A836 road

A836 road in the UK
map
Basic data
Operator:
Start of the street:	Meikle Ferry Roundabout ( 57 ° 50 ′  N , 4 ° 6 ′  W )
End of street:	John o 'Groats ( 58 ° 38 ′  N , 3 ° 4 ′  W )
Overall length:	196.3 km (122  mi )
Countries :	Highland , Scotland
The A836 between Lairg and Altnaharra , Ben Klibreck in the background
Course of the road Highland Meikle Ferry Roundabout Edderton Craigroy Burn B9176 to Alness Ardgay Kyle of Sutherland Bonar Bridge Inversely Achinduich Far North Line Lairg Abhainn Sgeamhaidh River Tirry Altnaharra River Mudale Strath More - Hope / B873 Lon Achadh na h-Albnhe Tongue Coldbackie Borgie B871 River Naver Bettyhill Kirtomy Armadale Strathy Point Strathy Portskerra Melvich Reay Shebster Dounreay nuclear power plant Forss Water Forss Scrabster Thurso Castletown B876 Dunnet ( Dunnet Head ) Mey ( Castle of Mey ) Gills Canisbay John o 'Groats  Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap map

The A838 road is an almost 200 km long A-road in the Scottish Council Area Highland . It begins north of Tain at the Meikle Ferry Roundabout , a roundabout with the A9 , immediately south of the Dornoch Firth Bridge, which was completed in 1991 . From there it leads northwest via Lairg and further north to the north coast at Tongue . From Tongue it runs east, always parallel to the coast via Thurso to John o 'Groats on the north-eastern tip of Scotland.

course

From the roundabout with the A9, the A836 initially leads west. At Edderton she passes the Balblair whiskey distillery . Between Ardgay and Bonar Bridge where from Dornoch coming A949 opens, they crossed the into the Dornoch Firth opens Kyle of Sutherland , where it follows the left bank. The bridge also represents the border between the neighboring counties Ross-shire south of the Dornoch Firth and Sutherland north of the Dornoch Firth. After the junction of the A837 leading to the west coast north of Invershin , the A836 runs north. At the level of the junction, west of the road, is the menhir of Invershin Farm .

In Lairg, the largest town in this sparsely populated part of Sutherland, the A839 crosses, which connects to the A837 to the west and connects to Golspie , Brora and other places on the east coast to the east. The A838 branches off north of Lairg, which leads over the west coast to Durness and joins the A836 again in Tongue. From the junction, the previously two-lane A836 changes into a single-track road . This runs more than 50 kilometers north to Tongue. Apart from a few isolated cottages, Altnaharra is only a small settlement on this section.

End point of the A836 in John o 'Groats

From Tongue, the A838 runs almost continuously at a short distance from the north coast to its end point in John o 'Groats. Between Tongue and shortly after Bettyhill there are further single-lane sections, further east the A836 has been expanded to two-lane again. You pass various smaller settlements lined up along the coast. East of the junction of the south to Helmsdale leading A897 changes the A836 from Sutherland to Caithness . The Dounreay nuclear power plant is also located on the A836 . East of Dounreay, the A836 reaches Thurso , the largest town in Caithness. Here the A9 is reached again, which crosses the A836 in Thurso and leads to the Scrabster ferry terminal . From Thurso, the A836 continues south of Dunnet Head through Caithness, past the Castle of Mey , to its end at the junction with the A99 in John o 'Groats, the northeastern village on the island of Great Britain .

Between Tongue and John o 'Groats, the A836 is part of the North Coast 500 Holiday Route .

history

The section between Meikle Ferry and Bonar Bridge originally belonged to the A9 , until this could be shortened considerably after the construction of the Dornoch Firth Bridge. At first only the section between Bonar Bridge and Tongue was designated as the A836. At the end of the 1920s, the A836 was extended from Tongue to Thurso, this section had not previously been classified as A road . To the south, the A836 was also extended to Skiach, a confluence with the A9, west of Alness . In 1935 there was a renewed extension from Thurso to today's end point in John o 'Groats, this section had previously been run as an independent A882 (today the name of the direct connection from Thurso to Wick ). With the tour to Meikle Ferry, the section up to Skiach 1991 was downgraded to the B9176.

Web links

Commons : A836 road  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• The A836 at sabre-roads.org.uk

Individual evidence

1. ↑ northcoast500.com: Route map , accessed on February 27, 2020