Tain: a town still trying to make its case?

Aerial view of a stone church with a tall clock spire, surrounded by trees and gravestones beneath a cloudy sky.

Tain looks as though it ought to be somewhere I would enjoy spending an evening. Its old centre has handsome nineteenth-century buildings, places to eat and enough history to keep me occupied, yet when I stay here, the end of the working day seems to take much of the life out of the streets. I find that a shame, particularly when the town has so much of what a traveller needs. I occasionally choose it for an overnight stop, although usually because of what I am planning to do nearby rather than the prospect of an evening in Tain itself.

There was a time when its attraction needed no explanation. Pilgrims travelled to the shrine of St Duthac, including James IV, King of Scots, who returned repeatedly over almost twenty years. The surviving collegiate church, once served by a community of priests, recalls a town that people made considerable efforts to reach. Later generations had to find different reasons for visitors to come, and those efforts did not always meet their expectations. In 1897, a local solicitor complained that potential customers were passing Tain’s doors and continuing to Dornoch and Golspie. Reading that, I suspect my observations about the town would not have surprised him.

Platform 1864 gives me a more immediate reason to stop. The former station building has been restored as a restaurant and bar, and it is somewhere I would recommend for a meal. Nearby North Coast Glass offers contemporary glassware and the possibility of watching glassblowing when work is under way, although you should check ahead if that is what you hope to see. Between them, these businesses offer something beyond the fuel, supermarkets and transport connections that make Tain convenient.

Golfers have a course originally laid out by the celebrated Old Tom Morris, while Glenmorangie distillery is close by. I would also consider Tain as a base for exploring the places described in our Portmahomack and Tarbat Peninsula article in 'People and Places'. In the blogcast, we explore the town’s long campaign to attract holidaymakers, including the local joke that an earthquake might finally get Tain noticed.

To learn more, listen to the blogcast or book one of our North Coast Explorer private tours.