The First Footpaths in The Bays
By Kenneth Campbell - Added 15/04/2014
Audio of Kenneth Campbell from Scadabay telling about the difficulties involved in overland travel between the neighbouring villages in his father’s time. This item was recorded in 1983. Dur: 1.58
There were no roads or footpaths in The Bays in Alasdair Campbell’s day. Alasdair owned a horse and cart but he had to leave the cart in Miavag, close to the road, and ride his horse home to Scadabay each evening. In the winter when there was bad weather Alasdair used to take his wife with him when he had to cross the moor to Grosebay. This was so that she could go for help if the horse happened to get trapped in a bog. There weren’t many horses in The Bays at that time as the land wasn’t suitable for them.
The first footpath was created when the Ladies’ School in Scadabay closed and a new school was built in Drinishader. This school catered for pupils from Miavag, Drinishader and Scadabay. Its first pupils and the following generations used the footpath to get to school until the long-awaited main road was built.
Kenneth tells how the footpath was then extended to Grosebay as an “emergency road”. Fishing boats from Cluer, Stockinish and Grosebay that couldn’t make it round Rubha Reibinis dropped anchor at Plocrapool and took the footpath home from there.