The B9171 is a rural route which follows an inland route through the East Neuk of Fife.
Route
Falside bridge
The route starts on the B942 at a bend between Easter Pitcorthie and Abercrombie, and heads north at first, before making the first of many sharp or right angled bends. It winds through the fields, climbing a little, to Newtown of Balcormo, where it TOTSOs right with an unclassified road. Continuing eastwards, the route undulates across the hillside, with a twisty section at Ovenstone followed by a long straight. A pair of right angled bends follow, leading onto another long straight, midway along which the B9131 (former A959) is met at Spalefield Crossroads. The junction has been staggered, with the B9131 maintaining priority and the B9171 having to make a right-left dogleg to cross. The route becomes more sinuous as it continues through the scattered settlement of Pitcorthie, but another long straight follows as the route crosses the fields of Thirdpart Holdings. A kink to the right is then followed by a right angled turn to the left leading to the crossroads with the B940. This one has not been staggered, but the B940 has priority. The final mile is more of the same, a sinuous run through fields to meet the A917 at a T junction about a mile north of Crail.
Although a fairly long route, there is little excitement along the way, with a scattering of houses and farms along the roadside, and a couple of very small patches of woodland. The road may generally be S2, but it is narrow, and with so many twists and bends that progress can be slow. With no real villages along the way, however, it is probably a little faster than taking the coast road in the height of summer.
History
The B9171 is part of a former trunk road. Along with the B942 to the west, it became the A921 in c1945. a route cobbled together from country lanes. However, as it doesn't really go from or to anywhere, it is a little hard to explain why it was ever considered so important. The A921 and the A918 (now the A917) to the east connected St Andrews to the towns along the southern Fife coast. However, it was very much the long way round, with the A915 providing a much more direct route. Very little work seems to have been carried out to improve the route, as is evidenced by the surviving sharp bends and poorly aligned junctions. Perhaps the intention was for the coastal villages to each be accessed via spurs from this trunk route, but evidently it wasn't successful and in the mid 1970s the route was downgraded once more, the B942 regaining its western end, and the B9171 number being assigned to the remainder. For a time, the trunk route was diverted onto the A915, but even this has been reverted.
