A746

The A746 is part of one of the two main routes which one down either side of the isolated Machars peninsula, eventually joining at Glasserton.

Route

Looking north into Kirkinner

The route begins about a mile south of Wigtown and to the west of the abandoned WW2 airfield of Baldoon at a triple-point, where the other roads are the A714 from Wigtown and the B7085 to the west coast. The latter was part of the former until the 1970s explaining why all three roads in this isolated spot have different numbers. It heads south and passes through the rather nondescript village of Braehead and on into the slightly larger village of Kirkinner. Together the two villages are strung along the roadside for around a mile. A couple of short straights across fields leads in to a patch of woodland where the A746 forks right - the 'straight on' route is taken by the B7004, a brilliant fast route down to the beautiful fishing village of Garlieston (this road was straightened out by Lord Garlies as a suitable approach to Galloway House which lies just beyond the village.

The A746 becomes windier as it passes through 'The Forest', with some nasty kinks and thick vegetation on the roadside verges. Deer, and other wild animals have also been known to dart across the road through here. Beyond the forest the B7052 from Whauphill comes in from the west and multiplexes south for half a mile to the village of Sorbie. There is a long row of houses on the right through the village, but most of the properties are along the B7052, Main Street, which diverges east towards Garlieston on the coast. A series of long straights across fields and through patches of woodland continue south, before the route becomes windier once more. This is fairly typical Machars scenery, rolling and fairly bleak but unlike almost any other part of Scotland. Some large farms sit in this landscape, mostly set back from the road as it climbs up to its summit at just under 80m.

Whithorn's wide main street

On the approach to Whithorn, two B roads join in quick succession; the B7021 from Myrton in the west, and the B7004 comes in again from the east, having looped round from Garlieston. It now multiplexes with the A746 through the town. Whithorn is famous as being one of the first Christian settlements in Scotland, with the story stretching back to before 400AD when St Ninian first established a christian settlement here. The local museums and visitor centres display local history and archaeology - well worth a visit if you're that way inclined. The town itself is basically one long wide that probably used to be busy, but now always seems very quiet and empty. It starts off fairly narrow, but soon widens out to a vast market place area with parking up the middle, and some lovely examples of the local vernacular architecture in the long terraces of brightly painted buildings on either side. Towards the southern end of the High Street, two buildings stick out into the road, closing off the market place and creating a narrow pinch point on the road. Indeed, the pavement is threaded through a tunnel on one side!

At the southern end of town the B7004 leaves again, turning left on its way to the Isle of Whithorn (this was the former A750). The A746 then sweeps round to the west and continues along a pleasant tree-lined section through the fields before terminating at a T-junction. Turn right for the A747 to Port William and Glenluce; turn left for an unclassified road (declassified A747) which leads to the B7004 and the Isle of Whithorn.

History

The county of Wigtown is a fairly remote and rural corner of Scotland, but no less than seven A roads were added after the original classification in 1922. The majority appear to date from 1924 or 25, including the A746, which was originally numbered as the B734. Only three of these routes have survived as A roads, the rest being reduced to B roads once more, and the A746 is the longer of the two that have never deviated from their original routes, the other being the much shorter A751. It has, however, seen several changes along the route over the years, mostly related to the closure of the old Whithorn branch line. The first comes in between Braehead and Kirkinner, where an old loop survives to the left, passing behind a cottage. This used to pass under the railway embankment, but the embankment has been removed and the road straightened to remove what appears to have been a sharp kink through the bridge.

A little further south, the fork junction with the B7004 used to be a simpler fork, without the link across the apex. This means that the A746 has been moved westwards, and the line of the old road can still just about be traced across the grass and along the tree line on the eastern side of the road. The final obvious change is at the first junction with the B7052 north of Sorbie. The railway used to pass under the road here, which had a fairly tight bend through the yard to the right, and then met the B7052 at a sharp fork. The B road seems to still follow much the same alignment, but the A746 has been straightened, both removing the bend and improving the junction at the same time.