B9012

The B9012 is a short B-road in north Moray.

Route

Rothills, south of Duffus

The route starts a little to the east of Hopeman on the B9040 and heads south. It wiggles slightly as it descends from the coastal ridge, running through fields before a sharp left takes it into Duffus, where a big church sits on the left-hand side of the road. The village is home to the famous Gordonstoun School, as favoured by the Royal Family. In the centre of the village, a sharp right at a crossroads turns onto a 2-mile-long straight through open, flat farmland. The unusual ruins of Duffus Castle can be seen off to the east sat on the top of a low knoll, although part of the keep has slipped down the slope. The surrounding landscape is very low lying, only a few metres above sea level, with drains between fields and only a handful of houses - not the sort of landscape normally associated with northern Scotland!

At the end of the long straight, a couple of bends, which are sharper than they look leads onto another shorter straight, which climbs away from the flat land at the further end. A sweeping left hander passes through a crossroads as it climbs through woodland and fields. The road meanders a little more as it crosses the crest of the ridge and dips slightly to pass one of Elgin's many large new housing estates. The road side is still well wooded as the B9012 follows Duffus Road down into the town, more houses being glimpsed through the trees and behind hedges than sit on the roadside. At the bottom of Duffus Road there is a TOTSO with Moriston Road, where the B9012 turns left and heads east to terminate on the A941 not far from the town centre.

History

The B9012 was originally half as long again at the northern end, running into Burghead and ending at the harbour. This section ran through Hopeman on East Road and Forsyth Street, continuing through Cummingstown before turning right onto Fraser Road at the entrance to Burghead. Another TOTSO followed onto Grant Street, followed by a fork left onto Granary Street which led down to the harbour. In the 1950s, the road into the harbour was renumbered as part of the B9089, leaving the B9012 curtailed at the western end of Fraser Road.

However, with the construction of RAF Lossiemouth, and subsequent construction of a new road along its northern perimeter, the B9040 was created around the same time. Initially this terminated on the B9012 east of Hopeman, but it was later extended over the section of the B9012 from Hopeman to Burghead to make a proper through route. Rather bizarrely, however, Fraser Road appeared to remain as a detached part of the B9012 for some time, and indeed some maps suggest it still is, although the council road list specifies it as 'former B9012'. The B9040 used a short section of the B9013 instead of Fraser Road, and so ends at the edge of Burghead, with the road through town to the harbour now part of a rerouted B9013.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Burghead - Elgin