B751

The B751 provides a link between a number of smaller communities to the north and west of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire.

Route

Bogend - Crosshouse

The B751 begins just about a mile north of Symington, near Bogend where the B730 performs a TOTSO. Heading North East the route is arrow-straight at first as it passes though a patch of woodland, but soon starts to wind across typical Ayrshire farmland. A T junction is soon reached, where the route has to TOTSO to the left and so head North, passing a few farms as it winds gently across the undulating fields. After the second farm it passes under a slightly incongruous-looking bridge - a legacy of the network of abandoned railway lines that criss-cross this part of Scotland. Before long, however, the route reaches the A759 at a T junction a little to the south of Gatehead. The two routes then multiplex for around half a mile north, crossing the River Irvine and passing through the small village of Gatehead, with a level crossing, before they separate again and the B751 resumes its northwards route.

A short climb leads onto a longer undulating straight, past the farm at Bogside and then over the A71 dual carriageway without a junction. Another slight climb leads into Crosshouse on Gatehead Road, which is initially lined with modern bungalows. As the road drifts downhill. it passes through a block of mid twentieth century council housing and then into the older core of the village. The B7081 (pre-bypass A71) is met in the centre of Crosshouse at a traffic-light-controlled junction. Here the B751 turns left to cross the Carmel Water before quickly turning right again, this time without signals. This is a very short multiplex, but a little too long to be classed as a staggered crossroads.

Crosshouse - Fenwick

Near Kilmaurs

As the route leaves the town, fields appear but a farm and small group of houses retain a semi urban feel, and before long the small village of Knockentiber is reached. The route follows Kilmaurs Road through the old coal mining community, although most of the old miners cottages were demolished and replaced by modern council housing in the 1930s. Extensive new housing estates have been added since, with the large green on the left being laid out as a football field. On leaving Knockentiber the route crosses an old railway line, now a cycle route and, following a few bends, finds an arrow-straight section before a railway line forces a sharp left to find the bridge. After crossing the railway, the route enters Kilmaurs on Crosshouse Road. The road is again lined with modern bungalows as it drops gently downhill, before TOTSOing right onto Sunnyside which soon leads into the town centre. The A735 is met at a mini roundabout, from where there is a brief multiplex north with the A735 past the tollbooth which stands out in the wide main street (Townend).

Immediately after a second mini roundabout the route turns right onto Fenwick Road and leaves the A735. It now heads east, passing though a mixture of old and new homes, before finding the Carmel Water again on the edge of the village. The burn, a small tributary of the River Irvine, is soon crosses and the road winds its way Eastwards, climbing gently all the way to a summit of around 110m above the grounds of Rowallan Castle (now a golf course). A slight dip follows, but the route continues to follow the line of a slight ridge eastwards, the bends soon easing to give a long straight across fields. At the end of the straight, the route comes an abrupt halt at a roundabout where the M77 meets the A77 at J8. A slip road allows northbound traffic to leave the A77 and so avoid the motorway; however, there is no access to the motorway here. Traffic from the B751 has no option but to turn left and head north along the A77 to the next roundabout, where other route options become available.

History

Originally the B751 ran from the B750 (now A759) in Gatehead to the then-A77 in Fenwick but was extended south before 1932, and quite possibly when the A759 was created in the later 1920s.

At the opposite end, the Fenwick Bypass on the A77 opened in 1932, although it takes some time for mapping to show the numbering of the old A77 in the area. It appears, however, that when the bypass opened, the old road through Fenwick was renumbered as the B7061, although some maps suggest that this section was later renumbered as part of the B751 itself; in fact this seems to have been a mistake or copyright trap. The B751 always seems to have retained its original terminus on Kilmaurs Road at Laigh Fenwick, with a staggered crossroads introduced where it crossed the bypass. When the A77 was upgraded to motorway status in 2005, the B751 was severed, the old crossroads closed up and no bridge constructed. This resulted in the current terminus at the roundabout on the A77. However, the old erroneous suggestion that the B7061 through Fenwick was part of the B751 persisted for some time, despite the route being severed by the motorway.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Gatehead - Kilmaurs - Laigh Fenwick