B9013
B9013 | |||||||
Location Map ( geo) | |||||||
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From: | Newton (NJ165631) | ||||||
To: | Burghead (NJ108691) | ||||||
Distance: | 4.7 miles (7.6 km) | ||||||
Meets: | A96, B9089, B9040, Pier | ||||||
Former Number(s): | B9089, B9012 | ||||||
Old route now: | B9040 | ||||||
Highway Authorities | |||||||
Traditional Counties | |||||||
Route outline (key) | |||||||
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For the former B9013 from Craigellachie to Lumsden, see B9013 (Dufftown).
The B9013 serves the coastal town of Burghead in Moray.
Route
The route leaves the A96 a couple of miles west of Elgin and heads north west, dropping down the hill past Newton House and Nursery and a few other houses. This first straight soon levels out on the low lying fertile Laich o'Moray, and follows a series of straights through fields and patches of woodland. It is a rather uneventful journey, with only two sharpish bends, and two crossroads before it enters Roseisle Forest. The tiny village of Roseisle is clustered around the crossroads at the entrance to the forest, and then another straight lead through the trees to the B9089 junction, which joins from the west at an acute angle. Soon after, the route enters Burghead, where the B9040 heads off to the east on the original course of the B9013.
Burghead is a small, compact little port town sitting on a natural promontory at the eastern end of the expansive Burghead Bay, which is backed by a wide beach and sand dunes. The B9013 enters the town along St Aethans Road, which is yet another long straight piece of road, and then continues ahead onto Grant Street. However, contrary to appearances, the B9013 does not follow Grant Street down the hill and up again to the green at the end of the headland, instead it forks off to the left at a TOTSO in front of the Kirk onto Granary Street. This curves round to run parallel to Grant Street and continues north west to find the little harbour at the end.
History
This version of the B9013 had come into existence by 1932 but covered none of the above. The road originally followed the unnamed road skirting St Aethans between the B9089 St Aethans Road and the then-B9012 Fraser Road, which is now part of the B9040. Then, in c1945, the B9013 was extended along its present route to the A96. For many years it was the B9089 which ran in towards Burghead, to meet the B9012 Fraser Road. The B9012 then took on the final section into town to end at the pier, which it had done since 1922 as was common in Scottish coastal towns. However, by 1959, the B9089 had been extended at the expense of the B9012 to reach Burghead's harbour.
This situation survived into the 1970s, but there was then a complete revision of the routes around Burghead, leading to the B9040 taking over the coastal section of the B9012 as well as the original section of the B9013. The B9013 was diverted and extended west into Burghead itself over what had been the B9089.