A539
| A539 | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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| From: | Llangollen (SJ214419) | |||||||||
| To: | Eglwys Cross (W) (SJ466409) | |||||||||
| Via: | Ruabon | |||||||||
| Distance: | 18 miles (29 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | A5, A542, B5434, B5096, B5605, A483, B5097, A528, B5069, A525 | |||||||||
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| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Route
The A539 is a non-primary road in northeast Wales.
Section 1: Llangollen – Ruabon
The road starts at traffic lights on the A5 in the middle of Llangollen and quickly crosses the River Dee. At the T junction it TOTSOs right, with left being the A542 through the Horseshoe Pass. The A539 begins its journey east on a narrow strip of land separating the Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal from the River Dee. As such it finds an easy path through this steep sided valley, on the opposite side of the Dee from the A5. The hills rise steeply on the left, and soon we cross the canal so we are now hugging the base of the hillside. In spite of the confined nature of the topography, the first stretch of the A539 is actually rather straight, and a very pleasant drive.
Now we move away from the valley floor, and hence the watercourses, instead skirting the north of Pont Cysyllte and Cefn-mawr, a collection of B-roads giving access to the village centres. We then approach Ruabon, where after crossing the B5605 (pre-bypass A483) at a roundabout, a short length of dual carriageway brings us to a grade separated dumbbell junction with the A483. We pass under the A483, but the old road (now a B road, passes over the A483 just to the north.
Section 2: Ruabon - Eglwys Cross (W)
After crossing Offa's Dyke, we find that the countryside is much flatter, and farming becomes the main industry. We follow a very straight course to a T junction where we turn right onto a multiplex along the A528 near Overton Bridge. At Overton itself, we follow the A528 through a right and left turn, but continue straight on at the next junction to resume as the A539, the A528 turning south again.
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We run south east through Little Overton, the road consisting of some long straight sections interspersed with some tight bends and dips in the road, usually as we cross small watercourses. We pass through Penley, then continue eastwards past Cumber's Bank, turning north-east to bypass Hanmer and reach our terminus on the A525 just west of Eglwys Cross.