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Calum's Road Kindle Edition

by Roger Hutchinson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 301 ratings
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This story of a Scottish lighthouse keeper’s years-long quest to build a road and revive a town is “an incredible testament to one man’s determination” (The Sunday Herald).

Shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize

Calum MacLeod had lived on the northern point of the Scottish island of Raasay since his birth in 1911. He tended the Rona lighthouse at the very tip of his little archipelago—until semi-automation in 1967 reduced his responsibilities. With his newly idle hours, he embarked upon a project: to build a road out of the settlement of Arnish—a road that he hoped would lead new generations of people to this quiet, beautiful place.

And so, at the age of fifty-six, Calum MacLeod, the last man left in northern Raasay, set about single-handedly constructing the “impossible” road, using hand tools. It would become a romantic, quixotic venture, a kind of sculpture; an obsessive work of art so perfect in every gradient, culvert, and supporting wall that its creation occupied almost twenty years of his life. In Calum’s Road, Roger Hutchinson recounts the extraordinary story of this remarkable man’s devotion to his visionary project.

“MacLeod defied powers [outside] his control in the only way he could . . . paints a compelling picture of the man.” —Sunday Times

“Wonderful.” —The Telegraph

“A gem of a book.” —Alexander McCall Smith
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  1. Print length
    185 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Birlinn
  5. Publication date
    June 1, 2011
  6. File size
    1809 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

An incredible testament to one man’s determination'
The Sunday Herald

wonderful, elegant and serious'
The Telegraph

MacLeod defied powers outwith his control in the only way he could . . . paints a compelling picture of the man'
Sunday Times

This is an extraordinarily fine book, and one of the most important books to have come out of the Highlands and Islands in recent years'
West Highland Free Press

About the Author

Roger Hutchinson is an award-winning author and journalist. After working as an editor in London, in 1977 he joined the West Highland Free Press in Skye. Since then he has published thirteen books, including Polly: the True Story Behind Whisky Galore. He is still attached to the WHFP as editorialist and columnist, and has written for BBC Radio, The Scotsman, The Guardian, The Herald and The Literary Review. His book The Soap Man (Birlinn 2003) was shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year (2004). Calum's Road has been a huge bestseller, shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize (2007) with film rights sold.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08WHCLQ4Q
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Birlinn (June 1, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 1, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1809 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 185 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 301 ratings

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Roger Hutchinson

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
301 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Suzanne Karl-Brigman
5.0 out of 5 stars this was great.
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2017
Verified Purchase
This book provides a really well thought out history of Rassay and the events leading up to Calum's decision to build a road. It also included many interesting statements from people directly relevant to the event. As a lover of any book about Scottish history, this was great.
One person found this helpful
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David Raum
4.0 out of 5 stars One man's dream
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2013
Verified Purchase
Nice story that particularly interested me, because I stayed at the Spindrift B & B on Applecross Peninsula and and a wonderful view of the island wheee Calum built his road.
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Caroline W,Gibson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book about one mans ability to accomplish a seeming impossible labor singlehanded.
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
The book is a great read about a man of many valuable talents and unbelievable tenancity and courage.
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Elf
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Account of Events
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2012
Verified Purchase
The events that lead up to the building of Calum's road are amazing, and reflect the oppression of the common crofter. Hutchinson does a lovely job delivering the reality of the crofter's plight, and explaining how Calum became the last inhabitant of Arnish.
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Jacques
5.0 out of 5 stars A gem!
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2016
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A powerful gem of a book about an extraordinary man named Calum MacLeod. I produced a podcast episode about the amazing story, which you can hear here: [...]
One person found this helpful
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Steven R. Shook
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Story of Clearance and Determination
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2019
I found "Calum's Road" to be a very enjoyable book. The story of the building of the roadbed begins with a history of Raasay, which is an island located between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland. A history of Calum's family also is provided throughout the story line.

One aspect of the story that I found interesting relates to scale. The road that Malcolm "Calum" MacLeod built was less than two miles in length - much shorter than I had perceived it to be given the little I knew about the road prior to reading the book. I live in Idaho (USA), which is about three times larger in land area than the Scotland. The driveway from my home to the county road is a mile long. Many forest roads are built that are far longer than Calum's road. Hence, I didn't find the length of the road that Calum built all that remarkable.

What I did find remarkable is that Calum used manual labor to construct the road. Bulldozers, graders, and dynamite would have resulted in the construction of Calum's road is less than a month - even in the 1960s and 1970s. However, given the book's description and videos of the road available online, the beauty of a Calum's "handmade" road likely far surpasses any road constructed by machine. I would love to go Raasay and see the road myself in a future visit to Scotland.
One person found this helpful
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arthur w campbell
4.0 out of 5 stars Calum's Road on Raasay.
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2013
I had a personal relationship with the builder of the road and I had walked it before it was blacktopped and drove over it to visit Calum the fall before he died. It gave me a better understanding of this extraordinary man.
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JULIE MCCOLLUM
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2016
Verified Purchase
great history in site
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Top reviews from other countries

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annamark
3.0 out of 5 stars Intéressant pour connaisseurs
Reviewed in France on September 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
Intéressant mais il faut connaître Ecosse pour l'apprécier
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Jimmy Young
5.0 out of 5 stars delivery time was months took the shine off
Reviewed in Australia on June 5, 2021
Verified Purchase
it was a gift took to long to arrive
but it is a great book
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Pat
5.0 out of 5 stars Hebridean crofting life made real - a powerful book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2010
Verified Purchase
I just finished reading this book whilst a tropical depression brought windy and rainy weather outside on a dark evening in the Cayman Islands. Apart from the outside temperature, the weather alone would have reminded me of the many school holidays I spent on my grandfather's croft in Lewis in the 70s, but in reading this powerful book the feeling was so, so much stronger.

I could suddenly remember the smell of the peat fire, the tired but happy feeling of riding back from the moor after a day of bringing peats in, the exhausted and less happy feeling of finally getting a hot bath after a long, cold and wet day stooped over a raised bed planting potatoes.

Calum's road is a remarkable story of one man's determination, but it is much more than that. It is a richly detailed and unhurried description of life in Northern Raasay and now, for one reason after another, it changed little until eventually the community died.

It takes you back to a simpler time, but never lets you forget it was also a hard life, one far harder than our modern ways can fathom, but one with an inherent balance achieved over the centuries.

If you have not yet visited the Western Isles, I urge you to do so, but if you do, take your time. Take at least a week, and take time to just "be".
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Busyquine
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant narrative - of a postie on Raasay who decided ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2017
Verified Purchase
Another real life portrayal of a real person, from Roger. Brilliant narrative - of a postie on Raasay who decided after generations had been denied a road on the island, to literally take matters into his own hands - with no road building experience, he acquired a book about the matter, and set about the task in hand, using and physically moving raw materials himself, over a period of years. An amazing guy, written about by an equally skilled and motivated author. Thoroughly recommend the book - I have read it a while back but have acquired copies for friends. Roger writes about many other real people and real events - no fictional fairy story guff here - try The Soap Man, Polly, The Silent Weaver, Walking to America, and a recent one on St Kilda - The People`s History, from him - all brilliantly researched and well written.
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Very well written.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2013
Verified Purchase
The author's journalistic credentials stand him in very good stead and he has included a lot of background information, history of the island, and its people, without making this in the least dry or boring, and his interweaving of Calum McLeod's own story with that of his homeland and other similar areas makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read. One can only marvel at the sheer determination and character of the man himself, and the blindingly idiotic and obstructive attitudes of the bureaucrats he encountered over the years. No wonder he raged at them in his incredibly eloquent writings - how badly they underestimated this man who exemplified a culture where, for all it was rooted in the land and sea, valued education so highly and bred strong, clever folk.

An inspiring tale and it should be compulsory reading for all planning department officials, councillors etc .
2 people found this helpful
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