B844

The Bridge Over the Atlantic

The B844 is a medium-length B-road on the west coast of Scotland, with a rather fantastic claim of being the first road to cross the Atlantic!

The road starts as a pair of spurs at Kilninver, along the former course of the A816. The northern road runs closely parallel to the A816 for over half a mile, gently dropping down the hill, before the A816 turns inland. Initially this spur has followed the shore, but stays straight as the shore turns west. The south spur is a little shorter and for most of its length it is running along a wooded riverbank. The two roads meet by the church, with the southern branch having to give way. The road then turns north west and crosses the old stone Kilninver Bridge, before curving round to the south-west as it winds through through the hills and alongside Loch Seil. About a mile past the loch, a sharp right turn at a junction drops the road down towards the Isle of Seil. The next bridge has many names, one of which is the Bridge over the Atlantic, crossing the narrow tidal channel from the mainland to the island at Clachan. It was built over two hundred years ago, and is rightly famous.

The road then continues south-westwards along the eastern shore of Seil, past the Hotel at the end of the bridge, through the village of Clachan and then past the island shop to Balvicar. Here it meets the B8003 which leads to the Ferry to the isle of Luing, arguably the nicest of the Slate Isles to explore. The road turns westwards at the junction, climbing over the low hills, with a gentle hairpin on the descent to the shore. It is then a quick run along the back of the beach, and finally under the cliffs to the slate village of Ellenabeich and the nearby island of Easdale. This pretty village and island have a long history of slate quarrying, which came to an abrupt halt when the sea broke through and flooded the quarry. After running along the narrow main street the B844 ends where the road turns sharply right to the car parks, a left turn leading down to the Easdale Pier.

History

Apart from the addition of the two spurs at the eastern end of the B844, the route is little changed since classification in 1922. As noted above, these spurs are the former line of the A816, before the new road was built higher up the hill. With the volume of tourist traffic, particularly coaches, heading out to Easdale, the number of passing places has been increased, but it can still be a slow drive on a sunny summer day!

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Kilninver - Ellanbeich