B883

This article is about the current B883 from Portree to Peinchorran.
For the former B883 from Sligachan to Dunvegan (now A863), see B883 (Sligachan - Dunvegan).

The road to Peinchorran

The B883 is a short B-road on the eastern side of the Isle of Skye. The road was originally unclassified but had gained its number by 1932.

The road commences at the Braes Road End junction with the A87 just south of the Aros Centre at the southern end of the town of Portree (Port Righ). From here it briefly heads east to the junction with an unclassified road to Heatherfield (An Torran Uaine) and Penifiler (Peighinn nam Fidhleir) near to Peinmore Farm before turning south east (passing an unclassified road leading south to another junction with the A87) and into the Braes area (Am Braighe) of Skye.

Continuing in a south easterly direction it climbs over a moorland hill with a rather incongruous green field near the summit. The view ahead over the Sound of Raasay to Raasay itself then opens up, as the road levels out. A left turn leads down to the township of Camastianavaig (Camas Tianabhaig), set around its little bay, while the B883 passes through Achnahanaid (Ach na h-Annaid), Ollach (An Ollach) and into Gedintailor (Gaed an t-Sailleir). Here the road splits, with a comparatively new road (not shown on the 1972 OS One Inch map) turning left to serve Balmeanach (Am Baile Meadhanach), while the B883 continues across the hillside above the houses to end at the disused pier in Peinchorran (Peighinn a' Chorrain), directly opposite the Sconser ferry terminal on the other side of Loch Sligachan. A short distance before the pier, the minor road rejoins from the left. Many of the houses along this road are old, and appear to have been formerly served by a number of winding paths and tracks before the road was built.

History

Despite its obvious proximity to the (modern) pier at Sconser, there is no mapping evidence to suggest that a ferry ever crossed the mouth of Loch Sligachan to provide a short cut from Portree. Instead, an old hillpath runs back along the north side of the loch to Sligachan, and while this is a popular walkers route now, along with the B883 it was apparently once the main route to Portree before the current route of the A87 was built by Thomas Telford as part of his commission on Highland Roads and Bridges in the 1810s.