Altnabreac

Altnabreac
Scottish Gaelic: Allt nam Breac
Altnabreac
 Altnabreac shown within the Caithness area
Council areaHighland
Lieutenancy areaCaithness
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town HALKIRK
Postcode district KW12
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentCaithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Scottish ParliamentCaithness, Sutherland and Ross
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 58°23′N 3°42′W / 58.38°N 3.70°W / 58.38; -3.70

Altnabreac (from Scottish Gaelic Allt nam Breac) is a tiny settlement within the former county of Caithness, in the north of Scotland, and now within the Highland council area. The settlement, notable for its remoteness, consists of Altnabreac railway station and the former Altnabreac School which had one teacher/head teacher (David L. Jenkinson). The school classroom was closed and converted from a school/house solely into a house in 1987. The former gamekeeper's house sits adjacent to the school and station. There is a natural spring about 200 yards from the school providing crystal clear drinking water. During the 1980s peat banks were worked to provide fuel for the residents who regularly used to be cut off from the nearest town of Thurso during the winter. It can only be approached by train by special request to stop at the unmanned station, or along unsurfaced Forestry Commission roads from the nearest village, Westerdale, about 12 miles away.

Altnabreac, like Dounreay, was considered as a location for a final repository for the UK's nuclear waste. However, this idea was not pursued.

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This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.