Dunkeld - Dalnacardoch - Ruthven - Aviemore - Inverness Military Road

NH82NW 49.00 8398 2500 to 8000 2947. MR 2 (Formerly Lin 501 [part of]).

NH82NW 49.01 NH 8049 2934 and 8056 2936 Excavations

NH82NW 49.02 NH 8355 2577 Marker stone

The military road follows the line of the modern road for a short distance. At Slochd Summit on the A9, a point clearly marked by British Rail, the next stretch of Wade's road heads off to the E side of the A9 as the railway line emerges from a vertical-sided cutting. The route takes the form of a walkable track as far as Raigbeg on the River Findhorn. Initially it merely appears as an indistinct shape in the heather, although the hard stone core is often possible to feel. Where well-defined hill tracks coincide with the Wade road the latter is roughly gravelled. It mainly follows a straight course and there are considerable stretches of raised banks beside it. The road reaches its maximum height after approximately two miles and enters a cutting for approximately 200 yards at NH 818 281, about one mile S of Raigbeg. The cutting is obscured by thick juniper scrub. The road takes a turn towards the right at NH 812 285 and follows the edge of an area of forestry, becoming eventually lost under Raigbeg School. It crosses the Findhorn, probably by ferry (Baker and Baker 1982) or by means of a ford (Salmond 1938). No bridge is mentioned at this point. Later, according to Sir Eneas Mackintosh, a bridge was built by General Barrington in 1763, the piers of which still remain, though the bridge is modern (NH82NW 25). N of the Findhorn the road heads uphill through trees. It follows a fairly straight course through the policies of Tomatin House, although no traces of this exist. It reappears above a small quarry at NH 808 294 and is visible for a quarter of a mile W over the A9 to the farm at 804 293 on the former A9, now an unclassified road, to Tomatin. It then links with the A9 on the sharp left-hand bend just N of the railway bridge at Tomatin at NH 803 292. It is clearly visible in the field as it reaches this junction.

J B Salmond 1938; W Taylor 1976; J and A Baker 1982.

NH 8398 2500 to NH 8368 2544 Wade's road destroyed by blasting for newer road and railway.

NH 8368 2544 to NH 8109 2902 Wade's road well-preserved heather and grass covered track. Carriageway c.4m wide flanked by low banks c.0.3m high and about 2m wide. Road is well drained and built in a series of straight alignments.

NH 8355 2577 standing stone,1.8m high by 1.1m by 0.4m (NH82NW 49.02). Unmarked but obviously contemporary with Wade's road.

NH 8191 2809 to NH 8177 2820 Wade's road carriageway eroded by stream.

NH 8109 2902 to NH 8106 2909 no trace.

NH 8106 2909 to NH 8106 2915 Wade's road descends steep slope in a man-made gully.

NH 8106 2915 to NH 8111 2921 no trace.

NH 8110 2922 base stones of bridge buttresses visible in River Findhorn when river is low (NH82NW 25).

NH 8109 2924 to NH 8086 2936 no trace.

NH 8086 2936 to NH 8087 2935 Wade's road descends steep slope in a man-made gulley.

NH 8087 2935 to NH 8000 2947 Wade's road well-preserved heather and grass-covered track. Carriageway c.4m wide flanked by low banks 0.3m high and about 2m wide. Road well drained and aligned.

Visited by OS October 1966.

The modern track giving access to the A9 at Slochd Summit is on the line of the military road, the original route now being disused and overgrown with heather and ending in the vicinity of NH 8375 2552. At the junction of the two routes is a marker stone at NH 8355 2577 (NH82NW 49.02). A passing place for vehicles has been created at the S end of the next section by widening the track to 10m. Near to this a small modern quarry has cut into the track side. The military road then runs along a metalled track as far as NH 8222 2765. Recent repair works have been carried out along this stretch, including sections of resurfacing and the digging of drainage ditches. At intervals a series of drainage channels have been dug along the track, which suffers from some erosion and damage, particularly in the vicinity of NH 8312 2635. At this point two drainage channels have been cut through the fabric of the road to facilitate water drainage from another track joining the military route at this location. The Wade road, as a grass covered track, descends a slope at the top of which it measures about 4m wide between flanking banks and is densely overgrown with heather. In this stretch it is very wet and marshy due to very poor drainage. As the road descends it passes through an area heavily overgrown with gorse. As it traverses open heather moorland it is seen to have suffered much damage and erosion caused by a burn cutting through the line of the track and creating high banks on each side. Passing a small plantation it continues N, with a stone boundary and grass bank to the E and a section of banking on the W side of the track at its N end. The military road then joins a rough and rutted stone and dirt track, with a stone boundary on its E side, and runs down, between a conifer plantation to the W and open farmland to the E, to Raigbeg School.

There is now a modern wood and metal bridge over the River Findhorn at the probable crossing point of the military road at NH 8110 2922 (see NH82NW 25).

Between the bridge and Smithfield Farm is a track still known as the Military Way according to local tradition. It is a rough eroded path with stretches of banking alongside it, running through fields. At the S end, on one of the bank segments, is an upright stone called Prince Charlie's Stone at NH 8083 2934 (NH82NW 1). The route passes underneath the A9 through an arch built into the fabric of the dual-carriageway. W of Smithfield Farm the route traverses pasture as a turf and heather covered track with banking on the E side. At its N end the track is badly churned up and it cuts through the remains of a prehistoric settlement and field-system (NH82NW 12), of which three stone huts and associated boundary walls are still visible, as well as the associated field system.

M Logie (Highland Council) 1997; NMRS MS/1007/2.