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Calum's Road

Ian McDiarmid stars in this atmospheric drama based on the true story of a man who built a two-mile road by hand on the Scottish island of Raasay, off the east coast of Skye.

Ian McDiarmid leads this drama inspired by the extraordinary true story of how, over a period of ten years, one man built two miles of road by hand (including passing places) on the Scottish island of Raasay, which lies just off the east coast of Skye.

Set in the 1960s and 1970s, Calum MacLeod desperately wanted to save his dying island community; with schools and medical services located more than a half day's journey away, people were finding it increasingly difficult to continue a way of life handed down to them by their ancestors.

Born in 1911, MacLeod came from a long line of tough, strong and hard-working Raasay folk. When the council repeatedly turned down his requests for a road to link the north of Raasay to the south he would not be beaten. Instead, he went to a second-hand bookshop and found a dusty volume written in 1910: "Road Making And Maintenance - A Practical Treatise for Engineers, Surveyors and Others" and his extraordinary ten year project began.

Colin MacDonald's drama is inspired by Roger Hutchinson's book of the same name.

Other parts are played by members of the cast

Dramatiser: Colin MacDonald.

1 hour

Last on

Fri 18 Jul 2014 21:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Calum MacLeod Ian McDiarmid
Terry Bryan Dick
Lexie MacLeod Monica Gibb
Julia MacLeod Helen Mackay
Katie Helen Mackay
Donald Iain MacRae
Sellar Robin Laing
Iain Finn den Hertog
Producer Kirsteen Cameron
Adaptor Colin MacDonald
Author Roger Hutchinson

Broadcasts

  • Sat 5 Oct 2013 14:30
  • Fri 18 Jul 2014 21:00

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