B4443

Route

The B4443 is a route heading south out of Aylesbury.

The B4443 forking left off of Stoke Road, onto Mandeville Road

The road begins at a gyratory on the A413 and heads southwest, immediately going up and over a bridge over the London-Aylesbury railway line. The road then forks left, avoiding going over the Princes Risborough-Aylesbury railway, instead running alongside it for about 700 yards. At the edge of the urban area, it passes Stoke Mandeville Hospital, the birthplace of the Paralympic games and co-host 'city' in 1984. As the flame is always lit in the hospital's stadium, the B4443 is always part of the Paralympic torch route.

The B4443 at Stoke Mandeville

A short distance after leaving Aylesbury, the B4443 enters Stoke Mandeville. While there are some houses, however, the road doesn't become built up before ending in the village centre at a roundabout on the A4010.

History

the B4443 reaching the A418 in 1926

The B4443 was first classified in 1925. It originally ran further north via Park Street and Walton Road to meet the A418 to the northeast of Aylesbury town centre. This section was upgraded to Class I around 1969 (marked as a B road in the 1968 atlas and as an A road in the 1970 atlas), probably with the number A4156, and was then downgraded at some point between 1987 and 1991.

The road is still signed as a through route from the A413 and A41, making the declassification somewhat puzzling, especially as, at the same time, the A4157 between the A413 and A41 was also made unclassified.