B156 (Northern Ireland)

Towards Glenavy

The B156 is a loop off the B12 in west County Antrim to serve the shore of Lough Neagh. The road was originally unclassified but gained its number in the late 1920s.

The road starts on the B12 on the southern edge of Aghagallon and heads northwest along Whitehall Road, soon reaching open country. It goes over the obviously disused Lagan Canal and afterwards TOTSOs right to head northwards. We now follow Derrymore Road to the lough and follow the shore as we pass through the settlement of Gawley's Gate. A sharp right-left zigzag then takes us onto a straight northeasterly road, which takes us away from the lough.

After crossing a few more fields we return to Lough Neagh and follow the shoreline, albeit not particularly closely so the water is rarely visible. After heading inland a short distance the road TOTSOs left at a T-junction and continues northwards along a straight, then slightly winding, road. This soon reaches a crossroads, where we give way to the B12, which comes in from the right and continues straight ahead towards Glenavy.

The B156 currently ends here but originally it took on the road to the left, which had been declassified by 1946, although signs here now claim it to be a spur of the B12. That road heads north over the Glenavy River then continues on to enter Crumlin from the west along Lurgan Road. The B156 ended in the village centre on the A26 (present B12).