Roads in Shetland (c. 1870)
Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia
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Robert Cowie's Shetland and its Inhabitants, (1871), includes a fascinating map of Shetland's roads at a time when the system as we know it today was still at an early stage of development. It also shows the line of some of the main traditional 'hill-gaets' or footpaths. We see strips of road still disconnected from the network, and certain natural obstacles as yet unconquered. Large areas of the islands are still without any made road - though of course there would be plenty of long-established 'gaets'.
Unst had a substantial road from Haraldswick to Uyeasound, branching to the Yell ferry. Yell also had a road north to south, but only on the east side, though there was a small strip south of Sandwick in Yell. Northmavine had been connected in 1851, by the blasting through at Mavis Grind, to Ollaberry, Urafirth and Hillswick. Eshaness remained isolated, though settlements appear to have roads between them, and North Roe too had an internal road from Collafirth which wasn't connected. The road from Firth and Mossbank along Dales Voe was made and a road to Vidlin and Lunna. Nesting seems to have internal roads, but to be connected to the main road north from Lerwick by a 'hill-gaet'.
The long hill road to Sandness from Walls was made by 1870, as is the road through Walls, but no road existed through to Gonfirth from Voe and large areas of the westside were still unconnected, around Aith, Clousta and West Burrafirth - though there are again some internal roads. The Tingwall valley was clearly an important crossroads even then. The system of connections between Scalloway and Lerwick seems well-established, as we might expect, with an even more complicated junction at Gulberwick than in present times! The road south is complete as far as Boddam, which is indeed 'da boddam' of the road system of 1870. Bigton is connected only by hill-gaet. There are no branches beyond the Wester Quarff one. There appear to be no made roads in Burra, Bressay, Whalsay, Fetlar or Papa Stour at this period, at least according to Cowie's map. Here again, networks of 'gaets' would have been well-worn.
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