B727

This article is about the current B727 in southern Kirkcudbrightshire.
For the original B727 from Dalbeattie to Castle Douglas in the same county, see B727 (Dalbeattie - Castle Douglas).

The B727 follows a winding route across southern Kirkcudbrightshire.

Route

Dalbeattie - Kirkcudbright

The route starts on the A745 a couple of miles to the west of Dalbeattie and heads west along a winding route through the hills. The junction has been realigned, as evidenced by a vast expanse of tarmac in front of the house on the right, which is the former line of the A745. After a short, level straight, the road dips a little around a couple of bends and then becomes much windier as it climbs across a steep tree-covered slope. After a low summit between shallow hills the road straightens up a little and undulates gently south west across fields before curving round to head almost due west. It then drops gently down to a sharp fork junction with the B736. Here the B727 TOTSOs right onto a very short multiplex, which ends when the B736 turns off to the right to head to Castle Douglas. Apart from the house at the junction with the A745, the route hasn't passed any roadside houses so far, and even the few properties scattered across the fields along the way have mostly been hidden by folds of the hills. This soon changes, however.

Turning for Auchencairn

The B727 continues southwestwards on a long straight through the small village of Gelston, with a line of brightly painted stone houses on the right looking out at a band of woodland with fields beyond. It crosses a minor road at a crossroads next to the war memorial and then follows a series of straights on an undulating route which climbs steadily past Craigley Farm. A couple of wiggles are found before Castlehill, from where the route gets twistier and twistier as it works its way around the low Corra Hill. A zig-zagging climb then lifts it into forestry and a summit of 133m at Sheillahill. For the next three miles, the route drifts downhill, a handful of short straights interrupt the otherwise twisty route which winds between fields and patches of woodland, with a scattering of houses and farms to be seen, although again few are on the roadside. Some of the tightest bends on the route come almost within sight of Kirkcudbright.

After passing the large farm of Lochfergus (screened by trees), the gradient steepens and the road winds down a steep sided wooded valley, before breaking out southwards and crossing the hillside to a hairpin where it doubles back into the same valley once more. This is the top of the town, and the route follows St Cuthbert Road and then St Cuthbert Street down the hill, with good views of the rooftops and spires of the former county town. As the route turns hard right onto St Cuthbert Street, the ruined castle stands ahead in the distance, but the B727 comes to a temporary end before reaching it. It meets the A711 at a crossroads in the town centre, at the start of a multiplex, which continues right along St Mary Street and then left onto Bridge Street, the A755 to cross the River Dee on Kirkcudbright Bridge.

Kirkcudbright - Gatehouse

Approaching Borgue

The B727 regains its number at a fork on the A755 to the west of Kirkcudbright, and initially heads along a short section of the former A755, before turning south past a row of large detached houses. Now heading southwest, it soon drops down to the shore of the River Dee as it flows out into Kirkcudbright Bay. The road winds along the coast, twisting and turning below fields and patches of woodland. It then passes a holiday park to enter the tiny village of Millhall. Just after a small shoreside car park, the road turns inland, the bends ironed out a little as it climbs steadily up below Cooper Croft Hill before levelling out as it curves to the west. It then crosses an undulating landscape of fields and farms to reach Borgue, a small village which is nevertheless the largest on this section of the route. Turning sharply north in the village the road winds and undulates across familiar agricultural landscapes for another 2 miles or so before reaching the A755 again; that road has taken a much shorter route to get here from Kirkcudbright.

After multiplexing for nearly a mile to the west with the A755, the B727 resumes on the far side of the A75 Gatehouse of Fleet bypass. This is now the old route of the A75 which heads into Gatehouse of Fleet, and as such is a much wider and straighter route which skirts the western edge of the extensive Cally Park estate. It then sweeps through a wooded cutting on the side of Galla Hill to reach the town itself. A long left hand bend past the Primary School leads onto the High Street, which is dominated by an elegant clock tower. The old stone houses and hotels also include some fine examples of the local vernacular, with the route passing a good variety of shops as it dips down towards the River Fleet. The High Street crosses the river on the interesting Fleet Bridge and terminates soon after on the B796, where that route TOTSOs in order to continue along the former A75.

History

The route was initially left unclassified in 1922, but had come into existence by 1926, when it is shown on the Michelin Map. At this time it stretched from its current start point near Dalbeattie to the A75 at Barharrow near Gatehouse. When the Gatehouse bypass opened in 1986, the A755 was extended along the eastern section of the old main road to meet the new bypass route at a staggered crossroads. On the opposite side of this, the B727 was extended into Gatehouse, although the final section of the former A75 route is now the B796.