B744

This article is about the current B744 in Ayrshire.
For the original B744 running for some distance south of Glasgow, see B744 (Muirkirk - Glasgow).

The B744 is a secondary road, which runs to the east of Ayr and Kilmarnock in Ayrshire.

Route

Belston - Tarbolton

Tarholm Bridge

The route starts on the A70 at Belston, a couple of miles east of Ayr, and heads northeastwards a long a series of short straights across fields. It's not long before the River Ayr is reached, with the road turning hard right to briefly follow the riverbank, before turning left across the narrow Tarholm Bridge. On the far bank, a gentle winding climb lifts the route across fields and into Annbank, where it runs along the main street, named Weston Avenue. Annbank is an old mining village, although hardly any buildings from that time remain, the whole place being redeveloped with council housing in the mid twentieth century and a few modern bungalows added on the periphery since. The road continues to climb slightly all the way through the village to the far end, where a crest leads to a short sharp drop down to a T-junction on the B742. The route turns right for the first - and shortest - multiplex along its route: little more than a bridge over a railway line.

After regaining its number at a triangular junction the B744 continues its northeasterly course across undulating terrain, although the road is now narrower than before and no longer has a centre line. The road is windy, and rises and falls across a series of low hills and shallow valleys, but is steadily gaining height overall. After another railway bridge a couple of short straights lead to another T-junction, this time with the B743. The two routes multiplex for a short distance uphill, before the B744 turns off to the left to head north once more. The road is now straighter, and has a centre line again, as it follows a straight climb up to a summit of just over 120m. Two longer straights across the open fields lead into Tarbolton, where the B730 is met on the southern edge of the village. The two routes then multiplex north through town along Montgomerie Street, which drifts gently downhill to find a nice collection of old stone buildings, many housing shops and businesses, in the village centre.

Tarbolton - Galston

Crofthead near Tarbolton

As the B730 bears left to pass the prominent church, the B744 turns right onto Burns Street to regain its number. It heads north to a T-junction on Garden Street, which is also the B744 in both directions, making one of these streets a spur. Heading east along Garden Street, the route quickly narrows and loses its centre line as it heads out of town, curving the long way round an old castle motte, before almost doubling back on itself to dip down across a burn. A short climb then leads to a hard right with a series of straight climbing the bumpy ridge. There are a scattering of houses and farms to be seen, a few on the roadside, as the route crosses a couple of subsidiary tops before finally reaching the summit of 144m at a crossroads. Here the route has to TOTSO left, the other two routes being unclassified, and begins a long sinuous descent, still crossing fields, with some expansive views of distant hills glimpsed here and there along this whole section.

After crossing a railway line, the route has a short straight climb up to meet the A76 at Crosshands, which is crossed at a slightly offset crossroads. The route then dips down to cross the Cessnock Water on Lawers Bridge, before climbing again as it turns more northerly across the fields. This meandering, undulating run across fields crosses several low summits, dipping between them, but is losing height as it gets further north. A small patch of trees near Millands Farm sees the route sweep round to the right for a detour to the east, which further eases the gentle descent, but is really unnecessary, as the route gets steeper lower down. Old maps show a field boundary running straight down, and there is the hint of a cropmark visible, perhaps suggesting that this is an old alignment, but the first edition OS maps from c1857 show the current route. After returning to its earlier straight alignment down the hill, the route soon comes to an end at a T-junction on the A719 on the western edge of town.

History

The route was originally unclassified but gained its number at some point between 1932 and 1936. As it is not listed in the documents for 1934, 35 or 36, it could be presumed that it came into existence in 1933.