B880
B880 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Brodick (NR902283) | |||
To: | Blackwaterfoot (NS005368) | |||
Distance: | 9.4 miles (15.1 km) | |||
Meets: | A841, unclassified | |||
Former Number(s): | A842 | |||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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For the former B880 on the Isle of Bute, see B880 (Bute).
Route
The B880 bisects Arran from the island capital of Brodick on the east coast to Blackwaterfoot on the west coast. For much of its life met the A841 at each end, but with that route's curtailment its western end is now on an unclassified road just short of Blackwaterfoot itself.
The road starts at a sharp corner on the A841 on the northern edge of Brodick and heads west. After a brief wooded section the terrain opens out and we climb a narrow glen before a steeper section (with excellent views over the Firth of Clyde in the rear-view mirror) takes us to the road's summit. The descent is much longer but not as steep. The road goes down a wooded glen then, as the road leaves the hills behind and levels out, reaches a junction, the first since leaving Brodick.
We bend to the left, with hills to the left and flat land to the right and become far more built-up, running through Ballymichael and Shiskine. It's not long now before the end of the road, at a sharply angled T-junction on the now-unclassified former A841.
History
This route was originally numbered as the A842, which continued to the coast in Blackwaterfoot. However, there was a review of the road numbers on Arran during the 1920s and by 1932 the route had been renumbered as the B880, which it remains to this day.