B724

This article is about the current B724, an alternative to the A75 west of Annan.
For the original B724 running at right-angles, see B724 (Carrutherstown - Bowhouse).

The B724 runs southeast and east from the A75 near Collin to a junction with the B721 west of Annan. It is part of the Galloway Tourist Route from Ayr to Gretna Green and is often called the "Low Road" (as distinct from the parallel A75) by locals.

Route

Near Mouswald

After turning off the A75, which is dualled through the junction, the route heads southeastwards across fields, soon passing the small settlements of Greenlea and Elizafield. It is characterized by long straights running through generally flat countryside with fields stretching away to areas of forestry or low ridges on the horizon. The small, scattered village of Mouswald is strung along the roadside for around a mile and then at the end of the next straight, the road passes over the Annan to Dumfries railway line at Skewbridge, marked by a very shallow reverse curve. The next long straight leads through a small block of forestry and then, just before reaching the village of Clarencefield, the B725, comes in on the left from Carrutherstown, back on the A75. Clarencefield is perhaps the biggest of the small villages dotted along the route, it certainly feels the most built up, even if the long straight road allows you to see from one end to the other!

Beyond the village, the B725 turns off again at a right turn towards Caerlaverock on the coast, while the B724 curves left to follow a somewhat more easterly course. After passing close to Ruthwell, home of the Savings Bank Museum, the B724 – its course a little more sinuous now – twice passes beneath the railway as it follows the small Pow Water downstream. The second bridge (with a height restriction of 4.5 m) marks the entry into Cummertrees, which lies close to the north shore of the Solway Firth. Leaving the main part of the village, the route passes under a third, still lower bridge (4.1 m), beyond which Cummertrees Primary School stands amid fields over a kilometre from the village centre. From here the final run is straighter again, largely paralleling the railway line just to the south. A sweeping left hander then turns the route north east and soon reaches a junction with the B721 at Howes on the outskirts of Annan, marking the end of the route.

History

Most of the route of the B724 was originally left unclassified in 1922, but it had gained its present number by 1932. The exception was the short section through Clarencefield which is now a multiplex with the B725, the B725 itself having been extended over the original alignment of the B724.