B3130

Route

The B3130 is another of Somerset's long B-roads, crossing half of the county, from the A37 just north of Pensford in the east to the coast at Clevedon in the west. However, this has only been the situation since 1935 as the section east of the A370 was originally mostly the B3117.

Belluton - Barrow Tanks

The road starts in Belluton, a hamlet in the Chew Valley to the north of Pensford. It starts by running the entire length of the pre-1935 B3118 and then continues west parallel to the river. It bypasses Stanton Drew, home of the second largest stone circle in England (after Avebury), before entering the first place of any size en route, the village of Chew Magna.

The B3114 leaves the B3130 to the west of the village; this continues along the Chew Valley. The B3130 leaves Chew Magna along a tributary as far as Winford, before the road climbs up to reach the A38 near the Barrow Tanks. It turns right and multiplexes with the A-road for about half a mile.

Barrow Tanks - Cambridge Batch

Barrow Tanks are a series of embanked reservoirs that sit alongside the A38 to the east of Barrow Gurney. From the road, you just get the feeling of driving through a cutting, or along the base of a hill, but they in fact store the water used by the population of Bristol and surrounding areas.

Barrow Gurney

After the short multiplex with the A38, the B3130 reappears at traffic lights, running north west through the pretty little village of Barrow Gurney. Unfortunately, however, this road is far from pretty. We are almost on the outskirts of Bristol here still, and the B3130 connects two of that city's great arteries, the A38 and A370. As such it is a major rat run, and the road is not up to the job. Add to this a conservation area, serious constraints on the road width, sharp bends and no pavements and you can understand why the council have slapped on weight limits and even considered closing the road. A bypass, connected to a proposed piece of the A4174 Avon Ring Road and rapid public transport connections from Temple Meads to Bristol Airport may happen one day.

Cambridge Batch - Nailsea

The B3130 straightens and widens as it approaches the A370 at Cambridge Batch. This is a grade-separated junction of two S2 roads at the western end of the Long Ashton Bypass. Such an unusual junction is perhaps connected to vague plans to a road from the Clevedon Junction of the M5 across North Somerset to bypass Nailsea and crash into Bristol, as noted above. Such a road would pass near, if not through Cambridge Batch, but has now been mothballed for over thirty years.

We continue North West, meeting the B3129 at a crossroads south of Failand, then passing through the pretty village of Wraxall. The road turns by the church, and drops south eastwards into Nailsea, a new town built as a dormitory settlement for Bristol, although the planned road links never materialised. A series of roundabouts take us past Tesco, and along the eastern end of the High Street, before veering off on to Stock Way, a town-centre distributor road.

Nailsea - Clevedon

B3130 passing Fishing Lake

Halfway along Stock Way, a set of traffic lights marks where the B3130 turns off north, on what is essentially a TOTSO. We soon reach the end of the town, cross Jacklands Bridge and meet the B3128 which has passed through Failand from the northern end of the Long Ashton Bypass. A series of sharp bends take us into Tickenham, which is a long strung out village with a 40 (or is it now 30?) limit throughout. A short blast under the motorway and we reach Clevedon.

Clevedon's new distributor road turns off to the left, signposted for the motorway, and then we reach the junction with Walton Road (B3124). The road ahead, Old Street, is also a B road, but its number is uncertain. Some maps show it as a continuation of the B3130, as far as the B3133. However, there is great confusion - see the B3124 page for more info! Certainly the western end of the B3130 was originally on the sea front.