plockton

Plockton was established as a planned fishing village on the northern edge of the Lochalsh, built "when introducing sheep farming in 1814-20 and removing the population from their old hamlets in Glen Garron, founded the villages of Jeantown and Plockton on Loch Carronside" (Geddes: 1945, pp38).{{full citation needed|date=June 2024}}

A local laird transformed the community into a prosperous fishery, and in the process, funded the planned village. Most of the houses date from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Some maritime charts, including MacKenzie (1776) and Heather (1804), mark the peninsula where the village sits as 'Plack'; however, it is generally considered that the village was built on the 'Ploc' of Lochalsh, with 'Ploc' being understood in Gaelic as pimple or bump (of Lochalsh). This usage is shared with other places such as the Plock of Kyle and Plocrapool on the Isle of Harris. Until the end of the eighteenth century, the fishing hamlet, as it was then, was known as Am Ploc (meaning 'blunt promontory' in Gaelic).{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=drz9AgAAQBAJ&dq=plockton&pg=PA96 |title=Northwest Highlands of Scotland |date=March 2013 |publisher=Footprint |isbn=9781909268241 |edition=1st |location=Bath, UK |pages=96 |language=English}} The ‘-ton’ (from 'town') was added to designate it as such in the English language, following the construction of the planned village around 1800.

The village has a small general store with a café; a takeaway; a restaurant; newsagent and craft shop; three hotels with pubs; numerous B&Bs; library with free internet access and a village hall, which holds community events and art exhibitions. The Church of Scotland house of worship in the village, also used by the Free Church of Scotland, was designed by Thomas Telford.{{Cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Thomas-Telfords-Parliamentary-Kirks|title=Geograph:: Thomas Telford's Parliamentary Kirks|website=www.geograph.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-07-17}} The village is served by Plockton railway station, on the Kyle of Lochalsh Line, and the short Plockton Airfield, operated by the Highland Council,The Highland Council, [https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/15283/members_approve_next_steps_for_three_council_owned_airfields Members approve next steps for three Council owned airfields], published on 4 May 2023, accessed on 30 June 2024 is for light aircraft and microlights.

Nearby is Duncraig Castle, a nineteenth-century stately home built by the Matheson family. The castle was derelict for many years, having had a variety of commercial uses.

Plockton has been a popular location for many artists including those from The Edinburgh School (Adam Bruce Thomson, David Macbeth Sutherland) and continues to attract artists.{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/search?q=plockton+artists |title=Plockton Paintings|accessdate=16 April 2015}}

File:Plockton, Wester Ross.jpg

Situated on a sheltered inlet of Loch Carron, and due to the series of New Zealand cabbage trees which have dominated Harbour Street since the 1960s, Plockton has been described as having a distinctive "sub-tropical appearance".{{Cite book |last=Nicolson |first=James R. |title=Beyond the Great Glen |date=1975 |publisher=David & Charles |isbn=9780715367780 |location=London}} Most of the land around Plockton is within the Balmacara Estate, owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

Plockton lies about 10km (6miles) northeast of Kyle of Lochalsh, and is reached by road along single-track roads that go between Kyle of Lochalsh on the A87, and Achmore on the A890.

The village is a tourist resort, often having many tourists and day-trippers in peak season. It has been deemed "arguably the prettiest village in the highlands".{{Cite book |last=Shelby |first=Barry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dDcEzEk6X-8C&dq=plockton&pg=PA357 |title=Scotland for Dummies |date=2009 |publisher=Wiley Publishing |isbn=9780470385142 |edition=5th |location=Indianapolis, Indiania |pages=357 |language=English}} The television series Hamish Macbeth, starring Robert Carlyle, was filmed there, substituting for the fictional Lochdubh.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8286922.stm|title='Hamish Macbeth' beat's new base|date=2009-10-02|access-date=2018-07-17|language=en-GB}} Plockton was also used for various scenes in the film The Wicker Man{{cite web|title=Where was 'The Wicker Man' filmed?|url=http://www.british-film-locations.com/The-Wicker-Man-1973|website=British Film Locations|accessdate=5 June 2017}} and the Inspector Alleyn Mysteries television series.{{Citation |last=Woods |first=John |title=Dead Water |date=1994-04-01 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0510135/ |access-date=2024-07-01 |series=Alleyn Mysteries |others=Ewen Bremner, Jane Lapotaire, Eleanor David}}{{Cite web |title=The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries - Dead Water - filmboards.com |url=https://filmboards.com/t/The-Inspector-Alleyn-Mysteries/Dead-Water-1515709/ |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=filmboards.com}}

File:Plockton High School - geograph.org.uk - 7341675.jpg in the village]]

Plockton is home to Sgoil Chiùil na Gàidhealtachd - the National Centre For Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton High School, which also serves the village and a wide surrounding area. The school also hosts the Am Bàta project, teaching pupils in the art of boat building, from which a number of 'local' style boats have been produced. Some have been donated to the local sailing club - Plockton Small Boat Sailing Club - whilst others have been sold to the public. Plockton was home between 1956 and 1972 to the Gaelic scholar Sorley MacLean,{{Cite web|title = Sorley MacLean Official Website|url = http://www.sorleymaclean.org/english/plockton.htm|website = www.sorleymaclean.org|access-date = 2016-01-14|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130118051410/http://www.sorleymaclean.org/english/plockton.htm|archive-date = 18 January 2013|url-status = dead}} (Somhairle MacGill-Eain) whilst headmaster at the high school, who introduced the teaching of Gaelic and championed shinty.

Since 1991 Plockton Primary School has accommodated a Gaelic-medium education unit (GMU), where instruction is through the medium of Gaelic. 24.4% of the population in the catchment area of Plockton Primary School reports being able to speak Gaelic – the highest incidence of Gaelic-speaking on the mainland of Scotland.{{Cite web|url = http://www.linguae-celticae.org/dateien/Gaidhlig_Local_Studies_Vol_10_A_Chomraich_Loch_Aillse_Ed_II.pdf|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060510000007/http://www.linguae-celticae.org/dateien/Gaidhlig_Local_Studies_Vol_10_A_Chomraich_Loch_Aillse_Ed_II.pdf|url-status = usurped|archive-date = 10 May 2006|title =Taobh Siar Rois: A'Chomraich, Loch Carrann & Loch Aillse}}

From 1954 the village played host to Plockton Amateur Football Club. However, from 2016, the club has been in abeyance. Plockton FC played at the Alasdair Ross Memorial Park and competed in yellow and black strips - reflected in their "Bumble Bees" nickname. They were formerly members of the West Highland Amateur Football Association.

File:Plockton - geograph.org.uk - 8277.jpg|Aerial view of Plockton

Image:Scotland Plockton 2.jpg|Harbour Street, the main street in Plockton

Image:Plockton Dancing Regatta.jpg|Street dancing on the last day of the Regatta fortnight

The Met Office operates a weather station at Plockton,{{cite web |title=Synoptic and climate stations |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-synoptic-and-climate-stations |website=Met Office |access-date=9 August 2023}} for which 30 year averages are available. As with the rest of the British Isles, Plockton experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The highest temperature was 27.7 °C recorded on 9 May 2016, and the lowest was –9.8 °C.

{{Weather box

|location = Duirinish-Plockton, 18m asl, (average highs and lows 1971-2000)

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C= 14.9

|Feb record high C= 11.3

|Mar record high C= 17.9

|Apr record high C= 18.9

|May record high C= 27.7

|Jun record high C= 20.8

|Jul record high C= 22.1

|Aug record high C= 22.1

|Sep record high C= 19.6

|Oct record high C= 15.9

|Nov record high C= 12.3

|Dec record high C= 17.2

|year record high C= 29.4

|Jan high C = 7.2

|Feb high C = 7.5

|Mar high C = 8.9

|Apr high C = 11.2

|May high C = 14.7

|Jun high C = 16.2

|Jul high C = 17.7

|Aug high C = 17.5

|Sep high C = 15.2

|Oct high C = 12.5

|Nov high C = 9.4

|Dec high C = 7.7

|year high C =

|Jan low C = 2.0

|Feb low C = 2.1

|Mar low C = 2.9

|Apr low C = 4.1

|May low C = 6.4

|Jun low C = 8.7

|Jul low C = 10.8

|Aug low C = 10.7

|Sep low C = 8.9

|Oct low C = 6.9

|Nov low C = 4.1

|Dec low C = 2.7

|year low C =

|Jan record low C= -8.3

|Feb record low C= -7.3

|Mar record low C= -8.2

|Apr record low C= -9.8

|May record low C= -9.3

|Jun record low C= -5.5

|Jul record low C= 1.8

|Aug record low C= -3.0

|Sep record low C= -5.0

|Oct record low C= -5.5

|Nov record low C= -8.2

|Dec record low C= -9.4

|year record low C=

|source 1 = 1971-2000 averages{{cite web

| url =http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/Scotland/Duirinish/statistics.html | title = Plockton 1971-2000 averages | accessdate = 1 November 2011 | publisher = YR.NO}}

|source 2 = Met Office and Voodoo Skies{{Cite web|url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2015/december|title=Climate summaries}}{{Cite web|url=https://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/2016/05/|title=May 2016}}{{Cite web |url=http://voodooskies.com/weather/united-kingdom/plockton/monthly/temperature |title=Voodoo Skies - Plockton Monthly Temperature weather history |access-date=20 May 2016 |archive-date=16 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616224436/http://voodooskies.com/weather/united-kingdom/plockton/monthly/temperature |url-status=dead }}

|date=November 2011

}}

• Port an Eòrna

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.plockton.com/ Plockton web portal for visitors: accommodation, eating out etc]
• [http://www.plockton.org/ Plockton community site: news, events, local clubs etc]
• [http://www.railscot.co.uk/Kyle_of_Lochalsh_Extension_Railway/frame.htm The Kyle Line]
• [http://www.scotlandthemovie.com/hamish/scenery1.html Hamish Macbeth at Scotland The Movie]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203853/http://robinwilson.net/plocktoncu/plockton.html Panorama of Plockton] (QuickTime required)

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Category:Populated places in Lochalsh

Category:Villages in Highland (council area)