B4077
B4077 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
| ||||
From: | Teddington Hands (SO964339) | |||
To: | Stow on the Wold (SP190260) | |||
Distance: | 15.7 miles (25.3 km) | |||
Meets: | A46, A435, B4078, B4632, A424 | |||
Former Number(s): | A438 | |||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
|
The B4077 is a rural road in north Gloucestershire.
It starts at the Teddington Hands roundabout where it meets the A435 and A46 (although that road only turned up here in 1995). A stone fingerpost now stands opposite the petrol station to the south of the junction; aerial photography suggests this is the original location of the crossroads.
The B4077 heads eastwards, passing very close to the Worcestershire border before moving away. Alderton is nearby and then the B4078 crosses. After going over the River Isbourne the B4077 skirts Toddington before reaching a roundabout on the B4632 (former A46). Just afterwards the road crosses the former Stratford upon Avon to Cheltenham railway line. This closed to passengers in the 1960s but a stretch has been reopened as the preserved Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway and the adjacent Toddington station is its HQ.
After passing Stanway House the style of the B4077 changes. It turns sharply right and begins to climb up into the Cotswolds. After reaching a summit at Stumps Cross it crosses a valley in the village of Ford (a bridge is provided for the B4077) before reaching another straight section, wooded at first.
After a few miles of attractive countryside with few buildings by the road the River Dikler is crossed at Upper Swell before the B4077 ends on the A424 a few yards north of its junction with the A429 in Stow on the Wold.
History
The route of the B4077 is identical to its original 1922 route; however, this does not mean the road has not changed in the interim. In 1935 the western section, as far as the then-A46, was renumbered as an eastern extension of the A438, which had previously ended at Teddington Hands. When the A46 was downgraded to become the B4632 the A438 was cut back and the road regained its original number.