Star.pngStar.pngStar.pngStar.pngStar grey.png

A923

From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
A923
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (19)
From:  Dundee (NO396306)
To:  Dunkeld (NO024420)
Distance:  30 miles (48.3 km)
Meets:  A991, A90, A94, A984, A93, A984, A9
Former Number(s):  A9
Primary Destinations
Highway Authorities

Angus • Dundee • Perth and Kinross

Traditional Counties

Angus • Perthshire

Route outline (key)
A923 Dundee - Coupar Angus
(A94) Coupar Angus
A923 Coupar Angus - Blairgowrie
(A93) Blairgowrie
A923 Blairgowrie - Dunkeld

The A923 is a cross-country A-road which starts in Dundee and heads north west to the Sidlaw Hills, and then crosses eastern Perthshire into Strathtay.

Route

Dundee - Coupar Angus

Originally starting further south on the A85 by the River Tay, the route now starts at the Dudhope Roundabout on the A991 ring road in the centre of Dundee. It winds its way north west along Lochee Road, with some quite severe bends for such an important route to reach the city's Lochee area. Here, it follows Logie Street, then a short section of High Street, before diverting around Lochee's shopping centre on the dualled Coupar Angus Road. The dualling only lasts as long as the relief road, and soon the A923 is back on the single carriageway Coupar Angus Road as it continues to wind north west through the suburbs. The A90 Kingsway is met at the grade separated Coupar Angus Interchange, beyond which the road appears more rural immediately although it's crossing the Camperdown Country Park and so still within Dundee.

Near the summit in the Sidlaw Hills

Crossing the city boundary does not, however, lead into open countryside, but instead the A923 first has to run through the village of Muirhead, where the B954 branches off towards Newtyle and Meigle. A series of long straights then lifts the road up into the Sidlaw Hills, past Piperdam and on to a summit below Balshando Hill. A winding section then cuts through the gap in the ridge, with the road levelling out before plunging down a steep descent. There is then a series of tight bends through trees to bring the road down onto the flatter valley floor of Strathmore. An accident-prone crossroads serving minor roads to Abernyte and Newtyle is quickly crossed and then the road becomes dead-straight to reach Coupar Angus and the A94.

The town is entered along Dundee Road and then Queen Street, which narrows down to meet the A94 at traffic lights. A short multiplex around the eastern side of the town centre follows, the A923 resuming at the second roundabout where it continued ahead along Blairgowrie Road. On the first glance at a map it appears that the A923 has been diverted to bypass the centre of town. However, the town centre is actually to the left and the A923 (as well as the "direct" B948) has always had its current route, although the multiplex with the A94 has moved onto the bypass. After passing the northern end of the B948, the A923 turns and follows the River Isla, before crossing it at the Bridge of Couttie.

Coupar Angus - Dunkeld

The quicker road to Dunkeld from Coupar Angus, the A984, turns off just to the north of the bridge but the A923 continues straight ahead to Blairgowrie. It enters the Rosemount area of the town as Coupar Angus Road, and curves past the diminutive B949 to follow Bankhead in towards the town centre. However, before reaching the centre, the A923 turns right at a mini roundabout onto Reform Street, so forming the southern arm of the town's one-way system. At the far end of the street, the A923 turns left and multiplexes with the A93 along Perth Street, regaining its number by turning right onto Dunkeld Road a couple of hundred metres to the south. Blairgowrie is soon left behind as the route winds westwards through scattered settlements largely made up of farmsteads and large houses lying hidden in folds of the hills down long drives.

Butterstone

The landscape is made up of a patchwork of fields, with small blocks of woodland, and a chain of lochs lying to the south of the road. The first is the small Rae Loch hidden behind reed beds, then comes the large Loch of Drumellie near the Kinloch village centre. A mile later is the Loch of Clunie. Between them, the road seems to get narrower and twistier, often overhung with trees producing dappled sunlight through the summer months. Forneth is the next 'village' to be strung along the roadside, and then Butterstone, shortly before the road passes the Loch of Butterstone, whose expansive sheet of water is bfiefly in full view of passing traffic. Of all the lochs along here, it is perhaps the Loch of the Lowes which is the most well known, but that is the only one not lying alongside the A923. Instead, the road enjoys a long run along the shores of the smaller Loch of Craiglush.

Beyond the loch, the road enters its final section, becoming much more twisty as it winds through the trees, climbing a little to pass through the gap in the hills and drop down Etnie Brae into Dunkeld. On the northern edge of town the road gives way; this is the original western end of the A923 where it met the A9. However, now the A9 passes on the other side of Dunkeld the A923 TOTSOs left to take the pre-bypass route. It meets the A984 again before crossing the Dunkeld Bridge over the River Tay to join the A9 at a T-junction.

History

The A923 between Coupar Angus and Blairgowrie was built, or at least rebuilt by Major Caulfeild in the 1760s as part of the military road network. It was a southern extension of the recently built route north from Blairgowrie to Fort George via Braemar and the Cairngorms, now followed mostly by the A93 and A939. The A984 from Coupar to Dunkeld was built at about the same time, and it seems that both routes followed pre-existing roads and paths for the most part, but brought them up to military road standards.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Dunkeld - Blairgowrie - Coupar Angus - Dundee





A923
Junctions
Crossings
Places
Related Pictures
View gallery (19)
Couttie1.jpgCouttie3.jpgBridge of Couttie from the south.jpgBridge of Couttie.jpgA923 Rosemount, Blairgowrie.jpg
Other nearby roads
Dundee
NCN1 • NCN77 • A85 • A90 • A92 • A929 • A930 • A931 • A972 • A991 • Angus Coastal Tourist Route • B911 (Dundee) • B954 • B958 • B959 • B960 • B961 • B963 (Dundee) • B978 • B9151 (Dundee) • C4 (Dundee) • C5 (Dundee) • C6 (Dundee) • C7 (Angus) • C11 (Dundee) • C12 (Dundee) • C200 (Dundee) • C201 (Dundee) • C202 (Dundee) • C204 (Dundee) • C205 (Dundee) • C208 (Dundee) • C209 (Dundee) • C210 (Dundee) • C211 (Dundee) • C212 (Dundee) • C215 (Dundee) • C216 (Dundee) • C217 (Dundee) • C218 (Dundee) • C219 (Dundee) • C221 (Dundee) • C222 (Dundee) • C223 (Dundee) • C224 (Dundee) • C225 (Dundee) • C226 (Dundee) • C227 (Dundee) • C229 (Dundee) • C230 (Dundee) • C231 (Dundee) • C232 (Dundee) • C233 (Dundee) • C234 (Dundee) • C235 (Dundee) • C236 (Dundee) • C237 (Dundee) • C238 (Dundee) • C239 (Dundee) • C240 (Dundee) • C241 (Dundee) • C242 (Dundee) • C243 (Dundee) • C244 (Dundee) • C245 (Dundee) • C246 (Dundee) • C248 (Dundee) • C249 (Dundee) • C250 (Dundee) • C251 (Dundee) • C252 (Dundee) • C253 (Dundee) • C254 (Dundee) • C256 (Dundee) • C257 (Dundee) • C258 (Dundee) • C259 (Dundee) • E120 (Old System) • EuroVelo 12 • T30 (Britain)
Blairgowrie
A900-A999
A900 • A901 • A902 • A903 • A904 • A905 • A906 • A907 • A908 • A909 • A910 • A911 • A912 • A913 • A914 • A915 • A916 • A917 • A918 • A919

A920 • A921 • A922 • A923 • A924 • A925 • A926 • A927 • A928 • A929 • A930 • A931 • A932 • A933 • A934 • A935 • A936 • A937 • A938 • A939
A940 • A941 • A942 • A943 • A944 • A945 • A946 • A947 • A948 • A949 • A950 • A951 • A952 • A953 • A954 • A955 • A956 • A957 • A958 • A959
A960 • A961 • A962 • A963 • A964 • A965 • A966 • A967 • A968 • A969 • A970 • A971 • A972 • A973 • A974 • A975 • A976 • A977 • A978 • A979
A980 • A981 • A982 • A983 • A984 • A985 • A986 • A987 • A988 • A989 • A990 • A991 • A992 • A993 • A994 • A995 • A996 • A997 • A998 • A999

Defunct Itineries: A920 (Perth) • A920 (Banff) • A921 (Perth) • A921 (Fife) • A922 • A949 • A951 • A968 • A982


SABRE - The Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts
Discuss - Digest - Discover - Help