Qualla: Bonar Bridge https://qualla.com/bonar-bridge en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:25 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/k/c/bonar-bridge-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Bonar Bridge https://qualla.com/bonar-bridge Bonar Bridge: Introduction https://qualla.com/bonar-bridge/ Photo credit Calum McRoberts, CC BY-SA 2.0. On the calm night of 16 August 1809, an overloaded ferry left the Dornoch shore for the market at Tain. About a hundred people climbed aboard with their goods and livestock. Halfway across the firth the boat turned broadside to the tide, took on water, and sank within minutes. Ninety-nine people drowned, including the sheriff of Dornoch. The disaster shocked Britain, and the donations that came in from overseas helped fund the bridge that would replace the ferry forever. The village that grew around the new crossing is still called Bonar Bridge.

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Image: Calum McRoberts | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/k/c/bonar-bridge-wp/gfkc-bonar-bridge-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Bonar Bridge: The Fair Ford https://qualla.com/bonar-bridge/ Photo credit Donald Bain, CC BY-SA 2.0. Long before Telford's iron arch went up, this stretch of the Kyle of Sutherland had a Gaelic name: Am Ban Ath, the fair ford. Drovers brought cattle south from Caithness and Sutherland to the markets of Falkirk and beyond, and this was the best place to cross without a long inlan...

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Image: Donald Bain | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/k/c/bonar-bridge-wp/gfkc-bonar-bridge-the-fair-ford.mp3 0:06 2 full Bonar Bridge: Telford's Iron Arch https://qualla.com/bonar-bridge/ Photo credit Jim Barton, CC BY-SA 2.0. Construction of the first bridge began in September 1811 and was completed in just over a year, in November 1812. Thomas Telford was the engineer; Simpson and Cargill the builders. The cast-iron components were made in Denbighshire, assembled there to check the fit, then taken ap...

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Image: Jim Barton | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/k/c/bonar-bridge-wp/gfkc-bonar-bridge-telfords-iron-arch.mp3 0:06 3 full Bonar Bridge: Where the Rivers Meet the Sea https://qualla.com/bonar-bridge/ Photo credit Donald Bain, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Kyle of Sutherland is the estuary of four rivers - Oykel, Cassley, Shin, and Carron - that all gather their waters above the bridge. East of it, the estuary opens into the Dornoch Firth and the sea. Salmon push upstream in summer; ospreys, buzzards, and grey seals work the sa...

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Image: Donald Bain | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/k/c/bonar-bridge-wp/gfkc-bonar-bridge-where-the-rivers-meet-the-sea.mp3 0:06 4 full Bonar Bridge: Quiet Now, Mostly https://qualla.com/bonar-bridge/ Photo credit Donald Bain, CC BY-SA 2.0. Since the Dornoch Firth Bridge opened further east, traffic through Bonar has thinned. The A9 to Wick now skips inland of the Kyle entirely, and what was once a hub for drovers and railway passengers has become a quiet village where locals simply call it 'Bonar', dropping the 'Br...

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Image: Donald Bain | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/k/c/bonar-bridge-wp/gfkc-bonar-bridge-quiet-now-mostly.mp3 0:06 5 full