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B8063

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B8063
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (16)
From:  Luncarty (NO092292)
To:  Buchanty (NN911283)
Distance:  12.9 miles (20.8 km)
Meets:  B9099, A9, A822
Highway Authorities

Perth and Kinross

Traditional Counties

Perthshire

Route outline (key)
B8063 Luncarty - Buchanty
B8063 Redgorton


The B8063 is a strange route, following the north side of Glen Almond from Luncarty just north of Perth through to the A822 in the popular tourist spot of the Sma' Glen. It is a slow, winding route, serving scattered communities who are unlikely to use the road end-to-end, with the A85 and the minor roads on the south side of the glen providing better, faster routes. The road was originally unclassified but had gained its number by 1932.

Route

Starting at the Luncarty Bridge junction on the B9099, the B8063 initially heads south along the former route of the A9, before turning westwards (where the old A9, now a drive and track, continues ahead) to reach a crossroads. The original line of the B8063 from the A9 was to the left here, through Redgorton, now a dead end. The B8063 has to TOTSO right, loosely following the Shochie Burn as it heads west. There is a white line down the centre of the road much of the way (although sometimes it is only visible due to the wearing away of subsequent surface dressing), but the further west the road goes, the more hopeful this white line appears to be. In places the edges of the road seem to have been significantly encroached by the verge, narrowing the road to the point where each lane is narrower than modern cars!

One of the longer, undulating, sinuous straights near Moneydie

The map suggests that the road is reasonably straight, but this is not the case, as it wiggles across the landscape, slowly gaining height. The Coldrochie Burn is crossed at a bend, and then the road climbs past Moneydie and Pittendynie - neither any more than a scattering of houses strung along the roadside and lying off amongst the fields. After a sharp double bend, the road turns to cross from Glen Schochie across the hillside into Glen Almond proper. This shallow pass - the road hardly dips - is cloaked in forestry, within which the road swings sharp left at a junction, the onward route into Little Glenshee signed with a ford 3 miles ahead. A straight tree lined avenue then leads to Chapelhill. Here, the road curves round to the right, although up until the 1960s it continued ahead. This seems to be the result of a bridge collapse and much of the old road has been reclaimed into fields and gardens, although the old bridge is still visible from the road and has a footpath across it.

After curving round three sides of the little village, the B8063 continues westwards, wiggling through the rest of the scattered communities of this part of the glen, which is called Logiealmond. There is a short 40 limit at Harrietfield, and some of the narrowest road yet with a white centre line. Indeed, in places where the line is missing the road actually feels wider! Beyond the village, the road crosses the Milton Burb and then climbs up and around a sharp left hand U bend to cross the Assinger Burn. The road is now running high across the hill above the Shelligan Burn, with Glen Almond almost invisible across the undulating fields. After about a mile, the road dips to cross the Shelligan Burn, before climbing to its summit at over 200m.

Near Buchanty

The route has been tree lined for much of its length, but now runs between thicker patches of woodland, as it turns to the south and drops past a small lochan to the Bridge of Buchanty. To start with the descent is gentle enough, getting steeper as it goes before it plunges down the last few metres to cross the river Almond, turning sharp right immediately after the bridge at a T junction. There is now just over a mile left of the road, following the south bank of the river, and climbing again past more woodland. Just before the end, the road splits, climbing up to meet the A822 in either direction at sharp fork junctions, the end also being the highest point on the route at 222m. The A822 has always had this route, suggesting that the B8063 fork has existed from the beginning.

History

There are only two obvious changes to the route of the B8063 since it was first classified. The first lies at the eastern end, where it originally started on the A9 at Redgorton. This would have been a simple T-junction, but was closed up when the A9 was dualled here, and the route was diverted along the a pre-existing lane and part of the former A9 to reach the Luncarty Bridge junction. In so doing, it no longer meets the A9 directly, but instead terminates on the B9099.

The second change lies, as noted above, at Chapelhill. The current route was again a pre-existing road, which has been used to divert the B8063 since the early 1960s - the change had been made by 1966. The old road is still partially intact, running through the trees and over the old bridge as a footpath, before becoming property access on the west bank. The precise circumstances behind this realignment are uncertain. It seems that the old bridge suffered a partial collapse, and while it is in a deteriorating state today, there is still a footpath across the deck, begging the question of why it wasn't repaired.




B8063
Junctions
Crossings
Related Pictures
View gallery (16)
B8063 east of Chapelhill.jpgB8063-lethendy.jpgB8063-chapelhill.jpgB8063-ch-br2.jpgArdittie-br1.jpg
B8000 – B8099
B8000 • B8001 • B8002 • B8003 • B8004 • B8005 • B8006 • B8007 • B8008 • B8009 • B8010 • B8011 • B8012 • B8013 • B8014 • B8015 • B8016 • B8017 • B8018 • B8019
B8020 • B8021 • B8022 • B8023 • B8024 • B8025 • B8026 • B8027 • B8028 • B8029 • B8030 • B8031 • B8032 • B8033 • B8034 • B8035 • B8036 • B8037 • B8038 • B8039
B8040 • B8041 • B8042 • B8043 • B8044 • B8045 • B8046 • B8047 • B8048 • B8049 • B8050 • B8051 • B8052 • B8053 • B8054 • B8055 • B8056 • B8057 • B8058 • B8059
B8060 • B8061 • B8062 • B8063 • B8064 • B8065 • B8066 • B8067 • B8068 • B8069 • B8070 • B8071 • B8072 • B8073 • B8074 • B8075 • B8076 • B8077 • B8078 • B8079
B8080 • B8081 • B8082 • B8083 • B8084 • B8085 • B8086 • B8087 • B8088 • B8089 • B8090 • B8091 • B8092 • B8093 • B8094 • B8095 • B8096 • B8097 • B8098 • B8099
Earlier iterations: B8000 • B8006 • B8008 • B8026 • B8039

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