B743 (Strathaven - Hazelbank)
| B743 | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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| From: | Strathaven (NS701444) | |||||||||
| To: | Hazelbank (NS840443) | |||||||||
| Via: | Kirkmuirhill | |||||||||
| Distance: | 10.6 miles (17.1 km) | |||||||||
| Met: | A71, A74, A72 | |||||||||
| Now part of: | B7086 | |||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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For the current B743 west of Strathaven to Prestwick, see B743.
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The original B743 was a medium-length B-road in south Lanarkshire.
The route started on the A71 in Strathaven and headed south out of town to cross the Avon Water. Turning more easterly, the route continued across the fields and presently reached Kirkmuirhill, where it met the A74 at a T-junction. There was a multiplex through town before the B743 regained its number and its easterly route. It zigzagged across the valley of the River Nethan before passing through Auchtenheath. A mile or so later the route bore right and started descending, sometimes steeply, into the valley of the River Clyde, ending before reaching the bottom of the hill on the A72 to the south of Hazelbank.
The number did not last long. The entire road was upgraded and renumbered as the A744 very early on, probably in 1924, and certainly before 1927.
This is not the end of the old route's history, however. In 1934, the section west of Kirkmuirhill was renumbered as a southern extension of the A726 (with the remainder keeping the A744 number). This situation survived the downgrading of the A74, meaning that the one A-road morphed into the other for no apparent reason in the centre of Kirkmuirhill. However, in the 1990s, the entire route was given B-road status again and now has one number once more - the B7086.