B7086

The B7086 is a largely rural route between Strathaven and Lanark in southern Lanarkshire.

Route

Strathaven - Kirkmuirhill

Towards Sandford

The route starts on the A71 Kirk Street in the centre of Strathaven. Maps show that the route follows Todshill Street, which is one-way southbound, as far as a T-junction TOTSO with the unclassified Station Road; that road is two way and returns northbound traffic to traffic lights on the A71 and so is perhaps a better route for southbound traffic as well. The B7086 continues south on Avon View and immediately crosses a bridge over the dismantled railway line (the station is long-gone), before heading out through the suburbs on Lesmahagow Road. After a few properties along the roadside, the newer housing on the edge of town is either set back behind a service road, or backs onto the main road. Before long, the edge of town is reached and the route heads out into open country. It descends quite steeply across fields and round some sweeping bends to cross the Avon Water on Craig Bridge. The ascent is a similar gradient, much of it in a shallow cutting, which bypasses Sandford.

At the top of the hill, a left turn leads into the village, and a few houses can be seen through the trees. So far the route had been wide, following a modern alignment with long sweeping bends. However, beyond the village it noticeably narrows and is soon snaking its way through a series of tighter bends. The meandering Kype Water is followed upstream for a couple of miles, past a scattering of farms and houses set amongst the fields of this undulating landscape. A short straight dips down to cross the small burn near the houses at Deadwaters and then the road climbs eastwards, out of the shallow valley and through woodland, where a summit of 226m is reached. After going through the wood, the route starts to descend, although little height is lost as it winds across the hills to the small settlement of Boghead. Now straighter again, a slight dip leads down to pass the school, after which the descent noticeably steepens.

The route dives down to go under the M74 and then the long slip road for J9 which crosses on a separate bridge a few metres away. This marks the entrance to Kirkmuirhill, and the route follows Strathaven Road between old stone houses to a double mini roundabout. After a slight dogleg to the left, Strathaven Road continues into Thornton Road, which has a line of modern shops stepped down the hill on the left and a school and parkland on the right. At the T-junction at the end, the B7086 meets the B7078, former A74, and the two routes multiplex to the south east along Carlisle Road for about a quarter of a mile.

Kirkmuirhill - Hazelbank

Looking across the River Nethan bridge at Burnfoot

The route resumes by forking left by the church onto Lanark Road. After passing a few houses, it slices through the abutments of a demolished railway bridge to enter open country, with some wide views ahead across the Nethan Valley. The route is already winding downhill, but quickly steepens around some tight and twisty bends as it plunges down into the bottom of the valley. There are two narrow bridges at the bottom of the hill, the first over the small Birkwood Burn, and the second a few metres later crosses over the River Nethan itself. A sharp left turn then turns the route to climb across the steep slopes on the eastern side of the valley, with some wiggly bends, but easier than the descent. At the top of the hill, a tighter right hand bend turns the route across another old railway line, now built over, and into Auchenheath, a small village where there are rarely houses on both sides of Lanark Road at the same time.

The route continues northeast, snaking its way across the undulating landscape, with some expansive views across the fields to the north. A tighter right kink leads onto a long straight past some houses near a summit of 181m. Its all downhill from here, and a long right hander leads round onto the steep slopes of the valley of the River Clyde. If you can see over the hedges, the river can be spied far below, but the road has to snake its way down, running between trees and hedges. There are a couple of narrow pinch points, some tighter bends and short straights, making it a tricky but rewarding stretch of road. At length, the bends and gradient ease and the B7086 ends at a sharp fork on the A72 above Hazelbank and pointing east towards Lanark.

History

On classification in 1922 the above route was numbered as the B743 throughout, but it did not retain Class II status, or even a single number, for long. It probably became the A744 in 1924, but then the section west of the A74 (present B7078) at Kirkmuirhill became an extension of the A726 in 1934. This situation lasted until the 1990s, by which time the two A-roads simply merged into one another in Kirkmuirhill as the A74 had been replaced by the M74, and the old route renumbered as the B7078. The B7086 number dates to this time.