B4229

The road to Welsh Bicknor crosses the B4229

The B4229 is a short B road in the Wye Valley.

It starts from the primary A4137 at the slip road to the A40 heading west. This and the first couple of hundred yards of the road would have been the A40 pre-dualling. The road passes very close to the River Wye before curving away towards Goodrich. Goodrich is a village in three parts and the road really goes between all three without hitting any. It veers right and away from a road to the village shop and school and descends under what must be one of the oldest ever Grade Separated Junctions - an arched bridge, known as The Dry Arch carries a narrow road to Welsh Bicknor passes over the top and this looks centuries old. To get to the road you would have had to pass the village shop.

We descend further and Flanesford Priory is passed. This held an order of Augustinian monks until the dissolution of the monasteries. It was then owned by an earl before latterly becoming a farm and then holiday accommodation. The River Wye is then crossed at Kerne Bridge. The bridge was constructed between 1825 to 1828 and until 1948 carried a toll. Since we last saw it the Wye has gone in a big loop around Coppet Hill and passed Symonds Yat in the process. After crossing the river the bridge goes over a former railway line; immediately afterwards we reach a T-junction where the road ends at the B4234.

History

In 1922 the B4229 only consisted of the small section immediately east of the A40 (as far as the turn for Huntsham Bridge). It was extended to cross the Kerne Bridge in 1935 to end on what was then the B4228.