37841: Roads and Milestones
Article written by John M Macleod, Balallan which appeared in the 2004 edition of Dioghlum.
In the attached photograph taken at 50 Balallan, one can see that there is no tar macadam on the road and so the photograph must have been taken before the Second World War. The tar macadam had reached 48 Balallan by 1939, by which time roadworks by Tawse had been temporarily halted.
There are two large peat stacks in the photograph constructed by John Macleod (1855-1952) who was born in Molinginis in Harris and spent most of his working life in Eishken. At the road edge opposite the main peatstack can be seen a milestone that disappeared during the Tawse era of road reconstruction; it probably ended up as part of a culvert. Few of those milestones can be seen nowadays which is a wanton destruction of part of our heritage.
The spinal route from Stornoway to Tarbert passes through Laxay and Balallan, carrying the heaviest traffic in Lewis and Harris.
Details
- Record Type:
- Story, Report or Tradition
- Type Of Story Report Tradition:
- Story
- Record Maintained by:
- CECL
Related Media
House at 50 Balallan