Earlier this week the small Highland village of Tomintoul was in jubilant mood as they celebrated becoming part of a gold-tier dark sky park. The Tomintoul and Glenlivet Cairngorms Dark Sky Park, which was officially approved by the International Dark Sky Organisation on Monday, is now the most northerly dark sky park in the world.

The highest village in the Highlands, Tomintoul sits on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park in the north east county of Moray, otherwise known as malt whisky country (it has the highest concentration of distilleries in the whole of the UK). Stargazers will be walking in the irregular footsteps of whisky lovers who come to visit the Glenlivet distillery (in the summer) and work their way through the numerous bottles of unique single cask malts at the Whisky Castle on Tomintoul Main Street.

This is also a walker’s paradise with routes that tread the paths of black market traders who smuggled illicitly distilled liquor across the glen. The wildlife spotting opportunities are also pretty impressive with one of the country’s largest collection of waders on view (mostly lapwings, known locally as peesies) from the newly erected bird hide at the back of the village and basking sharks and dolphins spottable from the Scottish Dolphin Centre at Spey Bay where the river meets the sea about an hour’s drive north.