Avoch Harbour

Avoch Harbour is today one of the places you can board a pleasure boat to view the bottlenose dolphins which inhabit the Moray Firth area. Two hundred years ago, however, the harbour did not even exist.

Thanks to the efforts of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the famous Canadian explorer who spent his final years in Avoch, a harbour was built. The following is an extract from his report in 1815 to the Commissioners for Highland Roads and Bridges,

  'Avoch upon the Inverness Firth, within the Point of Fortrose, is well known to be an old established fishing station, and maintains above 100 families, who are allowed to be the most expert fishers in that quarter of the country; but, on account of the flatness of the shore, they have at present no protection for their boats. Your Memorialist is desirous of constructing a proper Pier for that purpose' 

The cost of the pier was less than £1,000, of which Sir Alexander paid half – the remainder was paid by the commissioners.  The project was part of a Government initiative to improve access and communications in the Highlands as a whole. With Thomas Telford as principal surveyor, in the 60 years from 1803-1863, almost 1200 miles of road were created in the Highlands, together with over 1,000 bridges.