Corrieyairack Pass, Scotland

there was an article in one of the comics a few months ago, IIRC one end of it is blocked and you have to turn around and go back, deliberate obstruction of some kind..

-- Mark.

"nec aspera terrent"

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Hi

The club i'm in (Highland 4 Wheel Drive Club) did an organised run from Fort Augustus to the summit and back in April to raise money for charity. From what I understand the Fort Augustus side is usually closed and advance permission is required from the landowner, as far as i know the Laggan side is open although when we were there the switchback east of the summit was badly washed out and in need of repair, at the time i don't think it would be driveable (uphill) in a standard 4x4. I don't know if the situation has changed since.

Hope this helps, Tom

The road at the Fort Augustus end has a locked gate

Regards Martyn

There is also a fence across it with only a pedestrian size gap in it and if you look carefully, the steel poles are still set into the road, behind the fence. See:

and Cheers Andrew

On or around Wed, 7 Dec 2005 23:48:59 -0000, "Andrew Kay" enlightened us thusly:

So what's the legal position WRT vehicular right of way on it? None of the pictures on that site show a track which is going to be damaged by reasonable use, I'd say.

Scottish law on byways is very different to England & Wales. It's something along the lines of "if you can show use, that makes it a road" - obvioulsy it's more involved than that but you get the idea.

In England & Wales, if a road is blocked (be it surfaced or otherwise) then the Highways Dept. is duty bound to keep it clear (whether they actualy do that or not is another matter. You block any surfaced road and see how quickly they enforce it compared to an unsurfaced road), and you have the right to move the obstruction or take reasonable measures to go round it.

I believe the situation in Scotland is very much more complex, and an article I read about the Pass suggested that if the bloke keeps it obstructed for long enough it will be deemed to be no longer used and he can gat it closed - or something like that.

Richard

1) It is a public right of way of some kind. That isn't in dispute. 2) It is recorded on the Scotways CRoW (Catalogue of Rights of Way), which is almost a surrogate for the Definitive Maps in England & Wales, as being of "unknown" status. It is NOT, therefore, proven to be either a footpath or a bridleway. 3) As it is a *road* (a way with a public right) and is not proven to be a footpath or a bridleway, I would have thought that a prosecution under s34 of the Road Traffic Act (Scotland) 1988 is unlikely. 4) The Wade road over the Corrieyairack Pass is a scheduled ancient monument. It is, therefore, an offence to *damage* it. AFAIK, there is no case law that would support the notion that merely using the route (e.g. driving on it) is damaging it. One could argue, probably with some force that the civil works - installation of a gate, steel posts, a fence and changes to the height and width of the road at the Fort Augustus end constitutes damage!!! It is certainly a change to the nature of the road and would, I think, require approval. Some time, I must try and find out whether the owner of the Culachy Estate did indeed have approval to make those changes to this scheduled monument.

To summarise, the legal position is at best a bit grey. You don't have a

*proven* right to drive on it - but many folks do. No one, AFAIK, has ever been prosecuted for driving on it - indeed, it isn't obvious what they might be prosecuted for.

Cheers Andrew