B888

Looking north on the B888

The B888 is the southern end of the Uist spine road. Starting on the A865 in Daliburgh (Dalabrog) the road passes the Co-op Supermarket, School and other services, as well as crossing a short causeway across Loch nam Faoileann. It drops to single track just before a crossroads at the southern edge of the village, and follows a largely straight route across the peat bogs, curving around the low hill of Caireasbhal. The townships of North Boisdale, Garrynamonie (Geàrraidh na Mònadh) and Smerclate (Smeircleit) lie scattered across the machair to the west, while a single turning to the east runs along the south shore of Loch Baghasdail. The further south the road gets, the more houses are dotted along the roadside, before it finally reaches Pollochar (Poll a'Charra). Most traffic turns left at the crossroads for Eriskay and the ferry, but the B888 continues south and ends in the car park of the Pollochar Inn.

Despite the fairly recent construction of the Eriskay Causeway, and a new ferry terminal on Eriskay connecting to Barra, the B888 has, perhaps surprisingly, not been extended along the route. This leaves the Sound of Barra Ferry as one of the very few in Scotland that operates between two unclassified roads.

History

At the time of classification in 1922, the Uists did not have any A roads. As a result, the B888 originally served as the spine road for the whole of South Uist, running from South Ford (from where a tidal causeway led to an unclassified road on Benbecula) south to its current terminus at Pollochar. Most of this route is now the A865, except for the section mentioned above. On classification, the road east from Pollachar appears to have been little more than a track which gave out before reaching the pier at Ludac, from where the Eriskay Ferry latterly sailed. However, there is equally no suggestion of a pier or harbour at Pollachar and the concrete slip there today looks reasonably modern. The choice of Pollachar as the end of the B888 therefore seems somewhat unexpected.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: South Ford - Pollacher