B9001

The B9001 is a good quality cross-country B-road in north Aberdeenshire. As well as serving its local communities and the many farms along its length, it is part of a popular route between an area of the Moray Firth coast and Aberdeen.

Route

Bogniebrae - Rothienorman

Forgue

The route starts at a crossroads on the A97, opposite the Bognie Arms at Bogniebrae and heads east. (Half a mile further north, an equally good road turns off the A97, forming a triangle with that road and the B9001, and as it's a more direct through route, it's perhaps surprising that the B9001has never gone this way.) A short straight past a row of houses leads to a bendier section as the road winds through the scattered village of Forgue and crosses the Burn of Forgue. It then turns south as it winds into Glen Dronach, where it meets the B9024 by the distillery. Glen Dronach is one of many glacial meltwater channels in lowland Aberdeenshire formed in the last ice age. We will meet others. As the glen forks, the route crosses the burn and winds its way up a wooded den following the Burn of Templand, before emerging again into farmland and Largue, another scattered village with just a row of houses along our road. Now heading east, the route climbs up the wooded Den of Largue - another meltwater channel similar to the den after Glen Dronach only a mile or so behind us, and giving a sense of deja vu. We reach the road's summit at just under 180m before dipping down past Denmoss into the next valley. This is an agricultural landscape with mixed fields and small patches of woodland. Numerous houses and farms sit in these gently sloping hills, although few are visible from the road.

The road descends past Balgaveny, Thorneybank and numerous other tiny settlements, before climbing a little over a spur to find the River Ythan, flowing through one of the larger meltwater channels. A slight descent leads to the bridge at Badenscoth, although the river is little more than a ditch, and the bridge a simple pipe culvert through a massive embankment. A short distance further on, the B9001 comes to a crossroads where the B992 has to give way as it crosses. The route then contours round a hill, climbing a little to a shallow summit at 152m and a gap between Gallows Hill and Hill of Wells before descending into Rothienorman. This small town has grown considerably in recent years, the older part lying entirely to the east of the B9001, with substantial new housing estates to the west, and more being built.

Rothienorman - Inverurie

The B9001 runs along Forgue Road through the village and on the far side it has been realigned onto the old railway branch to Macduff, with a long line of houses built in the space between new and old roads. Eventually, the village is left behind and the route winds southwards, following the shallow valley of the Red Burn to the flat land of Wartle Moss. The road skirts the eastern edge of this boggy hollow in the hills to reach the A920 (former B9000) at Drum of Wartle. There is a short multiplex past a petrol station where the old skewed crossroads has long since been staggered with the B9001 maintaining priority at the junctions at either end. The road continues south east, a little straighter than before, and passes a small collection of properties at Dovehills before starting to climb a little.

New Roundabout north of Inverurie

The ascent is relatively short, as the route curves between two low hills and starts its long descent. It passes to the west of Daviot and the new housing in the grounds of the House of Daviot. Here a fine view of the distinctive peak and ridge of Bennachie opens up. For the next few miles the route passes through a landscape of undulating fields, dropping slowly down to a roundabout which connects with the new link road to the B9170. This has been built as part of the growth of Inverurie on the north bank of the River Urie, where large new housing estates have been built. The final descent leads out across the valley floor to cross the River Urie at Howford Bridge. A little further on, the route crosses the Aberdeen to Inverness railway line to enter Inverurie.

The B9001 then TOTSOs left onto Harlaw Road past the industrial estate and signposted to the Town Centre. The Industrial units soon give way to housing on the right and playing fields on the left, then shops and supermarkets take over, with a roundabout at the entrance to Tesco. The last section of the B9001 leads down Constitution Street to terminate on the B9144, West High Street a little to the west of the Market Place - or possibly to continue through High Street as the recent road numbering history in the town is unclear.

History

The 2016 OS 1:250k map shows the route along the former A96 through Inverurie

The 2017 edition shows the later route

Most of the changes to this route have occurred in and around Inverurie since the A96 bypass opened. Today, the route remains on its original line, but after the bypass was opened, some maps (e.g. OS 1:250,000 between 2010 and 2016) show it as having moved onto the former route of the A96, by continuing straight ahead from the TOTSO at Harlaw Road to meet North Street and then turn left. Whichever route it took, our road was extended in the town centre by a short multiplex with the B9170 into the Market Place, and then continued south along the former A96 route on High Street and St Marys Place to end on the B993. However, in 2017 a council review recommended that the route be revised to avoid the town centre and continue through suburbs to meet the B9170 at Morrison's supermarket, just short of that road's junction with the A96. OS map evidence implies that this recommendation was not adopted, although B9001 is shown on the signs beside Morrisons and at North Street. Originally the turn into Harlaw Road was physically the main route, but at some point the junction was remodelled and the link to North Street upgraded, making the straight ahead line the more natural route.

Elsewhere, there are a number of other minor improvements along the route. A couple of bends, one with a junction, near Forgue show evidence of slight realignment, and another couple near Rothienorman. The realignment onto the old railway line has already been noted, as has the layout of the Drum of Wartle junction. The east leg of this was realigned sometime before 1957 and the west leg during the 1960s; the A920 had not yet been upgraded from B9000 when these changes were made. Another crossroads has been rebuilt with a stagger, and there are a handful of places where wide verges suggest some improvement, although perhaps just the provision of a visibility splay.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Bogniebrae - Inverurie