River Ness

The River Ness flows for ten kilometres from Loch Dochfour to Inverness, where it meets the Moray Firth. It runs beside the Caledonian Canal for half its length before reaching the city. Near the centre stands a small archipelago called the Ness Islands, linked to the banks by footbridges. The river has carried traffic since at least the 15th century, when the first timber bridge was built. Later crossings include a suspension bridge with a castle-like turret and a pair of modern dual-carriageway spans. Two of the footbridges are known locally as the ‘Bouncy Bridges’ because their decks sway when walked on in step. Legends speak of kelpies that haunt the water, shapeshifting spirits that lure the unwary. In AD 565 Saint Columba is said to have driven a water monster back into the Ness. A ninth-century account tells how Columba healed a Pictish king’s advisor using a white pebble from the riverbed. The stone floated in water and cured the man after he agreed to free an Irish slave-girl. For centuries the stone remained in the royal treasury, given to those who sought healing. Visitors walk along Ness Walk on the southern bank, where the Infirmary Bridge connects to the Great Glen Way. The Greig Street suspension bridge at Huntly Street sways underfoot when timed with others. At the Ness Islands, iron half-suspension bridges from 1853 still carry the railway that circles Whin Park. The Black Bridge, built in 1889, carries both vehicles and pedestrians between the city centre and the railway station.