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B741

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B741
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (16)
From:  New Cumnock (NS616133)
To:  Girvan Mains (NX192990)
Via:  Dalmellington
Distance:  30.7 miles (49.4 km)
Meets:  A76, B7013, A713, B7045, B7023, B7035, A77
Highway Authorities

East Ayrshire • South Ayrshire

Traditional Counties

Ayrshire

Route outline (key)
B741 New Cumnock – Dalmellington
(A713) Dalmellington
B741 Dalmellington – Girvan Mains

The B741 is a long B-road across southern Ayrshire.

Route

New Cumnock - Dalmellington

Heading east towards Pennyvenie above Dalmellington

The route starts on the A76 at a mini-roundabout in New Cumnock and heads southwest, curving past a few houses before straightening up as it heads out across fields. After passing a nature reserve off to the right set in old mine workings, the route passes the long straggly line of houses that make up Legate and then Connel Park. In the middle of this small community, the road crosses an old railway line, where there used to be a disused level crossing, but it has been removed since 2010. At length, the houses peter out and the route continues south west across the open fields, with a scattering of houses here and there. There are some far reaching views along here as the road dips to cross a shallow valley and then climbs a little again; the gently rolling landscape off to the north west is strewn with old quarry and mine workings which nature is slowly reclaiming. Before long the route reaches the hills to the south and starts to climb, turning to follow a more westerly course. After skirting the lower slopes of Peat Hill the road reaches a summit of 313m as it enters a forest.

From this first summit, the route dips down to cross the River Nith at Nith Lodge Bridge, before climbing back into the trees for a couple of miles, reaching an overall summit of 325m en route. This run through the forest is somewhat twistier than the route has been so far, but as the route drops into the slight valley of the Cumnock Burn, it becomes windier still, following the meandering burn steadily down hill. The burn is crossed at the entrance to the town, as it turns away to the west, while the route continues south, dropping steadily down the winding Cumnock Road and then High Main Street to reach a roundabout in the town centre. Dalmellington is an old mining town, which at one time had a rather depressing air of near dereliction. This is no longer the case, and many of the old buildings have been brought back to life, repurposed, with a good selection of shops and businesses clustered around the busy town centre. The B741 bears right at the roundabout, onto the narrow Main Street (the left turn is the B7013 along the High Street) and soon comes to a T-junction on the A713.

Dalmellington - Dailly

Single Track west of Dalmellington

The A-road, is followed north-westwards for some 600m in a short multiplex before the B741 resumes by turning left at a crossroads on the northern edge of the town. Now heading westward, the route soon crosses the River Doon on the narrow Doon Bridge, after which it remains predominantly S1, with some wider sections. A wiggly, winding climb lifts the road up past a couple of farms into the hills ahead, levelling up as it crosses the 250m contour. After a long horseshoe bend, the route straightens up across the moor, with a bumpy climb lifting it past 270m before it starts to descend. After dipping slightly to cross the Lone Glen Burn, the road widens again, sufficient for traffic to pass with care, but there is still no white centre line. A long undulating straight then drops the route down to skirt the edge of a forest, where the gradient steepens as the route winds across the hillside and down into Straiton. A left hand bend leads onto the straight Dalmellington Road which runs through this pretty village to a T junction.

The B741 TOTSOs right here with an unclassified road, and heads west along Main Street, past the Arts and Crafts style village hall, and then the church before becoming Kirkmichael Road. Another TOTSO follows, where the B7045 continues ahead as the B741 turns left to cross the Water of Girvan on New Bridge. This river is now loosely followed downstream to the coast at Girvan, but first the B741 cuts off a long meander to the north by climbing through woodland for about a mile. From the summit of 154m, the route continues to wind westwards across fields and through further, smaller patches of woodland. There are occasional farms and houses on the roadside, but most are set back in the fields. From the crossroads at Cloyntie, the route passes between two slight hills and then dips down to cross the Cloyntie Burn. It then climbs again, through another shallow dip to meet the B7023 at a sharp fork.

Again, the B741 has to TOTSO, turning left and winding down through trees to cross the Water of Girvan again at Hamilton Bridge. Now in far flatter terrain, the B741 continues south west, following the river downstream, with a steep wooded bank to the right, and a line of trees between the road and the riverside meadows to the left. A right turn leads to Ruglen, and was the original line of the B741. Soon after, a long left hand bend aims the road at the riverbank, which it turns to follow as far as Aird Bridge. Here the road crosses the Water of Girvan again before passing through patches of woodland. Having climbed a little away from the river, the route straightens up on the approach to Dailly.

Dailly - Girvan

At the entrance to Dailly village the B741 TOTSOs to the right at a crossroads, with the road straight ahead being the B7035. It then curves along Linfern Road onto the long straight Main Street by the imposing village church. Just past the church the pretty village square lies off to the left, beyond which a mixture of old and new properties stretch out to a crossroads at the far end of the village. Here the B741 turns right (without a TOTSO!) to cross yet another bridge over the water of Girvan, Dailly Bridge. A short winding run (of about a kilometre) north and north-west then brings the route to a T-junction where the original route comes in from the right and the B741 now has to TOTSO to the left. A long sinuous run westwards through Kilgrammie Plantation follows, with the road quickly crossing over the otherwise parallel railway line. As it emerges from the trees, the route reaches a final summit of 82m at Low Craighead, before descending a low ridge, and re-crossing the railway.

After crossing a small burn on Killochan Bridge, the route climbs a little over a low knoll at the end of the ridge, and then winds down over the railway once more. A long straight then leads past the Grangestone Industrial Estate, home to the Girvan Distillery, at the end of which a quick zig-zag carries the road over the railway a final time. Another straight leads the route back to the north bank of the Water of Girvan, but soon after meeting the river, the route ends at a T-junction on the A77 just to the north of Girvan town. This junction has clearly been realigned in the past, with the A77 crossing a new railway bridge immediately to the north, and a new bridge over the river directly to the south.

History

The original line of the B741 bypassing Dailly

The B741 was one of the longer Scottish B roads as originally allocated in 1922, and still has essentially the same start and end points. However, as noted above, a long section in the middle near Dailly has been re-routed. The original line turned the B741 north west away from the Water of Girvan at Ruglen, and climbed up to pass under the railway at the former Kilkerran Station. It then turned left, and followed the now unclassified route which runs across the hillside above the railway. This includes some pretty tight bends, so while it is shorter end to end than the current route, it is perhaps less well suited to modern traffic. The railway was then crossed at Wallacetown, and about a mile later the original line rejoins the current route. The route was re-routed through Dailly before 1932.

The route through Dailly itself has also been changed over the years. As far as can be ascertained from the maps available, the original route through the village followed the eastern end of Main Street and then Back Road and Bridge Street to reach the bridge. However, at some point the route was moved to follow Main Street entirely. The 1961 OS 1:2500 sheet shows this change, but smaller scale maps both before and after persist to show the original line along Back Road. Although Linfern Road did exist in the early 1960s, the eastern part which is now used by the B741 was a later addition. It therefore seems likely that the 1961 map was incorrect, and that the route was moved onto Main Street when the Linfern Road connection was completed.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Girvan - Ruglen - Dalmellington - New Cumnock





B741
Junctions
Crossings
Roads
Places
Related Pictures
View gallery (16)
Towards Pennyvenie - Geograph - 1346012.jpgBridge over the River Doon - Geograph - 1311355.jpgNew Bridge, Straiton - Geograph - 4653753.jpgAird Bridge - Geograph - 185713.jpgBridge Street, Dailly - Geograph - 3055529.jpg
Other nearby roads
Girvan
B700 – B799
B700 • B701 • B702 • B703 • B704 • B705 • B706 • B707 • B708 • B709 • B710 • B711 • B712 • B713 • B714 • B715 • B716 • B717 • B718 • B719
B720 • B721 • B722 • B723 • B724 • B725 • B726 • B727 • B728 • B729 • B730 • B731 • B732 • B733 • B734 • B735 • B736 • B737 • B738 • B739
B740 • B741 • B742 • B743 • B744 • B745 • B746 • B747 • B748 • B749 • B750 • B751 • B752 • B753 • B754 • B755 • B756 • B757 • B758 • B759
B760 • B761 • B762 • B763 • B764 • B765 • B766 • B767 • B768 • B769 • B770 • B771 • B772 • B773 • B774 • B775 • B776 • B777 • B778 • B779
B780 • B781 • B782 • B783 • B784 • B785 • B786 • B787 • B788 • B789 • B790 • B791 • B792 • B793 • B794 • B795 • B796 • B797 • B798 • B799
Earlier versions: B705 • B706 • B707 • B708 • B713(E) • B713(W) • B714 • B715 • B716 • B724 • B727 • B730 • B734
B735 • B736 • B739 (S) • B739 (N) • B743 • B744 • B746 • B752 • B761 • B762 • B763 • B765 • B773 • B783 • B785 • B789 • B791 • B795
Anomalous numbers: B77

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