B9037

The B9037 is a bit of a piecemeal route, with rather a confused history at times. Today it is a route that few people will use in its entirety, but it provides a pair of useful links in West Fife.

Route

The B9037 through Torryburn

Starting at Blairhall on the A907, the route heads south, twisting sharply down the hill through a small wood, largely avoiding the village which sits behind the trees to the left. The road quickly straightens up, however, with good views to the right as it continues down the hill, before some more sharp bends take it under the old railway line, now the Alloa – Dunfermline cycle route. After just under a mile the route crosses the Bluther Burn at Shires Mill, a stream which is met again, and then climbs steeply up the other side of the valley. At the top of the hill The B9037 meets the A985 at a simple T junction. This was the original end of the route; however, since the opening of the Valleyfield – Torryburn bypass in 1962, the B9037 has taken on the former route of the A985 through these villages.

The B9037 therefore now turns left for a short multiplex along the A-road, before turning right at a new junction. The old A985 route took a curve here and the old road is still in existence as a footpath. A number of left turns lead into High Valleyfield, but again the route largely bypasses the village as it continues to drop down the hill, along a narrowish tree-lined road, to reach the Bluther Burn again at Newmills Bridge. Just before the bridge, the main road from Culross joins from the right at a sharp fork, and for a time this was a lengthy spur. The route continues eastwards to pass through Newmills and Low Torry as Main Street and briefly finds the sea at Torry Bay. These villages are not the pretty fishing villages of Fife's East Neuk, but they do have a fine variety of architecture, including some older houses set back behind greens and post war social housing designed with a bit more thought than the vast bland estates found in Scotland's cities.

The route then turns inland again, winding along Torryburn's sinuous Main Street as it runs between the railway and the Torry Burn. It climbs steadily out of the village before crossing the railway on the final approach to Cairneyhill Roundabout. The old A985 forked right at the bridge, but the B9037 continues over the railway and ends soon after on the A985 and the A994 continues ahead into Dunfermline.

History

The B9037 number was not allocated in 1922, but as it lies in the gap between the B9034, the last allocated number on the mainland, and B9040, the first allocated number for Orkney, it seems logical to assume it was allocated soon after, perhaps in 1924. The initial route was from Blairhall to the A985 (originally the B911) above High Valleyfield, the first section as described above. With the opening of the Valleyfield – Torryburn bypass in 1962, the B9037 was extended along the former A985 route through the villages, also taking on a short section of the B994 to reach the Cairneyhill Roundabout.

However, a few years later in c1970, the route gained a spur. This is first shown on the 1971 OS Quarter Inch map, and again on the 1976 OS 1:50,000 sheet. The route was extended west through Culross to Kincardine, a route which had never previously been classified. This route started on the 'main' B9037 at the higher fork at High Valleyfield, before dropping down Low Causeway to meet the modern main route through Low Valleyfield, rather than passing through the village. As this situation is also depicted on the late 1980s 1:10,000 sheet, it is presumed that this was a genuine change to the route for a number of years, which has since been downgraded once more. However, as the route through Culross is nearly as long as the other two arms of the B9037 put together, it was an unusual spur.