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Abington

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Abington
Location Map ( geo)
Carlisle Road, Abington - Geograph - 4113539.jpg
Carlisle Road, Abington
Cameraicon.png View gallery (18)
County
Lanarkshire
Highway Authority
South Lanarkshire
Transport Scotland Roads
M74, A74(M), A702
Places related to the M74
Places related to the A74(M)
Places related to the A702

Abington is a small village in southern Scotland and the traditional point at which the Glasgow and Edinburgh roads diverge. It therefore developed as a coaching stop in the past, and today that function is still served by the Motorway Services just to the north of the village. Lying in the midst of the Southern Uplands, the surrounding hills are now popular with walkers. However, in the past the villages of Wanlockhead and Leadhills to the south, as the name suggests, were lead mining villages, and exploitation of the minerals found in the landscape has long been a viable industry in the area.

There are two main roads passing through Abington. The Motorway and the A702, which run parallel through the narrow valley in which Abington lies. Of course, originally it was just one road, with the old A74 running through the village. However, when the village was bypassed by the dualled A74, the road through the village was declassified. To the north of the village, the A73 met the A74 at a directional fork, although there were central reservation gaps which would have allowed traffic to double back from the A74 to the A73 or vice-versa.

Later, when the motorway was built past Abington, the old A74 dual carriageway was upgraded to be the A74(M), and the old road through the village became an A road again, numbered as the A702. The motorway at Abington, for complicated historical reasons, changes number. The M74 runs south from Glasgow, whilst the A74(M) runs north from Gretna on the English border. For more detail on the reasons behind this, also see M74 and A74(M) History. The A702, then is the Edinburgh road, which veers off north east to the capital.

The A702 also continues to the south. After running parallel to the motorway as far as Elvanfoot, it turns a little westwards and crosses the hills to the A76 near Thornhill. Also running south west, is the B797 which climbs to Leadhills, where it meets the B7040 from Elvanfoot, and onto Wanlockhead. To the north of Abington, the old line of the A74 is picked up by the B7078, which continues to the southern fringe of Glasgow. A little way out of Abington, the B740 is another road which finds a pass to cut south west through the hills, and reach the A76 near Sanquhar.

North east of Abington, on the A702, is the start of the A73. For a time this route extended over a pointless multiplex to meet the A74 in the village itself, but it now starts a short distance to the north, and turns to run vaguely parallel with the motorway to Lanark.

Routes

Route To Notes

M74

Glasgow

A74(M)

Carlisle

A702

Biggar, Edinburgh

A73

Lanark, Glasgow

A702

Crawford, Carlisle (A74(M))

B797

Leadhills, Wanlockhead, Sanqhar (A76)

B7078

Douglas (A70), Crawfordjohn, Sanquhar (B740)

A74

Glasgow

A74

Carlisle

A720

Lanark

M6

Carlisle opened as A74(M) and never renumbered

Links





Abington
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Services
Roads
Related Pictures
View gallery (18)
Abington area (northern section), 1956 - Coppermine - 16934.jpgRoad to Abington near White Hill - Geograph - 4113604.jpgEdinburgh Road, Abington - Geograph - 4113545.jpgThe Duneaton Water flows under the A702 before joining the River Clyde - Geograph - 2081480.jpgDuneaton Bridge - Geograph - 4067781.jpg
Places in Scotland
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