__NOTOC__ Balintore (from the meaning "The Bleaching Town") is a village near Tain in Easter Ross, Scotland. It is one of three villages on this northern stretch of the Moray Firth coastline: Hilton, Balintore, and Shandwick are known collectively as the Seaboard Villages.

An earlier name for Balintore was Port an Ab ("Abbot's Port"), after Fearn Abbey, the local landowner. Employment was formerly based on fishing. A road was built from Hill of Fearn in 1819, after which fish were shipped from the village, and Balintore Harbour was built in 1890–1896. The three villages were connected by a road in the first decade of the 20th century; Balintore has a post office and several shops.Jessie Mcdonald and Anne Gordon, Down to the Sea: An Account of Life in the Fishing Villages of Hilton, Balintore and Shandwick, 2nd ed., 1978, , online at Ross And Cromarty Heritage Society, archived from the original on 15 October 2011. The Seaboard Village Hall, now the Seaboard Centre, is in Balintore and serves as a community centre for the three villages.Seaboard Centre. The original building was erected in 1958 as a memorial to local people killed in the two World Wars,"The Seaboard Memorial Hall", Seaboard History, archived from the original on 16 April 2014. and was replaced in 2002."History of the Seaboard Centre", Seaboard Centre, archived from the original on 4 December 2017.

John Ross, a missionary who translated the Bible into Korean, is commemorated by a 2007 monument, part of the Seaboard Sculpture Trail,"Reverend John Ross (1842–1914)", Art UK, retrieved 5 November 2023. and by the John Ross Visitor Centre, which opened in 2022 in a former church between Balintore and Hilton."John Ross Visitor Centre", Easter Ross Peninsula, retrieved 5 November 2023.Hector MacKenzie, "Opening of new John Ross Visitor Centre hailed a major boost for Seaboard villages as Easter Ross missionary's historic links with South Korea strengthened", Ross-shire Journal, 21 May 2022.

The Mermaid of the North sculpture, by Steve Hayward of Hilton, was placed in 2007 on Clach Dubh ('Black Rock') on the shore at Balintore. After the original wood and resin sculpture was damaged in a 2012 storm, it was replaced in cast bronze in 2014. It also forms part of the Seaboard Sculpture Trail."About Mermaid of the North", Easter Ross Peninsula, retrieved 5 November 2023."Mermaid of the North could be joined by merman", BBC News, 2 August 2023.

Gallery

See also Balintore F.C.

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