Editing Achiltibuie

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                          = Scotland
| official_name                    = Achiltibuie
| gaelic_name                      = Achd Ille Bhuidhe
| static_image_name                = Achiltibuie post office.jpg
| static_image_caption             = The Post Office in Achiltibuie
| population                       =
| os_grid_reference                = NC025085
| coordinates                      = {{coord|58.02|-5.34|display=inline,title}}
| unitary_scotland                 = [[Highland (council area)|Highland]]
| community_scotland               = [[Coigach]]
| lieutenancy_scotland             = [[Ross and Cromarty]]
| constituency_westminster         = [[Ross, Skye and Lochaber (UK Parliament constituency)|Ross, Skye and Lochaber]]
| constituency_scottish_parliament = [[Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Caithness, Sutherland and Ross]]
| post_town                        = ULLAPOOL
| postcode_district                = IV26
| postcode_area                    = IV
| dial_code                        = 01854 
}}
'''Achiltibuie''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|x|ᵻ|l|t|ᵻ|ˈ|b|uː|i}}; {{langx|gd|'''Achd Ille Bhuidhe'''}} or ''Field of the yellow-haired boy''<ref>Mac an Tàilleir, Iain (2003), "Gaelic Place Names" http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Gaelic/placenamesA-B.pdf Retrieved on January 1, 2012</ref>) is a long [[linear village]] in [[Ross and Cromarty]], [[Highland (council area)|Highland]], on the [[Coigach]] coast of northwestern [[Scotland]], overlooking [[Badentarbet Bay]] to the west. [[Loch Broom]] and the [[Summer Isles]]  lie to the south. Located 10 miles (16&nbsp;km) northwest of [[Ullapool]] as the crow flies.  Achiltibuie is the central community of a series of townships and communities stretching from Culnacraig, through Badenscallie and [[Polglass]] (where the community hall, the primary school and the Piping School Cafe are located), [[Polbain]], and [[Reiff, Ross-shire|Reiff]] to [[Achnahaird]].

==History==
The first [[post office]] in the village opened on 28 July 1884.<ref>Mackay, James A. (1989) ''Scottish Post Offices'', p. 28, Dumfries: published by the author, {{ISBN|0-906440-48-3}}</ref>

===Smokehouse===
For a time the ''Summer Isles Smokehouse'' attracted visitors.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12323389.They_apos_re_wholly_smoked/ |title=They're wholly smoked |first=Catherine |last=Brown |work=The Herald |date=10 May 1997 |access-date=14 December 2016}}</ref> In 2013 the community had hopes to re-establish the business.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-21546957 |title=Achiltibuie smokehouse could return to public ownership |work=BBC News |date=22 February 2013}}</ref>

===Hydroponicum===
The Hydroponicum, a facility for growing fresh fruit and vegetables indoors using [[hydroponics]], was built in the village in the 1980s by Robert Irvine, then owner of the Summer Isles Hotel. The Hydroponicum was known for growing exotic fruit such as bananas all year round. It attracted up to 10,000 visitors a year until it was sold in 2007 to a company based in the [[Isle of Man]]. New greenhouses have since been built apart from the original hydroponicum buildings, and the new owners continue to grow fruit and vegetables for local businesses and residents. A community buyout attempt in 2011 by the Coigach Community Development Company fell through when the site's sellers pulled out.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Achiltibuie site community buy-out falls through |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-15820481 |newspaper=BBC News |date=21 November 2011 |access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref> The building has now been demolished.  Some of the former staff of the Hydroponicum run a small-scale activity known as The Achiltibuie Garden, situated nearby.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://caledonianmercury.com/2013/02/27/new-life-for-achiltibuie-smokehouse/0037760 |title=New Life for Achiltibuie Smokehouse? |publisher=[[Caledonian Mercury]] |date=27 February 2013 |access-date=11 August 2015}}</ref>

==Notable residents==
*[[Tom George Longstaff|Tom Longstaff]] (1875–1964), mountaineer.
*[[Lucy Irvine]] (b. 1956), writer, lived very briefly in the Summer Isles Hotel with her father, who owned it and the Hydroponicum.
*[[:de:Reiner Luyken]] (b.1951), former foreign correspondent of the German weekly paper [[Die Zeit]]

==Notable recent achievements==
'Coigach Community Rowing' the crew members of which coastal rowing club are all local, won the World [[St. Ayles Skiff]] Rowing Championships in July 2013 and a mixed crew from the club won the Alan Spong Trophy for 1st Mixed crew 4-oar rowing at the Thames [[Great River Race]] in September 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=Great River Race- Results 2013 |url=https://www.greatriverrace.co.uk/text_files/GRR%202013%20Provisional%20Results%202013.htm |website=greatriverrace.co.uk/ |access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref> Coigach Community Rowing hand-built their two St Ayles rowing skiffs, the 'Coigach Lass' and the 'Lily~Rose' and race under the auspices of the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association, which is the governing body of St Ayles class coastal rowing around the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=St Ayles Skiff |url=https://buieboat.wordpress.com/st-ayles-skiff/ |website=buieboat.wordpress.com/ |date=10 January 2010 |access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref>

The Brochs of Coigach designed by SBA Architects Ltd were shortlisted in 2011 for the [[RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award]]. They are two unique buildings landscaped into a hillside. They were Regional Finalist of the Civic Trust Awards 2013.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sbaarchitects.org/awards | title=Awards }}</ref> In 2015, they were highly commended in the inaugural Scottish Rural Awards.<ref>https://www.countryside-alliance.org/news/2015/3/scottish-rural-awards-celebrate-the-countryside’s.</ref>

==Cultural connections==
The Roman epic movie ''[[The Eagle (2011 film)|The Eagle]]'', based on the 1954 novel ''[[The Eagle of the Ninth]]'' by [[Rosemary Sutcliff]], was filmed on location in Achiltibuie for a week in October 2009. The main location was Fox Point, Old Dornie. The [[Pictish]] village which was constructed at Fox Point was used on most days of the filming. Other sites included Achnahaird beach where a horse chase was filmed and [[Loch Lurgainn]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Scotland: the Movie Location Guide: The Eagle - Achiltibuie |url=http://www.scotlandthemovie.com/movies/eagle2.html |website=scotlandthemovie.com |access-date=14 March 2023}}</ref>

The village and its residents featured in ''The Wee Mad Road'' (2008) by Jack and Barbara Maloney.<ref>{{cite book |title=The wee mad road : a midlife escape to the Scottish Highlands |publisher=WorldCat |oclc = 221154071}}</ref>

Achiltibuie is also the setting of a humorous German book about Scotland by Reiner Luyken, ''Schotten dicht'' (2015) published by [[Ullstein Verlag]], Berlin.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.ullstein-buchverlage.de/nc/buch/details/schotten-dicht-9783843711081.html |title=Schotten dicht: Nachrichten aus Schottland und Achiltibuie |publisher=Ullstein Verlag, Berlin |access-date=11 September 2017}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Achiltibuie}}
* [http://coigach.com/ Achiltibuie Tourist Association]
* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~coigach/index.htm Coigach Genealogy]

[[Category:Populated places in Ross and Cromarty]]
[[Category:Hydroponics]]