Fort William - Fort Augustus - Inverness Military Road

NH41NE 9.00 4847 1500 to 4999 1750 (MR 1)

General Wade's Military Road (NAT)

OS 1:10000 map [undated].

NH41NE 9.01 NH 4940 1700 to NH 4999 1979 and NH 4999 1990 to NH 4993 1999 (MR 1 re-alignment)

NH41NE 9.02 NH 4945 1711 Ford

NH41NE 9.03 NH 4993 1919 Culvert

NH 4847 1500 - 4852 1514: Wade's road on line of disused tarmac road recently re-aligned.

NH 4852 1514 - 4940 1700: On line of B862 public road, except for c220m which by-pass the approaches to White Bridge (NH41NE 6). On the N side of the River Fechlin c100m of the lower road have been destroyed by a Forestry Commission track.

NH 4940 1700 - 4999 1750: The earlier 1726 Wade road branches off to the NE from somewhere about the church, across the Allt a Loin, presumeably on the line of the B862.

NH 4940 1700 - 4942 1740: Grass-covered track on line of earlier Wade road (1732).

NH 4942 1740 - 4990 1905: The B852 is on the line of the road.

NH 4990 1905 - 4997 1932: Disused track on the line of the road.

NH 4997 1932 - 4994 1953: The B852 follows the line of the road.

NH 4994 1953 - 4999 1979: Disused track on line of the road.

NH 4999 1990 - 4987 1999: B852 on the line of the road, except for the last 40m where it is re-aligned through Foyers to the E of the wade road.

Visited by OS, June 1964 and February 1979.

The military road (MR 1) heads N through Whitebridge on what is now the B862. On the E side of the road, at NH 4871 1527, is the Whitebridge Hotel, part of which may originally have been a kingshouse (NH41NE 8) on the military route. At Whitebridge, the military road deviates to the E of the B862 for a short distance.

At NH 4890 1538 is Whitebridge (NH41NE 6), a single span stone bridge which was constructed by the military in 1732. It appears to be in a fairly good state of repair, having undergone reparations following flood damage in 1829. However, although the bridge is still accessible to pedestrians, trees and vegetation have been permitted to grow out of the stonework. To the N of the bridge is a short stretch of military road in the form of a grass-covered track, which is somewhat rutted and eroded in parts.

Approximately 2km N of Whitebridge, at NH 4940 1700, the military road splits. It is believed that the original line of the 18th century road, which was constructed between 1725 and 1727, lay away from the side of Loch Ness. The line is believed to run through a field between NH 4943 1671 and NH 4954 1715. Although there are no traces on the ground, aerial photography suggests this as a possible line. There is a ford (NH41NE 9.02) crossing the Allt an Loin at NH 4945 1711, although there are no signs of any construction. A rough grass-covered farm track takes the route to a junction with the B862 in the vicinity of NH 4961 1723.

M Logie (Highland Council) 1997; NMRS, MS/1007/3.