A387
A387 | |||||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | |||||||||||||
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From: | Polbathic (SX337572) | ||||||||||||
To: | Crumplehorn (SX204509) | ||||||||||||
Via: | Looe | ||||||||||||
Distance: | 12.6 miles (20.3 km) | ||||||||||||
Meets: | A374, B3247, B3253, B3252, B3254, B3253, B3359, unclassified | ||||||||||||
Former Number(s): | B3250, B3253 | ||||||||||||
Old route now: | A386, A3064, B3271, A38 | ||||||||||||
Primary Destinations | |||||||||||||
Highway Authorities | |||||||||||||
Traditional Counties | |||||||||||||
Route outline (key) | |||||||||||||
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Route
The A387 is a dead-end road in southeast Cornwall.
Polbathic - Crumplehorn
The road begins at a T junction on the A374 about a mile west of the village of Polbathic. Immediately we climb up a steep wood-lined valley before descending down another valley to Hessenford where we cross the River Seaton. We then climb up another valley to reach Widegates where you have to turn off the main road to stay on the A387. The main road changes to become the B3253, oddly signposted "Looe B3253 (A387)", whilst the A387 turning off is signposted "Liskeard A387 (B3254)". The B3253 is actually a very good road, whilst the A387 is little more than a country lane, though it does pick up more traffic from the Looe Valley, which may justify its importance as a Class I road.
Nevertheless, we stay on the A387 country lane, weaving our way through more valleys, reaching a junction with the B3254 at Sandplace on the River Looe, where we follow the river and a railway south to the town of the same name on the coast, meeting the other end of the B3253 on the way in. A glance at a map will show you that the B road is shorter than the A387, as well as being a better road.
In Looe, we cross the river to West Looe, then once again climb up to make our way past the B3359 and Barcelona (no, not that one!) before turning south towards Crumplehorn where, according to the Landranger on Multimap, the road ceases to be an A road in another steep wooded valley just to the north of Polperro.
History
The A387 has a convoluted history. Originally it started on the A38 in Plymouth, ran northwest to the Saltash Ferry, then through Saltash, crossing over the A388 along to what was the A389 in Trerulefoot. However, by 1930 it had taken over the B3250 and southern section of B3253 to run to Polperro on its current route.
In 1935, the section from Plymouth to Saltash was renumbered as an extension of the A388, while the section from Saltash to Trerulefoot was renumbered as the A374 (while the A389 here also became the A38), thus giving the A387 more-or-less its current route.
After the opening of the Tamar Bridge, the A38 and A374 swapped numbers between the Tamar and Trerulefoot, so the ex-A387 became the A38.
The final section of road into Polperro has been declassified in more recent years (anyone who knows Polperro will understand why) and so the road now ends at a mini-roundabout by the Polperro car park near a sign warning drivers to proceed no further.