Alness

Coordinates: 57°41′42″N 4°15′29″W / 57.695°N 4.258°W / 57.695; -4.258

Alness (/ɔːlˈnɛs/, awl-NIS; Scottish Gaelic: Alanais) is a town and civil parish in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. It lies near the Cromarty Firth, with the town of Invergordon 3 miles to the east, and the village of Evanton 4 miles to the south west. The parish has a population of 5,310, although the census locality, which includes part of the parish of Rosskeen, has a population of 5,186.

For most of the 1990s and early 2000s Alness regularly entered and won flower competitions such as Scotland in Bloom, Britain in Bloom and others winning a large number of awards and this also helped regenerate some areas of the town with some housing estates winning separate awards themselves.

They have not entered in recent years due to the financial cost however the town is still adorned by flowers maintained by hard working volunteers.

Geography

Divided by the River Averon, the town is in two parishes, Alness in the west and Rosskeen in the east. Historically these were in different presbyteries. Today there are three churches; Free Church, Church of Scotland and Baptist.