B824
B824 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Keir (NS776992) | |||
To: | Doune (NN735012) | |||
Distance: | 3 miles (4.8 km) | |||
Meets: | M9, A9, B8033, A820 | |||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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The B824 is a short link road between Doune and Bridge of Allan in south Perthshire.
While it is a good wide road with good sightlines around most of the bends, it doesn't really go anywhere useful to most people, being a 'middle way' between the A84 and A820. Traffic from the A84 heading into Stirling will be put off by the narrow streets of Doune at the western end, and the need to then use the M9 or the slow A9 through Bridge of Allan to reach the city centre. Equally, traffic headed for Dunblane, or the A9 to Perth would be better advised to use the A820. However, despite this, it is well trafficked and seems to be used as a useful alternative by locals from the A84 to the M9 when the A84 itself is busy in the summer months.
The upshot of this is that this historic old Military Road is often an empty stretch of tarmac unhindered by slow moving vehicles, speed limits or roadside properties, and aside from the sharp bend at the western end, it is an effortless drive through quiet countryside, crossing the hills to the north of the wide Forth Valley.
The road starts at the large Keir Roundabout, the northern terminus of the M9, just to the south of Dunblane. It heads west through some sweeping bends past Keir Home Farm. Climbing steadily, the road straightens out and picks up the route of the old Military Road just before the summit, where a memorial to the founder of the SAS, David Stirling, stands looking out to the north west. Immediately, the descent starts, with short straights punctuated by sweeping bends before the brakes have to be applied hard as the road swings sharply northwards for the final drop to the A820 at a T-junction just to the east of Doune. This junction was improved in 2012 as part of a minor realignment of the A820.