the up-keep, no doubt ancestors of people removed in the Clearances have paid to visit, a strange twist.

Some Castles and Mansions in Scotland had their roofs removed between the 1960s and 70s to prevent paying vast Taxes, many were sold to celebrities, some opened to the paying public, and others mysteriously caught fire, after most of the valuables such as ornate fireplaces had been removed.

1980s - Herring Quotas were introduced due to over fishing, leading to a vast decrease in fishing from ports in northeast Scotland.

2007 - the Emigrants Statue was erected in Cooper Park on the south side of Helmsdale at the New Bridge. There used to be 6 Flag Poles next to the Statue with the Flags of Scotland and the nations most Emigrants went to such as America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and United Nations, but these seem to have been taken down.

2015 - the North Coast 500 driving route was established, passing through Helmsdale, leading to a vast increase in tourists to the area.

2024 - Helmsdale Multi Use Games Area was opened next to the New Bridge on Shore Street.

Today - Helmsdale Harbour has a few fishing boats mainly for white fish such as cod, haddock and shellfish. People in England eat a lot of Cod, people in Scotland eat a lot of Haddock, with oily fish like Herring and Mackerel mainly exported as few people in the UK like them anymore.

Today - about 8% of Scots attend Church regular, 92% tend to worship the Sun, Seasons, and Deities such as Celebrities, Musicians, and Sportsmen.