The Peffery Way, An t-Slìghe Pheothair
Peffery Way – The story so far
The Peffery Way Association was established as a registered Scottish Charity in 2015 with the sole purpose of creating and maintaining a safe and accessible foot/cycle path between Dingwall and Strathpeffer linking with the communities in between. Their plan has been to use as much of the old, disused railway track and existing paths as possible. Their vision is to create a path that will have gradual gradients and be safe and accessible to people of all abilities taking cyclists and pedestrians away from the very fast and dangerous main A834 road which has no pavements.
People will be able to commute to work, school, shops, etc. using an environmentally friendly means of transport. Residents from three local care homes will be able to get out into the countryside on purpose-built trikes. It will also add an important all ability path choice for visitors to the area.
Full planning consent was granted in early 2017 and construction has been progressing in phases as funding allows. A summary of progress to date is shown in the map below:
Attribution: Peffrey Way Association
To date, the PWA has raised just over £450,000 and completed just over 5.2km of the 6km path. They have benefited enormously from a superb level of support from the local communities the path serves.
Most of the construction work completed has been carried out by competent local contractors but they have also run a substantial number of volunteering days to clear areas prior to construction, complete short sections of fencing, replace missing bridges, plant hedging/trees and maintain drainage ditches and culverts. Regular maintenance sessions continue to run throughout the year.
In January 2023, Highland Council successfully obtained a Path Order from the Scottish Government, enabling The Peffery Way to complete the route directly into Dingwall from Strathpeffer.
Attribution: not recorded or unknown
Maintaining support within the community has been key to the success of the PWA where they have also established strong connections with key stakeholders throughout the communities.
Funding is a contiuous task to maintain completed sections of the route and fund further construction works in the future so any donations, contributions would be most welcome.
The Peffery Way Association has a strong membership with members being kept updated on the links progress, volunteering opportunities and events through their Facebook page and website – www.pefferywayassociation.scot
Attribution: Peffrey Way Association
