A9’s Layby 82 at Drumochter is a ‘first’ for hungry travellers through Highland Cuisine
History has been made on the A9 this past week - smack bang in the desolate wilderness of the Drumochter Pass.
Thanks to the perseverance of one determined couple, the dreaded snow trap now boasts the highest of Highlands cuisine.
As he celebrated his official certification on Monday, Hamish Cullerton told the Strathy: “It’s fantastic being the first to get formal accreditation to trade beside this amazing road.
“They put us through hoops for months but we stuck with it, determined to get here to provide a service to the travellers most in need.”
The couple had to battle with a policy which was agreed by the Scottish Development Department when the A9 route was first identified that no service areas were to be built on the new trunk road, to protect business in the bypassed communities.
“We’re here now officially, every Monday to Friday, and we love meeting the world - literally!” celebrated Hamish.
“It’s not about making money, it’s about meeting people from every corner of the globe. This place is amazing.”
With his 57-year-old fiance Liz Leslie at his side, Hamish (66) has spent the last six months proving to all the relevant authorities - he lost count of them - that all he wants to do is see people safely through the trunk road networks’ highest and toughest mountain pass at 460 metres (1508 feet) above sea level.
The weather can be so bad in Drumochter that people get locked in for hours, and in the further past sometimes even days, at a time.
Permanent facilities have never been allowed until now by the ‘new’ A9.
Layby 82 has become a warm and safe haven with winter warmers courtesy of Highland Cuisine.
A former plant driver himself, he knows only too well what lorry drivers are needing to sustain themselves when the world closes in.
“I had years on the road before actually running a shop at North Kessock,” he recalled.
“So as I told the Highland Council departments, BEAR Scotland and Transport Scotland, I’m very well qualified to take on this challenge.
“Liz loves it so much too that she’s going to marry me next year!
“First we’re going to enjoy our festive season here, no matter what the elements chuck at us.”
No sooner had he said it that the lovely Christmas tree the couple erected and lit had been blown over in the first festive gale...but it will take a lot more than that to deter the couple.
A Highland Council spokesperson confirmed to the Strathy: “Street traders licences have been issued in relation to this catering unit.”
The 110 mile section from Perth to Inverness is the most well known part of the route being the main link to the Highlands from the Central Belt.
Prior to any work taking place, the old road passed through numerous towns and villages, resulting in major congestion.
Long convoys were common and there were few opportunities for overtaking.
Winter resilience on the road was poor with parts of the road at Drumochter closed for days at a time due to snowfall.
The route was identified in the 1970 white paper for Scotland's roads as one requiring major improvement.
Initial plans had been to provide bypasses and only limited investment.
But concern was raised by some local communities that business may die out due to the removal of through traffic.
The policy to protect the bypassed communities was quietly dropped by the Scottish Government around a decade ago in new national planning policy blueprints.
• A comprehensive history of the A9 is available here