B6277
| B6277 | ||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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| From: | Alston (NY720462) | |||
| To: | Cross Lanes (NZ049138) | |||
| Via: | Middleton in Teesdale, Barnard Castle | |||
| Distance: | 32.9 miles (52.9 km) | |||
| Meets: | A689, B6282, B6276, B6281, A67, A66 | |||
| Old route now: | A689 | |||
| Highway Authorities | ||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||
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The B6277 is a long B-road across the North Pennines, forming the main road through upper Teesdale.
The route starts in the Tyne Valley, on the eastern edge of the town of Alston, where the eastbound A689 TOTSOs left – this is because prior to the extension of the A689 this far west (along what was the B6293) the B6277 was the through route and ran through the town, starting slightly further west on the A686. From here our road heads south and begins to climb immediately. It passes the golf course before turning eastwards, running parallel to – but far above – the River South Tyne. The road continues to climb for some distance, reaching a summit of over 1900 feet on Tynehead Fell.
Having got this high the road remains flat for a short distance before crossing the county boundary and then beginning to descend. The road skirts the valley of the Harwood Beck, descending all the while, eventually reaching Teesdale and the bottom of the valley. The river itself is met just after High Force and road and river run adjacent to each other for some distance.
A few miles further on, the road reaches Middleton-in-Teesdale. It zigzags to cross a stream before running through the Market Place. It meets the B6282 and TOTSOs right to cross the River Tees and the Pennine Way. Shortly afterwards the B6276, another cross-Pennine road, turns off to the right. The first section of this was actually the original line of the B6277, which then turned left through Laithkirk to cross the River Lune. The current route of the B6277 takes a flatter route to the same river crossing.
The B6277 continues to follow the River Tees downstream, though not as closely as before. We pass through several villages and cross a couple of tributaries before reaching Startforth: that part of Barnard Castle which lies on the right bank of the Tees. Here our road runs into the A67 and that route takes over for around 175 m before it TOTSOs left at traffic lights to cross the river, the B6277 continuing ahead, with the Tees on our left. Within 400 m the river bends to the left but our road continues southward, climbing out of the valley to end 2.5 km further on at a T-junction meeting with the dual-carriageway A66.