direct rail from Inverness to Dornoch via a new bridge and an old branch line, which would leave Lairg isolated on a circuitous loop away from the main route. Although the link would shorten journey times to Thurso and Wick, reducing the rail service to Lairg would be detrimental to the local economy. Given the huge cost of building a rail bridge over the Dornoch Firth and both the Scottish government and the Highland Regional council's lack of enthusiasm for the project, it seems unlikely the proposal will become reality. The B864 road leads south and passes through the hamlet of Achany. The parallel A836 road also runs south to Bonar Bridge, and passes through the village of Achinduich. The areas to the north and west are sparsely populated and crossed by just three single track roads. Impact crater Lairg is prospectively the site of the fifteenth largest impact crater on Earth, the Lairg Gravity Low which dates from 1.2 billion years ago and is across. Evidence for a bolide impact centered on Ullapool was published by a combined team of scientists from the University of Oxford and the University of Aberdeen, in March 2008. IV27 (Lairg) postcode area IV27, with Lairg as its postal town, is the largest postcode area in the United Kingdom, at 1,393 square miles. It covers a vast area of far north west Scotland, including Lochinver, Cape Wrath and Tongue. People associated with Lairg Sam McDonald (1762–1802), soldier and strongman Sir James Matheson (1796–1878), entrepreneur Alastair Bruce of Crionaich K.stJ OBE VR (born 1960), Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary and historical advisor to film and television productions including Downton Abbey, as well as the current Governor of Edinburgh Castle (appointed July 2019). Rev John MacKay MacLennan, minister of Lairg Free church 1923 to 1965, Moderator of the General Assembly in 1938 See also Land raid References External links Photographs of Lairg Populated places in Sutherland