B7027

The B7027 forms a loop off the A714 through Penninghame Forest. There is no obvious reason why the road is classified as it serves no places of any size.

The route starts by turning off the A714 by the church in Challoch and heads almost southwards past the handful of houses that make up this tiny settlement before bearing sharply right at its original starting point. It then heads west through some trees before turning northwest across fields. The road has already lost its centre line, although this does return from time to time, and the road is generally wide enough for two cars to pass. The route becomes more winding as it climbs into the forest area, although there has been extensive felling and some replanting in recent years making the landscape a lot more open than it used to be. A couple of properties sit in clearings on the right, and a dead end side road leads off to the left just before the route grazes the 100m contour. The winding descent is gentle at first, before a short sharp drop leads past a couple of lochs. Perhaps ironically, despite all of the recent felling, these are still cloaked by trees. A couple of short straights lead on through the forest, before the road emerges into moorland fields, where a third loch can briefly be glimpsed over to the left.

On the far side of the clearing, a road bears off left signposted to a hotel; it almost immediately crosses the River Bladnoch and does continue all the way to Glenluce and the A75, a dozen miles away. The B7027 meanwhile continues northwest, loosely following the meandering River Bladnoch upstream, although the river is never very close to the road. The road is soon passing through forestry again, and presently crosses a ridge before dipping down across a burn to enter Knowe. This handful of properties is the largest place on the road and so possibly the original raison d'être for the B7027 but even when the few other properties that are scattered in the surrounding landscape are added in, it doesn't make a village. The road now alternates between blocks of forestry and small moorland fields as it climbs again, winding gently on its northerly course. Side roads and drives lead off to hidden properties, but this is a largely empty landscape of trees and moorland.

Near Knockycoid

At length the route reaches its summit of nearly 140m, before dipping a little, dropping slightly to Kirkculla. Here it curves westwards for a while and becomes much windier. Until the trees regrow, Loch Dornal is then visible to the right before the road dips down to skirt the shore of Loch Maberry. Low forested hills can be seen in the distance, with some wind turbines gently turning, but this is a bleak landscape with little reason to stop, and apart from the odd bulge of a passing place, nowhere to stop either. This section of the road is rather narrow for larger traffic to pass, hence the few passing places, but they are not really frequent enough, and there are marks on the verge here and there showing where traffic has squeezed by. A lonely cottage stands at a junction at the far end of the loch, with the large Drumlamford House lying off in the trees a short way to the north. The B7027 then heads back into the trees, with another twisty section as it crosses the undulating landscape ahead.

The little Loch Nahinie is almost hidden by trees, and quickly passed, and a mile or so further on the road leaves the forest, returning to open fields. A farm and a couple of houses are passed at Knockycoid as the route winds down into the shallow valley of the Duisk River. This is crossed and then followed downstream, although there is normally a boggy field between road and river. The road is soon winding through trees, with the A714 out of sight on the other side of the valley, and suddenly there is a steady procession of houses and farms strung along the roadside. These lead into the small village of Barhill, with the B7027 coming to an end at the southern edge of the village. The A714 has crossed the river and sweeps in from the left to continue north through Barrhill on Main Street. It has taken more-or-less the same distance to get here as the B7027 has but along a straighter, faster S2 route.

History

The route was originally unclassified but had gained its number in 1932. The only notable change to the route since then is the slight extension at Challoch. The first short section past the houses is a former part of the A714, although the southern part of this old loop is now part of the private grounds of a house, indeed it looks as though a building has been built over the old carriageway.