Rathad Research

rathadpairc
Nov 23, 2022
2 min read

The New Pairc road heading towards Habost — Pairc road

Jan and I recently met with Bob Chambers via an internet video conference call to discuss and arrange filming some interview footage with him for our Rathad Pairc Road Project.

Bob is a historian who has completed extensive research on the history of crofting, land tenure, traditional homes and road-building in the Hebridean Islands of western Scotland. He is the author of several excellent books on these subjects. He also researched and wrote A Long and Tangled Saga, a book about the Pairc community land buyout published last year. It has been nominated and shortlisted for Scotland’s National Book Awards 2022 in its Research category.

We have arranged to film a conversation with him to discuss the importance and the role that road construction and other essential infrastructure initiatives had in the survival and prospering of these isolated and remote Hebridean communities in the early part of the 20th century.

In his book Off the Beaten Track, published in 2018, Bob describes in detail the extended and, at times, acrimonious process involved in building just a short section of road from the remote Pairc settlement of Orinsay to its neighbouring village of Lemreway. It was an endeavour which continued over several decades and was only finally completed in 1949.

The history of road-building in Pairc provides a fascinating insight into the difficulties faced by many Hebridean communities. The need to modernise transportation of goods, people and produce was often hampered by administrative delays, public and governmental resistance and by the lack of adequate funding.

We plan to discuss these issues and their associated stories with Bob Chambers when we meet in person in December. With his extensive knowledge of the social, economic and political history of the Western Isles, we are confident that he will undoubtedly contribute to the Rathad project in interesting and informative ways.

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