B6354

West Allerdean

The B6354 is a cross-country B-road in north Northumberland. It is the highest-numbered and furthest north Class II road entirely in England in the 1922 Road Lists.

The road starts on the A697 near Flodden and heads roughly eastwards. To begin with the road is fairly straight, possibly acting as a driveway to the nearby Ford Castle. Soon the B6353 comes in from the left and TOTSOs onto the B6354; it is then the dominant partner in a multiplex across the River Till as far as a T-junction at a gate to the Ford Castle Estate. Ford Castle, incidentally, was the base of the Scottish King James IV for the 16th-century battle of Flodden Field (in which he was killed). The multiplex ends here, with the B6353 turning right and our road setting off once more to the left.

The road heads north, following the River Till downstream, albeit with a far straighter course. It goes through Heatherslaw and Etal; a light railway does the same but follows the river, more than doubling the distance. The road then bears to the right and starts to climb out of the valley. It continues across the fields via several sharp corners and the village of Duddo. It then strides off northeastwards, following a more-or-less straight course for a few miles across relatively flat terrain.

Eventually the B6354 crosses a small valley before skirting a low hill to reach the A1 Berwick-upon-Tweed bypass, which it intersects by means of a staggered crossroads. The suburbs of Berwick are reached soon afterwards and the road heads into town along Etal Road. A few hundred yards further on the B6435 comes in from the left. This is the original line of the A698 and marks the original northern end of the B6354. However, the A698 was rerouted further north early on and so the B6354 now continues ahead along the remainder of Etal Road to go under the East Coast Main Line and end immediately afterwards at a T-junction on the A1167 (pre-bypass A1) in the Tweedmouth area of town.