B3204
B3204 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Main Road (SX733383) | |||
To: | Fore Street (SX739391) | |||
Distance: | 1.2 miles (1.9 km) | |||
Meets: | A381 | |||
Former Number(s): | B3197 | |||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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For the original B3204 in Brixham in the same county, see B3204 (Brixham).
In the beginning, the road from Kingsbridge to Salcombe was all the B3197, then – at some time in the 1950s – the A381 was extended from Kingsbridge to the edge of Salcombe. As the B3197 survived as a short road between West Alvington and Churchstow further north, it didn't seem right to have another bit of it in Salcombe, so the road was renumbered B3204.
The A381 Main Road becomes the B3204 Bennett Road on the southwest edge of Salcombe, immediately after the point where the unclassified Devon Road, diverging to the left, is signposted as the recommended route to the town centre – this is because our road, which descends diagonally down a cliff to just above river level, is unsuitable for large vehicles. At the bottom of the descent we join Cliff Road and after passing the car park for the Harbour Hotel we reach the start of a loop.
The B3204 climbs again, following the one-way Newton Road to reach a T-junction at the top of the hill where it turns right onto the aforementioned Devon Road – and we would indeed have reached this point more quickly had we taken the recommended route from the A381 instead.
Now two-way once again, the B3204 follows a winding course to the church and then descends Market Street back down to sea level and into the one-way system. The narrow Fore Street takes us back to Cliff Road where we squeeze past the Harbour Hotel to return to Newton Road at the end of the loop.