Down Memory Lane by Bill McAllister: Road building of a kind not seen since Roman times by Irishman General George Wade who became the Highland's master roadbuilder and who 295 years ago began an Inverness to Fort Augustus route
The road north from Edinburgh did not pass Dunkeld, while the Glasgow route ended at Crieff, with the Highlands lacking a direct link south. Enter General George Wade, the Irishman who became the area’s master roadbuilder and who, 295 years ago, began an Inverness to Fort Augustus road.
The remarkable Wade opened up the Highlands, creating 250 miles of roads in seven years and building 40 bridges too, leaving a legacy that includes much of the line of the present A9.
The man from Westmeath was a Major General when King George I despatched him north for advice on how to deal with the Highlands, still simmering after the 1715 rebellion. His report recommended new forts at Fort William and Inverness (Fort George), new barracks at Ruthven and Cill Chuimein (now Fort Augustus) and Glenelg and, crucially, roads to connect them.
On Christmas Eve 1724 he was appointed commander of forces for North Britain. The following August he began planning his roads campaign, given the funds and between 100 to 500 soldiers at any one time, plus civilians, to build them in virtually unmapped country.
Wade and what he called his “highwaymen” were pioneers.
The men were unskilled, work could only be undertaken seven months of the year, and each soldier had a target of one-and-a-half yards a day. Yet Wade and his assistant, fellow Irishman Major William Caulfield, created a Scottish civil engineering masterpiece on a scale unrivalled since Roman times.
Wade, who asked for a standard width of 16 feet wherever possible, had good relations with his men, allowing them to drink whisky after a hard day’s work. This produced hangovers and delays so he provided means to brew beer, and successfully blocked excisemen’s attempt to tax it. Drinking stops were called King’s Houses and later became local inns.
In 1726, the “highwaymen” began building from Inverness Castle, heading through Torbreck and Essich and skirting Loch Ashie and Loch Duntelchaig.
It was a massive undertaking but Wade, undaunted, built a bridge at Whitebridge and reached Fort Augustus the following year. He marked it by driving a coach and six horses from Inverness along the new road.
However, the route was frequently blocked by snow so in 1732 he significantly replaced it – again starting at the castle but this time going to Dores and along the side of Loch Ness.
Near Inverfarigaig Wade used what he called “miners” to blast through dark rock. These “miners” hung by ropes from cliffs to bore holes for gunpowder, a hazardous task.
He progressed to Foyers, turned inland and from there to Fort Augustus, a historic achievement, and on past Loch Oich, crossing the Spean and reaching Fort William.
His strategy to link the forces of Inverness, Fort Augustus and Fort William was achieved, and he introduced a gunboat on Loch Ness. But the new road was also used by locals who had previously walked the high ground, though some barefooted Highlanders complained the gravel was sore on their feet!
Wade began his 102-mile route from the grounds of what is now Dunkeld House Hotel to Inverness in 1727 and completed it the next year.
There is a grass track at Killiecrankie, where Wade’s road stood.
In the concluding part, I will explore how the road north was completed, where it entered Inverness and how his remarkable legacy was continued.
• Sponsored by Ness Castle Lodges.
