B842
| B842 | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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| From: | Claonaig (NR871566) | |||||||||
| To: | Southend (NR690083) | |||||||||
| Distance: | 37.2 miles (59.9 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | B8001, B879, A83, B843, unclassified | |||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A83, A818 | |||||||||
| Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
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| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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The B842 is a long B-road down the eastern side of Kintyre, stretching almost to the southern end. As such it is the southernmost classified road in the 8 zone, a status it has held since 1922, although the route has been greatly extended to the north since then.
Today the road commences at a TOTSO junction with the B8001 near to the Claonaig ferry terminal. It immediately crosses the Claonaig River as it heads south, climbing steadily into a small forest, beyond which it reaches the first of many summits. The road is part of NCN78, the long distance cycle route from Campbeltown to Inverness, but the incessant rise and fall of the road must be tortuous for cyclists! After the first few hills, the road drops down to the tiny settlement of Crossaig, crossing Crossaig Bridge, before climbing once more. The views are often fantastic out across the Kilbrannan Sound to Arran, although there aren't many places where cars can pull in to enjoy the view.
After dipping down again at the back of Cour Bay, the road climbs again, before a long gently descent to Grogport. So far the road has been almost all single-track and has a number of narrow bridges, tight bends and steep hills, the most formidable being just south of Grogport. Although this is the coast road, the sea is always some distance away (but usually visible), except at Grogport where the road runs around the back of the small beach. After crossing the old stone bridge at the southern end of the beach, the road squeezes between houses to climb steeply round some tight bends to reach the highest summit so far, at just under 100m. This is a low pass between the hills into the valley of the Carradale Water, and so for the first time the sea is no longer visible.
The descent into the valley is easier than the climb up from Grogport, with the road snaking down the flank of the hill. It then runs through patches of woodland, with the steep wooded hill rising up to the left and flatter fields stretching away to the river on the right. The road is generally wider now, and whilst perhaps not wide enough for two cars to always pass safely, there are fewer really narrow pinch points, and less chance of needing to reverse. At Carradale the road meets the B879, which heads east through the village to the pier, while the B842 really does become two-way as it turns south. It crosses the Carradale Water, and has to endure another steep climb up through Dippen Wood, but at least with the benefit of a centre line! After crossing the hill, the road briefly returns to the coast at Torrisdale Bay, with a layby alongside the beach.
There is another steep climb beyond Torrisdale, with the road winding up through the woods again. This time the tarmac isn't quite wide enough for a centre line however. After a couple more climbs the road drops into the small village of Saddell, site of a ruined Abbey, and inevitably another steep climb follows. This is the last of the big hills though, with the road henerally staying lower and closer to the shore as it passes through the scattered townships of Ugadale, Ballochgair, Ardnacross and so into Peninver. This is the last village before Campbeltown, and has a car park and a couple of caravan parks along the shore.
A scattering of houses and farms sit in the fields on the last couple of miles to Campbeltown, which the B842 enters as High Askomill Road as it drops down to the head of Campbeltown Loch. The B842 then TOTSOs left off of High Street into Saddell Street which becomes Lochend Street before reaching a T-junction on the A83. There have been changes to the roads here in the 2010s, with the A83 re-routed, and Lochend Street is now one-way at the end, the other direction catered for by the western end of Kinloch Road. The two routes now multiplex along Kinloch Road to the square at the harbour, where the B842 resumes as it heads south along Main Street before turning right again as Lorne Street, then Big Kiln Street, then Witchburn Road to leave Campbeltown behind.
At the village of Stewarton, a mile to the south west, the B842 meets the B843 and TOTSOs left. This was once the starting point of the B842, and indeed the end of the A83, but both routes have been changed. The road continues to the south, climbing steadily through farmland to its final summit at Killelan, again just below 100m. The road then winds down the hill and follows the course of Conieglen Water to the village of Southend. The B842 ends here at an arbitrary point on the main street in the middle of the village, just over half a mile from the beach. From here the road continues further as an unclassified route from where it is possible to reach the Mull of Kintyre lighthouse.
History
Originally the B842 started at Stewarton, where it also met the A83 and B843, before heading south to Southend. The road was soon extended north via a multiplex along the A83 into Campbeltown and then along its present route to the B8001.
Some time after 1975 the road between Campbeltown and Stewarton ceased to be the A83 and was naturally renumbered as the B842. The road to the pier still had Class I status; this could have been the A83 or its original number, A818 - but in more recent years that road has also been downgraded originally as a spur of the B842, but has become the mainline since the A83 was realigned in the town.
