B7024

The B7024 is a secondary route from Ayr to Maybole, following a similar route to the A77. The route was originally unclassified but had gained its number by 1932.

Halfway Bridge north of Culroy

The route starts to the south of Ayr town centre at a TOTSO on the A79 by St Leonard's Church and heads south along the residential Monument Road. The route is predominantly lined by larger detached and semi detached houses at first, but soon those on the right - and then on both sides - give way to a park and golf course. On the far side of the park, the route enters the old village of Alloway, now part of the Ayr urban area, where the road name is simply Alloway. The B7024 passes through the village centre, with a mixture of housing and a handful of shops. The big draw, however, is the old thatched cottage on the right hand side which is Robert Burns's birthplace, and now a popular museum. The route continues ahead at a mini roundabout, which gives access to a small car park, and then after passing a cricket field a left turn leads to the Burns Monument and another museum and on to the A77. A short distance later, the road crosses the River Doon, from which the Auld Brig o'Doon is visible to the left.

The route climbs away from the river, and indeed Alloway, and winds past some playing fields and through patches of woodland. The road becomes steeper around a left hand bend, and then a long right hander leads onto a long straight across the fields. There are good views east across the Doon Valley as the route continues to climb, briefly crossing the 100m contour. The route then starts to dip down, with another long straight dropping into the tiny hamlet of Culroy, where the road zig-zags across the Culroy Burn before climbing again. The route becomes more windy as it turns to run south west across the fields, following the valley of a small burn up stream. After crossing the burn, the route snakes up out of the valley and on to a summit of 106m, before dipping into the next small valley, where a couple of houses lie beside the bridge. Another climb takes the route up to its overall summit of 116m next to a disused quarry.

A long descent then leads downhill, passing under the A77, Maybole Bypass in a small cutting to enter Maybole itself along Alloway Road. After entering the town, the route curves right past an industrial site and runs alongside the Ayr to Stranraer railway line, crossing it on a long skew bridge and becoming Barns Terrace beyond. It's then not long before the route splits. Barns Terrace continues ahead, apparently a spur of the B7023, whilst the B7024 TOTSOs left onto Barns Road; this ends on the B7023 Culzean Road just before that road's junction with the A77. However, different maps assign different numbers to these two 'spurs', making it difficult to be certain which way the B7024 actually runs here.