Strathspey...

In the Heart of the Highlands between the Cairngorm Mountains and the Monadhliath Mountains lies Badenoch and Strathspey, a land of forests, lochs and of course the river Spey. The wildlife is rich and varied, from the Ptarmigan, Snow Bunting and Red Deer of the mountains, to the Black Grouse, Capercaillie and Roe deer of the forests and lower slopes. Once through the high pass of Drumochter you enter Badenoch, with its villages of Dalwhinnie, Newtonmore and Laggan recently made famous by the television series "Monarch of the Glen", then on to Kingussie and Kincraig , as you travel further north following the River Spey you enter into Strathspey through Aviemore, Carrbridge, Nethybridge, Boat of Garten, Dulnain Bridge and Grantown-on-Spey the capital of Strathspey founded in 1765 by Sir James Grant. Since Queen Victoria visited in 1860 Grantown has become famous as a Highland tourist centre, and finally Cromdale, scene of one of the bloodiest battles between the army of Bonny Prince Charlie and the opposing English forces. The Spey however surges on, past Aberlour, Rothes and Fochabers until it finally delivers itself into the North Sea at Spey Bay on the Moray coast.