Spey Viaduct

Top tip: do not put blind faith in the OS App when planning a route. Switch on the “Precise point info” layer at the very least, though in this case “Blocked path” is a masterpiece of British understatement. I have seen that same warning slapped on a fallen twig or a bit of squelchy mud, the sort of thing you step over without breaking stride. Keep using it for both puddles and collapsed bridges and nobody will trust the warning when it actually matters.

Storm Bram, back in December 2025, appears to have been the culprit behind the collapse of this rather grand old bridge over the Spey¹“Spey Viaduct bridge collapses into River Spey with public warned to stay away”. The Northern Scot. 14 December 2025. https://www.northern-scot.co.uk/news/bridge-collapses-into-river-spey-with-police-at-the-scene-421982/ [Accessed 8 September 2026.].  It had stood since 1886, built for the coast railway linking Elgin to Garmouth, Buckie, Cullen and Portsoy, which joined the main line between Keith and Huntly and gave Garmouth a direct run to Aberdeen. The line shut in 1968, another victim of Doctor Beeching²Interpretation Information Board. Whistlestop Wood car-park, Garmouth.[Visited 8 September 2026.].

Pulling the viaduct down was judged too costly and too risky, so it was left standing and eventually made into a footpath and cycle track, a handy shortcut to Spey Bay on the east bank. Now that shortcut is gone, and cyclists on the National Cycle Network route No. 1 between Inverness and Aberdeen, along with walkers on the Moray Coastal Trail, face a fourteen kilometre detour instead. Still, nothing says scenic variety quite like an unplanned extra loop along the banks of the capricious Spey.

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  “Spey Viaduct bridge collapses into River Spey with public warned to stay away”. The Northern Scot. 14 December 2025. https://www.northern-scot.co.uk/news/bridge-collapses-into-river-spey-with-police-at-the-scene-421982/ [Accessed 8 September 2026.] ↩︎
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  Interpretation Information Board. Whistlestop Wood car-park, Garmouth.[Visited 8 September 2026.] ↩︎