B9113

The B9113 is a link road heading east from Forfar in Angus.

Gowanbank

Route

The route starts at the east end of Forfar town centre, leaving the A932 Arbroath Road just past the start of the B9134. The Lowson Memorial Church is the first landmark on high ground to the right, as the B9113 follows Montrose Road eastwards. The road then passes modern housing estates at Gowanbank, with older houses scattered along the roadside, before heading out into the country. Going slightly downhill, the route approaches a wood on the left, where the medieval ruins of Restenneth Priory stand, the spire of which can be spotted above the trees. Quarries and former industrial sites lie hidden behind the trees to the right as the road curves round a 90-degree left-hand bend, which is followed by over a mile of twisty road, mostly through woodland, with a few fields climbing the hill to the left.

After a short dark section through woods the road emerges on the scenic shores of Rescobie Loch, with its fishing facilities on the right, and the church and manse on the left below the southern slopes of Turin Hill. After the loch there are a couple of short straights which gently climb, before the road snakes right then left, climbing more steeply. As the road levels out once more, it also becomes straighter and passes a crossroads of minor roads: left heads up the hill to the B9134 at Aberlemno; right goes past Balgavies Loch to the A932 about a mile away.

Heading slightly uphill, another crossroads is passed and then the route reaches its highest point, crossing the 100m contour on a long straight, offering a clear run past the farms of Pickerton, Dubton and Mosstonmuir. At the end of the straight, a slight kink takes the route into Montreathmont Forest. This used to be a dark run but extensive clearing has been taking place in recent years. The route descends gently around a couple of gentle bends onto another long straight. The B9113 then comes to an end at Montreathmont Crossroads on the A933 Arbroath to Brechin road. To continue to Montrose requires a left turn and then a quick right onto the A934.

History

The original western section of the B9113 in Forfar

The B9113 was originally unclassified but gained its number in the late 1920s. Outside Forfar the route has hardly changed, the exception being at the eastern end, where the route has been turned a little to the south to create the staggered crossroads with the A933.

However, the western end in Forfar has changed, although for many years it was not fully understood. Due to limitations of small-scale maps the road's original western end was not certain until an MoT map of the area formerly held in the Ministry of Transport library that had been updated with changes to 1929-30 came to light. This map shows the B9113's western terminus to the southwest of Forfar town centre, on the A929 (now A926) Dundee Loan, from where it headed northeast along St James Road and Academy Street. A short multiplex along the A958 South Street and A932 East High Street led to the present western end of the B9113, which then left town along Montrose Road as it still does today.

The route was cut back to its present extent when the A932 was moved away from the High Street in the 1980s.