B730

This article is about the current B730 in Ayrshire.
For the original B730, now part of the A702, see B730 (Thornhill - Dalry).

The B730 is a long and somewhat disjointed secondary road which stretches across central Ayrshire. Although each section can be busy with traffic, it is unlikely that it forms a useful through route in its own right.

Route

Patna - Fail

Looking south from near the summit

The route starts in the hills on the A713 about a mile north of Patna and heads northeastwards signposted for Drongan. The junction includes a short spur which drops down the hill to meet the northbound A713, while the mainline meets the A713 further south at a south facing fork junction. A steady climb through fields and forestry lifts the route up to its overall summit at 212m, from where it descends to Littlemill, crossing several of the tributaries of the Water of Coyle along the way. At Littlemill itself, the route turns sharply left at a junction, where right leads to the slightly larger village of Rankinston, and then crosses the Water of Coyle. A snaking ascent lifts the road away from the river, but it follows it downstream, dipping sharply to cross more tributary valleys. The small settlements of Bonnyton, Craigbrae and Kayshill are pased, and from the last the route drops down to skirt the eastern edge of Drongan.

The B730 enters Drongan on Littlemill Road, and passes some housing to the left, while fields continue to the right at first. After passing an industrial site, Littlemill Road kinks left and there are buildings on both sides of the road for a while, although the bulk of the village lies to the west. As the road leaves the village, it comes alongside a freight-only railway line serving a nearby quarry site, and follows it north to Coalhall and the A70. There's a short multiplex to the east under the railway line (which is a 14' low bridge) before the B730 turns left signposted Tarbolton to regain its northerly course. The route has now dipped below the 100m contour, and continues to lose height as it undulates northwards across fields, passing a scattering of farms and houses along the way. A small loch can be spotted off to the left at Trabboch, but there are few other features of note in what is a pleasant green landscape. The road itself has a series of short straights, with some sharp kinks between them in places.

Crossing the B743 near Tarbolton

The route continues northwards across the fields to Stair, where it drops down around a couple of sharper bends and crosses the River Ayr at the weak and narrow Stair Bridge. After a short straight across the flatter land on the inside of the meander, the road climbs quite steeply out of the valley, through Yett and over a railway line. Just before the top of the hill it crosses the B743, at a slightly staggered crossroads. The summit is a couple of metres higher at around 126m, and then less than a mile further on Tarbolton is reached. The B744 comes in from the left at the entrance to the village and is the junior partner in a short multiplex along Montgomerie Street. This wide, straight street, dips steadily down past a selection of old and not so old properties, with a scattering of shops and other businesses. At the end, the B730 sweeps round to the left, past the church on Cunnigham Street, while the B744 turns off to the right on Burns Street and again on Garden Street just around the next bend. Now following Croft Street, the B730 dips more steeply past modern houses and older flats to leave the village behind.

Just beyond the village, the road passes the Tarbolton Loch fishery, a cluster of small lochs which lie in a hollow in the hills. A slightly sinuous route then quickly leads to the A719 in Fail, where the junction has been rebuilt, the old line of the A719 turning off to the right just before the new junction. There's then a short multiplex to the north before the B730 continues on.

Fail - Dreghorn

The B730 turns left off the A719 at a simple T junction midway between Fail and Lilylaw, and heads north once more on a series of straights which cross some low hills. It then becomes somewhat twistier as it descends towards the A77. There are a scattering of properties along this section of the route, but it is essentially an agricultural landscape. The junction with the A77 at Bogend was, until the 2010s, a simple crossroads but a bridge and two roundabouts have now been built to avoid B730 traffic having to cross the busy dual-carriageway at grade. Unusually, the B730 still meets the A77 in the same place on either side, with the bridge built a little to the west on a loop of new road. A short distance beyond the junction, the B730 curves round to the right, and just round the corner it TOTSOs left, while the route ahead is the B751. A short straight is soon dropping down through trees before bearing left and heading north west across a few fairly flat fields to enter Dundonald.

The traffic calmed Tarbolton Road leads into the village, initially past modern bungalow development, but these soon give way to older houses as the route approaches a mini roundabout. It turns right here onto Main Street, which drops down past the scattered shops set amongst the brightly painted old stone houses. The B750 turns right at a crossroads by the war memorial, where the left turn leads to the ruins of Dundonald Castle, prominently sited on a small knoll a short distance away. Now following Drybridge Road, the houses on the left soon give way to a thick band of trees while those to the right are largely set back behind a service road. At the edge of the village, the A759 is met at a staggered crossroads with a wide verge where the road used to run. The route then follows a dead-straight road across largely flat land for over a mile, passing a large business park on the left, before kinking left and going over a narrow, signalised railway bridge, to enter Drybridge.

The A71 Dreghorn bypass under construction in 1978

Drybridge is a small settlement nestled against a tight meander in the River Irvine which is loosely followed for a few hundred yards. The river meanders away to the east and then doubles back again, and is crossed at the narrow Holmsford Bridge, where traffic heading north has to give way. The bridge sits at less than 10m above sea level, marking the lowest point on the B730. On the far side the road almost immediately dives under the dual carriageway A71 Dreghorn Bypass, on the far side of which a short spur of the B730 turns right to meet the A71 at Corsehill Mount Roundabout. The mainline, meanwhile, continues ahead along the reseidential Dundonald Road into the centre of Dreghorn, where it ends at traffic lights on the B7081.

History

The original northern end of the B730 in Irvine

The route was originally unclassified but had gained its number by 1932. When first classified the B730 continued somewhat further at the northern end. From the traffic lights in Dreghorn, it continued ahead down Station Brae across the Annick Water and on to Barra Crescent. This road is now partially restricted with a bus gate. On the far side of Towerlands Road, it continued along what is now the Broomlands or Bourtreehill Busway, which is now a bus-only road, also open to pedestrians and cyclists. It is therefore still easy to follow as one of the few roads in the area which is not part of the new housing estates, and doesn't have property accesses. After climbing Corserine Bank the route ended on Lochlibo Road, the pre-bypass route of the A736, close to the Stanecastle Roundabout. This section of the route lasted until at least the 1970s but was presumably downgraded when the surrounding housing estates were built.