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A198

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A198
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (5)
From:  Tyninghame (NT617775)
To:  Tranent Bypass (NT404736)
Via:  North Berwick
Distance:  22.7 miles (36.5 km)
Meets:  A199, B1407, B1346, B1347, B1345, A6137, B1348, B1377, B6363, B6371, B1361, A1
Former Number(s):  B6371
Old route now:  B1345, B1361
Highway Authorities

East Lothian

Traditional Counties

East Lothian

Route outline (key)
A198 Tyninghame - Tranent
A198 Meadowmill - Wallyford

The A198, about 23 miles long and wholly within East Lothian, provides a pleasant loop round the part of the coast where the Firth of Forth becomes the North Sea. It used to start and end on the A1, and though it still does at the western end, this is not at the same place as the original junction. The eastern end is now on the A199, as that road has taken the line of the now-diverted A1. The only town of any size along the way is the seaside resort of North Berwick.

Route

Tyninghame - North Berwick

Crossing the River Tyne

The route begins at a T junction on the A199 a mile south of the pleasant estate village of Tyninghame, where the A1 is briefly dualled with a central reservation for the junction. The A1 dual carriageway is immediately to the south, on the far side of the railway line, but there is no junction here. Signage welcomes traffic to Scotland's Golf Coast Road, and it sets off on a long straight slowly dipping down to cross the River Tyne on Tyninghame Bridge. The straight continues into the village, where the B1407 heads off to the left for East Linton. Most of the houses lie along the side road, leaving the A198 to quickly pass through and continue north through trees on the long straight. There is a steady climb out of the village, after which the route undulates past Binning Wood, with numerous crests and dips, before a kink left marks the end of the 2.3mile long straight.

The route emerges from the trees and follows a sinuous route across fields to the small village of Whitekirk. Here the road winds past some cottages on Binning Wood Road then makes a sharp right-hand bend in front of the church, which is made of red sandstone, but used to be limewashed, hence the name of the village. The church was severely damaged after being burnt by suffragettes in 1914, but has now been restored. The lane to the left leads into the centre of the village, but the A198 heads off north east across open fields below Whitekirk Hill. As the route climbs a long straight, there are fine views across open countryside with distant sea views from the crest, and the domed summit of the Bass Rock can be seen off to the left. At the end of the straight, the route turns hard left and winds past a couple of farms before straightening up as it once more heads north across fields to Auldhame.

The first of three right-angled bends (left, right, left) in the space of a mile is found at Auldhame, ultimately turning the route from north to west. On the right the magnificent ruins of Tantallon Castle are seen on a clifftop, and just to the north offshore is the Bass Rock, which has a famous gannet sanctuary (in the nesting season, the density of birds and guano is so great that it appears white) and a lighthouse. Boat trips to it and other local islands are run from North Berwick harbour. Beyond, on the far side of the Firth of Forth can be seen the hazy hills of Fife. After the third bend, the route briefly runs along the clifftop, before the coast curves away with a golf course lying to the north of the road. As it nears the town, the road summits a slight crest before falling gently. The view ahead is dominated by (North) Berwick Law (a large volcanic plug oddly like a whale when seen side-on), with the town buildings stretching out to the harbour below. Then in the firth the islands of Fidra, Lamb and Craigleith, with the Kingdom of Fife just across the water, and straight ahead in the distance on a clear day, Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and the Forth bridges beyond.

A holiday park lies on the right at the entrance to the town, then modern housing estates mostly hidden behind hedges with a roundabout serving a supermarket on the left. Tantallon Road continues past a cemetery to another roundabout, where the route turns hard right. To the left an unclassified road climbs steeply on the way to, among other places, Whitekirk via the inland route. It is a feature of East Lothian that there is rarely a straight road between places any distance apart, so there are often at least two equally-short routes. Now following Dunbar Road north, the route passes a large park on the right with a mixture of housing on the left. It then TOTSOs left onto St Baldred's Road to pass to the south of the town centre, while the B1346 continues straight on down the hill. St Baldred's Road is largely lined with large detached and semi detached properties, bungalows at first but more houses further west. It has has a long, straight, level stretch until it crosses the B1347 North Berwick to Haddington road at traffic lights, after which Clifford Road becomes more windy as it goes downhill through a series of bends.

Entering North Berwick from the west

The sharpest corner turns the route left onto Marmion Road, after which a slightly easier curve turns it back north onto Station Road, passing the station. Soon after the route TOTSOs left again at traffic lights at the western end of the B1346, which has passed through the town centre. Dirleton Road is now much straighter and level again as it passes substantial houses and flats and a filling station before entering open country. Many of these properties are now home to businesses as offices, hotels or care homes. Eventually the houses come to an end on the right, but a line of bungalows continues on the left to the edge of town.

North Berwick - Longniddry

Less than a mile later, the A198 sweeps round to the left onto the Dirleton Bypass, with the B1345 turning right to pass through the village. Dirleton is home to another impressive ruined castle, which is visible off to the right. The bypass curves through the fields to the south of the village, although new housing seems to be creeping out to the main road. The B1345, crosses the A198 at a staggered crossroads at the far end of the bypass continuing south to Drem, whose station is the place on the ECML where the North Berwick spur joins. The route winds gently along the southern edge of some woodland, and then straightens up across fields to reach Gullane, a much larger village. Gullane has not been bypassed, and the route enters on Main Street. New housing sits on the edge of town, including the former site of the Scottish Fire Service training college, but before long older housing is standing on both sides of the road, including bungalows and some very large and elegant villa.

The long main street eventually reaches the village centre, with clusters of shops between the houses. Then at the far end, after passing the ruins of the old parish church, the route kinks left and runs between golf courses on both sides of the road: that on the right on a low hill and that on the left giving distant views of the Lammermuirs and of the Garleton Hills just north of Haddington, with the prominent Hopetoun Monument on top. A long straight slices between these courses, before a sharp left turn drops down a slight hill to Luffness. Here the route becomes windier as it snakes past the grounds of Luffness Castle and on to the shores of Aberlady Bay, a nature reserve and feeding place for innumerable birds. At low tide there is a huge expanse of sand and mud; at high tide the water comes to within a few yards of the road. After passing the first few houses of Aberlady village, the route turns sharply inland, and then back to the west at a T junction with the A6137. The gently curving High Street has a handful of shops and businesses amongst its fine selection of old stone buildings.

After passing the parish church, the route runs through trees as it leaves the village, another long straight dropping it down to the shore of Gosford Bay. After passing the high wall and woods of the Gosford House estate to the left, the route turns abruptly left and emerges on the shore with extensive views up the forth to Edinburgh and beyond. The road curves between the estate wall and the sea before reaching the area of dunes called Longniddry Bents, where there is a TOTSO to the left onto Lyars Road, with the B1348 continuing ahead along the shore to Port Seton, Cockenzie, Prestonpans and Musselburgh. The estate still stands on the left, but the houses of Longniddry now appear to the right.

Longniddry - Tranent

Longniddry is now a dormitory town for Edinburgh and has few shops as it is a stop on the Edinburgh – North Berwick train service. Longniddry was the junction for the now-closed railway spur to Haddington, the trackbed of which has been converted into a popular foot and cycle path. The A198 turns right at a roundabout next to the station (by now on the ECML) where the B1377 from Drem comes in from the left. From here, almost to its end, the A198 runs just to the north of the railway. Main Street briefly wiggles away from the tracks as it passes through the village centre, but as it comes back along side on a long straight, the houses to the left are all backing onto the main road. At the start of this straight, the B6363 turns left and goes under the railway for Pencaitland. Then, after reaching the far end of the village, the route widens up and there is a mile of D2 built for no obvious reason, passing Seton Mains and an automatic-barrier level crossing over the ECML to the left.

The northern roundabout at Bankton Junction

At the end of the dual carriageway, the route passes the historic Seton Collegiate Church on the right, and also pulls slightly away from the railway, with a handful of properties squeezed into the resulting narrow strip of land. The land on the far side of the railway to the left was recently used for opencast coal extraction and is now scheduled for a large housing development. Less than a mile from the end of the dual carriageway, the route reaches a roundabout where the B6371 for Cockenzie is to the right and the B1361 for Prestonpans and Wallyford straight on. The battle of Prestonpans was fought in this area in September 1745, where the Jacobite army defeated troops of George II, whose commander Sir John Cope became a figure of ridicule in Scotland on his alleged running away afterwards, and the subject of an unflattering song still to be heard in folk clubs. Whatever the truth of the song's sentiments, he was commemorated too by a pub in Prestonpans called the Johnnie Cope, closed in 2011 and the building turned to another use.

The A198 turns left at the roundabout and crosses over the railway. It is then just a short run past the new housing slowly spreading across the old opencast site to reach the Bankton Junction on the A1 Expressway as it bypasses Tranent to the north. The junction is a skewed dumbbell interchange, where the A198 mainline turns right at the first roundabout and crosses over the A1 to the second roundabout for the westbound slips. This last stretch is a multiplex with the B6371, which now continues south past the A1 for Tranent and Ormiston.

History

As originally classified in 1922, the A198 stayed north of the railway at its western end and continued along the current line of the B1361 through Prestonpans to end at Strawberry Corner crossroads north of Wallyford, with the A6094 straight on for Dalkeith, and the A1 (now A199) left and right for Tranent and Musselburgh respectively. This junction is now a roundabout, notable for the ECML passing directly underneath. With the construction of the Tranent bypass in 1986 the A198 was diverted onto its current line, along a short section of B6371.

Dirleton Bypass was to be opened on 26 February 1975 per The Scotsman of the same day. There was still work at the east end, with single line traffic.




A198
Junctions
Crossings
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Related Pictures
View gallery (5)
The A198 entering North Berwick - Geograph - 1443669.jpgA198-A1 junction - Geograph - 410642.jpgTyninghame Bridge, East Lothian - Geograph - 1885894.jpgWhitekirk - 1981 - Geograph - 2245020.jpgSt Germains Crossing - Geograph - 4778834.jpg
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