Scottish Rights of Way & Access Society

To celebrate our 175th Anniversary within the confines of the coronavirus pandemic, we created a virtual celebratory journey, following in the footsteps of some of our early members as they installed the first signposts along routes in the Cairngorms in July 1885. Not only did the trip confirm these routes as public rights of way, but it also lead to court action to assert the right of way through Glen Doll!

The original journey started on a Saturday in July and lasted seven days, but we allowed 86 days to complete the route, virtually! Along the way, you could find out what the deputation did on each of those days and learn about the history and heritage of the countryside they travelled through.

Listen to James Naughtie as he introduces you to the Challenge

How it worked

You signed up and began recording the distances you achieved in your everyday travel and followed your (virtual) progress on the map along the route taken by the signposting party in 1885 from Forfar to Blair Atholl!

You could also …

Listen to an account of the original expedition.  Daily accounts of the trip were written by one of the participants on the 1885 expedition and you could listen to these first-hand accounts, read by broadcaster Jim Naughtie. You can still listen to them below!

Immerse yourself in history and interesting facts. Every day throughout the Challenge, information about the expedition, the route and the area was released. You can view them right here on our website. 

See the Virtual Challenge Route 

You can still donate to support our work or even take part in our raise £175 for our 175th campaign.  That's £1 for every year of our existence.