ACTIVE OUTDOORS: Signs of the times on Wade’s road to Inverness

Exactly two months before the Battle of Culloden, 1500 Hanoverian troops marched south from Inverness to Moy along General Wade’s road in an effort to capture Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Prince Charles Edward Stuart was staying at Moy Hall, an undercover guest of Lady Anne Mackintosh. He had arrived there ahead of his Jacobite army with some 50 or so men.

A few miles up the military road, a gang of just five Jacobites, led by the local Blacksmith Donald Fraser, managed to convince Lord Loudon and his men that the Highland army was about to pounce.

On a fierce February night of lightning and pitch darkness, musket fire and a call to arms convinced the advancing government troops that they were about to be attacked – they fled northwards back to Inverness.

The location of the “Rout of Moy,” as it became known, is today marked by a cairn and a fading sign.

The weather had turned as I set out from Lynebeg, just across the A9 from Moy, with rain a blessed relief after this stifling heatwave. It was what had persuaded me to get the running shoes on in the first place!

Having been dropped off just after the cattle grid, I jogged gently past the first few houses, keeping left of a bright white house then forking right before a stone cottage on the left.

This part of the route is marked by an aged and faded right of way marker post, but it’s unmissable since the estate drove a fresh track along the line of the military road.

There used to be little more than a vague line to attempt to follow here, with one or two stone culverts still in place from Wade’s day. Sadly, that characterful route is long gone, but it means you can keep your feet dry and run this stretch, rather than sinking through the sphagnum moss!

At a left-hand bend, I left the track to continue straight ahead, aiming for a shiny new gate in the moor. The soggy path below my feet was more how I remembered this stretch of the “road”.

Soon I reached a small burn where there clearly used to be a crossing – a concrete abutment remains on the far bank. It wouldn’t take much to reinstate a simple bridge here and upgrade the small section of Wade’s road from the track.

An old marker post which used to direct people off the forest track beyond onto this less defined part of the route was lying in the burn, a sign of the lack of care given to some of our historic routes today.

It was an easy hop over the burn and onto the track on the far side, an access route for the Glen Kyllachy wind farm. Heather and wildflowers in bloom lined the side of the track as I ran along the undulating route, taking a right turn at a clear fork.

Just beyond here was the cairn for the Rout of Moy – marked “Ruaig Na Maighe 17/02/1746” – and the old military road continues almost parallel to the modern A9 with the traffic thundering past.

At the bottom of an incline, the track bends right over a concrete bridge, ignoring a grassier track shooting off left, then bends left. A short way ahead, a well weathered wooden sign reads: “Wade’s Bridge 1km”.

I’ve been down this old part of the route in the past but I didn’t fancy battling through the bracken for a two-kilometre detour in my running shorts, so I gave it a miss this time. The original Wade bridge is off the actual right of way today, as the nearby quarry means the original route can’t be followed all the way at this point.

Instead, continue on the main track through the forest to a sharp left-hand bend, where you continue ahead to the house at Auchbain. After a gate, follow the track left of the house for a nice easy downhill section to meet the B851.

The route goes right, along the road for a short way, then first left down the dead-end road to Faillie. The stone arch bridge which crosses the River Nairn here is possibly a replacement bridge for one a short way to the west – a suggestion made partly because the bridge is not in line with the road.

Across the river, the route goes left past some holiday homes then forks right up a newly dug rough track. The green right of way sign was lying neatly on the floor to direct people correctly up the hill.

It’s a bit of a slog up the steep climb but it’s easy to follow on the path then through the edge of a field to reach the minor road west of Daviot. General Wade’s road is clearly marked opposite, entering the forest – just make sure to take the footpath rather than the forest track to its left.

I felt like I was back on home turf now as I climbed up towards Daviot woods, but there was still some distance to go. Eventually I got past the high point and started to descend.

The route meets tarmac at Milton of Leys, but this quiet road – with great views over Inverness to Ben Wyvis – is popular with runners, cyclists and dog walkers, and it leads all the way down to the southern distributor road on the edge of the city.

The historic route goes straight over the roundabout and follows Old Edinburgh Road all the way back to the heart of Inverness, but I was ready to aim for home now after enjoying some much-needed summer rain on a truly refreshing run.

Route details

Moy to Inverness on General Wade’s Military Road

Distance 12 miles / 20 km

Terrain Estate tracks, tarmac roads, footpath, short stretch of boggy path with a very easy burn crossing

Start/finish Lynebeg (Moy) / Inverness

Map OS Landranger 26 & 27; OS Explorer 416 & OL60

Following in the footsteps of Jacobites and Hanoverians on a run along the old military road into Inverness

Click here to see the route in OS Maps