C22 (Inverclyde)

This article is about the Class III road numbered C22 maintained by Inverclyde Council.
For other roads numbered C22, see C22.

Inverclyde Council's C22 starts towards the top of the long climb up Kilmacolm Road on the A761 in Port Glasgow. It even appears that the first 100m or so was once the A761, since realigned to a more sweeping curve, with a new junction layout for the start of High Carnegie Road. The C22 then follows High Carnegie Road east, becoming Parkhill Avenue and then Old Greenock Road, once the main route between Greenock and Glasgow. The route comes to an end at the council boundary at Finlaystone, although the road obviously continues east to meet the B789 above Langbank. Being one of the three routes from Port Glasgow to Glasgow, it is known locally as "The Middle Road".

Route

High Carnegie Road

High Carnegie Road at Heggies Avenue

The road begins at the A761 Clune Brae, from where it drops down slightly to reach the level of the original road which was realigned in the late 1960s. The former Clydeview Roadhouse bar on the north side of the road at this junction has been converted to flats. The road continues down the hill with mostly open ground on the left and housing on the right until the rear entrance of Port Glasgow Cemetery is reached on the left. Shortly after the cemetery, Heggies Avenue joins on the left as the road crosses the Carnegie Burn and becomes Parkhill Avenue.

Parkhill Avenue

New houses on the left, soon to be demolished houses on the right

Parkhill Avenue begins as a continuation of High Carnegie Road at the Carnegie Burn at the junction with Heggies Avenue. All of the houses which stood on the full length of the north side of the road were demolished in the early 2000s. The south side of the road begins with the Holy Family RC Church which stands on a hill in its own expansive grounds. William Wallace was reputedly chained to a tree at this point, the tree fell during a storm in 1995.

Adjacent to the church, new housing has been built on the site of Holy Family Primary School which closed in 2006. The new housing continues along the south side of the road until the junction with Broadfield Avenue. The one way High Mansion Avene then joins from the left, closely followed by Arran Avenue on the right, which provides access to the upper east end of the town. The road becomes Old Greenock Road shortly after this junction.

Old Greenock Road

The Renfrewshire/Inverclyde local authority boundary, viewed from the Renfrewshire side

Old Greenock Road is a continuation of Parkhill Avenue and marks the end of the Port Glasgow suburbs and the beginning of the countryside, with farmland lining the entire length of the south side of the road. Immediately on the left at the start of the road are the grounds of the former Broadfield Hospital, behind mature trees and a long stone wall. This is now a housing estate, with access off the A8 at Woodhall Roundabout. Shortly after the end of the hospital grounds is the former Port Glasgow Town Council water works, now a derelict site behind the original stone wall.

Next on the left is the former Parkhill Farm, which is reputedly a former coaching inn dating from the 18th Century.

The road dips and rises between the farm and the rear entrance to Finlaystone Estate, before dipping further to cross the Finlaystone Burn at the local authority boundary between Renfrewshire Council and Inverclyde Council, where the C22 ends.