B591
| B591 | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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| From: | Shepshed (SK482182) | |||||||||
| To: | Stanton under Bardon (SK471116) | |||||||||
| Distance: | 4.8 miles (7.7 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | A512, A511 | |||||||||
| Former Number(s): | B5330, B5350 | |||||||||
| Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Route
The B591 follows the M1 for a few miles across Charnwood in Leicestershire.
The road starts at traffic lights on the southern edge of Shepshed on the A512, a short distance west of M1 J23. The road heads south, immediately entering open country if we ignore the recycling centre behind the trees on the left. The road follows a straight route across the undulating fields and it's not long before we go under the M1. After passing a farm we continue on to the hamlet of Whittle Hill and a T-junction; we TOTSO right.
The road remains straight as we continue on with good views of Beacon Hill on the left. The M1 gradually approaches from the right and after we go through Copt Oak we go over the motorway. About a mile further on the B591 ends at a signalised roundabout on the A511 a short distance west of M1 J22.
History
The B591 was unclassified in 1922 but presumably came into existence in the late 1920s. The road originally started on the original line of the A6 near Quorn and headed westwards via Woodhouse to meet its current route to the north of Copt Oak. The section from here to the A50 (present A511) is original. After a short multiplex along the A50, the B591 then continued west into Ibstock, via Ellistown.
This was the route of the B591 until at least the 1990s. However, the majority of the roads in Charnwood have since been declassified and the B591 is no exception, with only the section between the A50 and Copt Oak remaining from its original route. To keep the classified road as a through route the road has taken over part of the B5350 as far as Whittle Hill, then the B5330 as far as the A512 and Shepshed. The majority of these two B-roads are also now unclassified.
The DfT Card Index from c2002 gives what appears to be a completely erroneous route of 'Hinckley - Ibstock - Quordon.' for the B591. There is no evidence that the B591 ever turned south from Ibstock to reach Hinckley, indeed the only really viable route would be the A447, which always has followed its current line.
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