A830 road
The A830, also known as the Road to the Isles (though it forms only a part of the historic route) is a major road in Lochaber, Scottish Highlands. It connects the town of Fort William to the port of Mallaig. It was constructed by Thomas Telford in 1803 and has been celebrated as a historic part of Scottish culture.
Route
The A830 is 46 miles long. It starts at a junction on the A82 road and immediately crosses the River Lochy over the Victoria Bridge. The road passes through several small settlements, including Corpach, Glenfinnan and Arisaig and bypasses the village of Morar. It also follows the shorelines of Loch Eil and Loch Eilt, and passes between a series of several glens between these.[1][2][3]
The road ends at the quayside in the port of Mallaig adjacent to the railway station with onward ferry services to the isles of Muck, Eigg, Rùm, Canna and Skye, and a ferry across to the neighbouring peninsula at Inverie which although on the mainland has no other road access. Throughout its length, the road follows the route of the West Highland Line from Fort William to Mallaig.[1][2]
History
The historic Road to the Isles is an ancient drove road which leaves General Wade's military road from Stirling to Inverness at Tummel Bridge, along the northern banks of the River Tummel and Loch Rannoch roughly along the present day B846. Where today's road runs out the old road continued over Rannoch Moor towards Kings House on the A82, over the Devil's Staircase and past Kinlochleven, to meet the present A830 at Fort William.
Before the 19th century, there was no established road beyond Glenfinnan. The area beyond this to Mallaig was known as the Na Garbh-Chriochain (The Rough Bounds) and was part of the Lordship of the Isles of Clan Donald, then part of the estates of Clan Macdonald of Clanranald. In 1803, Thomas Telford campaigned for government funding to build a "Parliamentry Road" across the estate from Banavie and Corpach towards Arisaig. The road was described as the "Loch-na-Gaul" road.[4]
Until spring 2009, the A830 between Arisaig and Lochailort was the only remaining single-track trunk road still in use in the UK (apart from a small section of A887 West of Invermoriston) but now all the road is double track.[5] The 7.4-mile (11.9 km) bypassed section has been handed to the local authority for maintenance and designated the B8008.[6]
Culture
On 25 May 2008 the road was featured in the BBC TV programme Countryfile.
Songs
There is a traditional Scottish song about the road, called The Road to the Isles. The lyrics mention locations the road passes, including (in order): the Cuillin Hills, Tummel, Loch Rannoch, Lochaber, Shiel, Ailort, Morar, the Skerries and the Lews.
A satirical song about the road, "The 8-3-0," was written by Ian McCalman (of the Scottish folk group The McCalmans) and published in 1993, before the road's widening. The song lampoons the "single track" nature of the A-status road and depicts unsuspecting tourists dodging tourist buses and fish vans, and returning from Mallaig by train instead.[7]
References
- ^ a b Mallaig & Glenfinnan (inc. Loch Shiel) (Map). 1:50 000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2015. 40.
- ^ a b Ben Nevis (inc. Fort William & Glen Coe) (Map). 1:50 000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2015. 41.
- ^ Murphy, Alan (2014). Scotland Highlands & Islands Footprint Handbook. Footprint. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-909-26862-3.
- ^ "Opening up the road to the isles". The Scotsman. 7 March 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "A830 - Roader's Digest". The SABRE Wiki. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- ^ "LIST OF PUBLIC ROADS – PROPOSED REVISIONS" (PDF). The Highland Council. 12 June 2006. Archived from the original (pdf) on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.the-mccalmans.com/lyrics/lyrics-The-8-3-0.htm
A roads in Zone 8 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme | ||
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56°52′42″N 5°29′13″W / 56.87842°N 5.48682°W
External links
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