The Dava Way is a long-distance path that mostly follows the route of the former Highland Railway between Grantown and

Forres Forres (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the County of Moray, Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin, Moray, Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several ...

. The railway line, built as a route between

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

and

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, opened in 1863 and closed in 1965. The route was reopened as a long distance path in 2005. It is listed as one of Scotland's Great Trails by

NatureScot NatureScot () is an Scottish public bodies#Executive NDPBs, executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, especially its nature, natural, genetics, genetic and scenic diversity. ...

, and links directly to two further Great Trails: the Moray Coast Trail and the Speyside Way. It is currently the shortest of the Great Trails, but can be combined with sections of the Moray Coast Trail and Speyside Way to form a circular route known as the Moray Way. About 5,000 people use the path every year, of whom about 400 complete the entire route.

History

Although in 1860 Inverness had a rail link to the south via

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, this was circuitous and involved a change between two railway stations in the town. A more direct route south bypassing Aberdeen was planned leaving the Inverness to Aberdeen Line at

and heading south to Grantown and then via the

Pass of Drumochter The Pass of Drumochter () meaning simply 'high ridge' is the main mountain pass between the northern and southern central Scottish Highlands. The A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road passes through here, as does the Highland Main Line, the railw ...

. Work started in 1861, with the line between

and opening on 3 August before the complete line opened on 9 September 1863. The line was built and initially operated by Inverness & Perth Junction Railway, which became part of the Highland Railway in 1865. The line north of Aviemore was bypassed by the current more direct route via the Nairn Viaduct in 1898. In his 1963 report " The Reshaping of British Railways" Dr Beeching recommending closing the network's least used stations and lines, which included the line between Aviemore and Forres and this subsequently closed in 1965. The Dava Way Association was formed in 1997 to create a walking and cycling path along the former railway. Negotiations and purchase of the former alignment were necessary before the clearing could start in 2003. The way was opened in 2005, although this at the time included a diversion along a minor road.

Route

The long route from Grantown-on-Spey in the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park () is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of National parks of Scotland, two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National ...

to Forres in

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

mainly follows the old railway line. Starting from Grantown and heading north, the path crosses Dava Moor where it reaches its summit of . Continuing to Dunphail, the River Divie is crossed by the old railway viaduct, used today as the symbol of the Dava Way. Between Dunphail and Forres a new bridge was installed in 2004 to cross the Altyre Burn.

References

Books

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External links

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Dava Way Leaflet
Dava Way Association {{Long-distance footpaths in the United Kingdom Highland Railway Footpaths in Moray Rail trails in Scotland Cycleways in Scotland Scotland's Great Trails

History

Route

See also

References

Books

Further reading

External links