 helmsdale (,scots language centre: scottish place names in scots )ainmean-Ãite na h-alba ~ gaelic place-names of scotland is a village on the east coast of sutherland, in the highland council area of scotland. the modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding straths as part of the highland clearances. helmsdale is a fishing port at the estuary of the river helmsdale, and was once the home of one of the largest herring fleets in europe. the river itself is well known for its fishing. west helmsdale lies across the river from the main village above the railway station; old helmsdale is immediately to the north while east helmsdale is a settlement less than a mile to the east. the village is on the a9 road, at a junction with the a897, and has a railway station on the far north line. buses operate about every two hours mondays-saturdays and infrequently on sundays from helmsdale to brora, golspie, dornoch, tain and inverness in the south and berriedale, dunbeath, halkirk, thurso and scrabster in the north. these are on route x99 and are operated by stagecoach in the highlands, but tickets can be bought on the citylink website. facilities in helmsdale include an independent youth hostel, a heritage centre, an art gallery, and an inn. ==toponymy== helmsdale river, (gaelic ilidh), is noted by ptolemy as ila, which remains an obscure name. the gaelic name for the village, bun ilidh, means ilie-foot. norse settlers called the strath hjalmundal, meaning dale of the helmet, from which the modern village name helmsdale is derived. ==culture and sports== helmsdale is famous for its highland games which are always the 3rd saturday in august
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