B847

Cuiltaloskin

The B847 is a medium-length B-road in north Perthshire.

It starts at the House of Bruar, about 3 miles west of Blair Atholl. It is unclear whether the road starts on the A9, and then almost immediately TOTSOs, or whether the true start point is on the B8079 (signs claim the latter). Either way it heads west, along the old A9 route, passes under the new route of that road followed by the railway and so enters the small village of Calvine.

At the further end of the village, the B847 rejoins the A9; however this is just a spur, with a junction in the village being the original start point of the route before the A9 was upgraded.

From Calvine the old road heads south, simultaneously passing under the railway and over the River Garry to enter Struan, another tiny village. After passing a few houses, the route starts its journey west up Glen Errochty, a sparsely populated glen of few houses and surprisingly few views. The road often passes through trees, with the river hidden from view even when it is just a few paces away, and the views that are available are of barren hillsides and vast forestry plantations.

After about 3 miles the road takes avoiding action at the entrance to Auchleeks House, again hidden behind trees, and then the small village of Trinafour appears ahead. This is where the B847 briefly follows the route of General Wade's military road. The route is picked up just across Trinafour Bridge, with Wade's old bridge accessible by foot a short distance uphill.

Less than a mile later, the military road forks left to cross the hill to Tummel Bridge, while the B847 continues heading south west, crossing a low summit and then dropping down with some stunning views south across Loch Dunalastair to Schiehallion beyond. The route terminates on the B846 about two miles east of Kinloch Rannoch.

History

The draft proposals for the 1935 renumberings would have seen the B847 extended along the B846 into Aberfeldy, with the B846 re-routed along the B8019 to the A9. While this sensible suggestion is marked as 'Agreed', it was never carried through.

Many years later when the A9 was upgraded, the B847 gained an extension along that road's former route. From the former junction at Calvine, the B847 was extended west for a couple of hundred yards to the new A9 alignment and east through the village, under the A9 and on to Bruar where it terminates either on the B8079, which continues along the pre-bypass A9, or the main road itself.