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 A631 at Junction withA161 inBeckingham | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 62.8 mi (101.1 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| From | Sheffield |
| Major intersections |  A6102 A6109 A6178 M1 J34 A630 A618 A6123 A6021 M18 J1 A634 A60 A638 A614 A161 A620 A156 A159 A15 A1103 A46 A157 |
| To | Louth |
| Location | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Primary destinations | Meadowhall,Rotherham,Maltby,Bawtry,Gainsborough |
| Road network | |
TheA631 is a road running fromSheffield,South Yorkshire toLouth, Lincolnshire in England. It passes through the counties of South Yorkshire,Nottinghamshire andLincolnshire. The road has many towns on its route includingRotherham,Maltby,Gainsborough andMarket Rasen. It is mostly single road throughout its length but has some stretches ofdual carriageway as well.
The road starts at the M1/A6109 junction at Meadowhall. This is the northern half of Junction 34 on the M1. The road then passes under the M1 on the lower deck of theTinsley Viaduct as a dual carriageway with the Meadowhall Shopping Centre visible to the southwest. At the southern half of junction 34 a roundabout links the road to the A6178 Sheffield Road and the A6102 Shepcote Lane (part of the Sheffield by-pass). This short section is classified as a trunk road.
After the M1 the road is a single carriageway non-trunk road and heads east to Rotherham asBawtry Road throughTinsley. It passes Tinsley Infants School and Tinsley Junior School, and on the left hand side on the corner ohHighgate is thePike & Heron. TheJamia al Hudaa Sheffield, a girls' independent Muslim secondary school is on the right, and oppositePark House Lane is theOutokumpu sports and social club, withSheffield Hallam University's Graham Solley Sports Development Centre on theright (where SHU play other universities at sport). The road enters the borough of Rotherham at a bend to the left, becomes the parishboundary betweenBrinsworth and Rotherham, and there is a crossroads, with the left forBalk Lane and theBOCBrinsworth Operations Centre, oppositeFirth Rixson Aurora Sports Club, and the right forBonet Lane (B6067) nearThe Fairway. There is a left turn forPhoenix Golf Club, a right turn forBrinsworth Lane near formerThe Atlas and theEssoBrinsworth Service Station, a right turn forWhitehill Lane (B6066, forCatcliffe, and is also theTrans Pennine Trail). It passes under a 15 ft 3 inrailway bridge, andcrosses theRiver Rother.
The road then serves as a bypass of Rotherham after it combines with thedual-carriagewayCentenary Way (A630) atCanklow Roundabout. ATOTAL garage is on the right, and a McDonald's and thePace (former Q8)Canklow Service Station is opposite. It continues to the south-east as the non-trunk dual-carriagewayWest Bawtry Road, withCanklow Woods to the east, on the side of theRother Valley. Canklow Meadows Industrial Estate is on theright withLeger Holidays HQ, the largeCrossroads Volvotruck garage, andManheim Auctions. It is followed by the Canklow Meadows Retail Park, and it passes theHoliday InnRotherham-Sheffield on the left (formerSwallow Hotel), oppositeEnergy Alloys. The A630 (Rotherway) leaves to the right at the busyRotherway Roundabout, over the River Rother, to junction 33 of the M1, with a largeelectrical substation to the right. The A631 used to continue to the east as a trunk single-carriageway, but was upgraded to dual carriage way to the A618, and is crosses by theRotherham Roundwalk. The West Bawtry Road Improvement – Rotherway to Whiston Crossroads was built byBirse Civils ofBarton-upon-Humber for £5 million.[1][2] The A631 is now dual-carriageway between the M1 and M18 junctions.[citation needed]
The A631 then continues round Rotherhamcrossing theA618, becoming the dual-carriagewayEast Bawtry Road. Moorgate is to the left andWhiston is to the right – the road is the Rotherham-Whiston parish boundary.Ember InnsThe Hind is on the right. It meets theB6410 and the A6123 (Herringthorpe Valley Road, the Rotherham ring road) at theWorrygoose Roundabout. The A631 becomes a non-trunkroad and meets theA6021 at theBrecks Roundabout, also meetingBrecks Lane. After the roundabout is theRotherhamPremier Inn, andThe BrecksBeefeaterpub on the left, opposite anEsso garage. Further on the left is a smallSainsbury's, some takeaways, andTexacoThe Brecks garage. It becomesBawtry Road, passing the Dalton Listerdale Junior and InfantsSchool, andpasses throughListerdale andWickersley with a parade of shops either side andThe Three Horseshoes on the left, being crossed by the Rotherham Roundwalk. TheMasons Arms is on the left, next to theWickersley Roundabout which meetsNorthfield Lane from the left andMorthen Road (B6060) from the right, with the St Albans CEprimary school to the south. Itpasses eastwards throughBramley with Wickersleylibrary and theWickersley School and Sports College on the right, next to the footbridge, meeting the B6093 from the left (for Sunnyside) near St Francischurch. RotherhamMorrisons is on the right handside, with access for theRotherham EastIbishotel. There is also theSir JackRoast Inncarvery and aMcDonald's.
The road crosses theM18 at Junction 1 and continues asBawtry Road, a trunk road, throughHellaby, with a leftturn for the Hellaby Industrial Estate, and the largeStockyardtruck stop. There are speed cameras on this stretch. It enters Maltby asRotherham Road with a leftturn forAddison Road, then passesMaltby Academy and leisure centre on the left, andHooton Levitt and St Bartholomew parishchurch on the right. TheA634 leaves to the south east forBlyth andRetford, andBraithwell Road (B6376) leaves to the left. It passes through the town centre asHigh Street, passing the fire station and library on the left. It then crosses the B6427 then heads easttowardsTickhill, passing theLumley Arms. The main landmark on the left hand side isMaltby Main Colliery, for which there is anentrance on the left, opposite Maltby Wood. Itcrosses arailway andScotch Spring Lane (the Doncaster-Rotherham boundary), forStainton, is on the left, the point where the road becomes the Doncaster-Rotherham boundary for one mile, just before beingcrossed by a 400 kV pylon line, the point where it also enters theDoncaster postcode.
Limekiln Lane is on the left, and thelandscape is now mostly rural from here to Bawtry. At the junction ofBlyth Gate Lane on the right, the borough boundary leaves to the south alongSandbeck lane and theroad enters the Borough of Doncaster. It passes under a railway line andenters Tickhill asRotherham Road where itmeets theA60 from the right. It continues alongWest Gate, passing the police station on the left. There is a right turn forTickhill Castle, and the road bends sharply to the leftnear theMillstone. on the left isSt Mary's Church, Tickhill. The road passes alongCastle Gate and aJETgarage, and at theMarket Place, the A60 continues straight ahead, and the A631 leaves sharply to theright at a T-junction forSunderland Street.
After Tickhill the road passesunder theA1(M) (Doncaster bypass) near aradio mast then over the beginnings of theRiver Torne, andcrosses theB6463 (for Harworth to the south) asBawtry Road at Spital Hill. It meets the Nottinghamshire boundary from the south, which follows the road all the way to Bawtry for around three miles.Harworth is to the south, and it meetsBawtry Road (for Harworth) from the right. There is a bend to the left, withSwinnow Wood on the left, and Plumtree Farm Industrial Estate on theright. The road enters Bawtry asTickhill Road, with the Nottinghamshire boundary passing along the southern edge of the town. In Bawtry, next toBawtry Hall, it meets the north-south A638, also a trunk road, the former A1.
The road starts again slightly further south off theA638 andA614, and heads east of Bawtry passingunder theEast Coast Main Line railway asGainsborough Road. It thencrosses theRiver Idle atBawtry Bridge andenters Nottinghamshire andBassetlaw. The road bends to the right and becomesdual carriageway as it bypasses the village ofScaftworth, which has two exits to the right; the Scaftworth bypass was built in 1936.[3] It bends to the left and continues as the single carriagewayBawtry Road (passingSPECS average speed cameras)throughEverton, withHarwell on the left. There is a rightturn forMattersey at theSun Inn. Further on the B6045 joins fromBlyth atDrakeholes, where the road has been diverted to the north, over theChesterfield Canal andCuckoo Way. The section was improved in 1960, west of Gringley, and later in 1965 as the 'East of Drakeholes' improvement; dual carriageway was proposed on the section in the 1960s.[4] The £215,000 Drakeholes diversion started in August 1972, to finish in early 1973, being built byA.F. Budge.[5][6]
AsGainsborough Road it passes along the top of an escarpment (Cuckoo Hill to the south) near Prospect Hill Farm, and there is a right turn forWiseton. It passes Park House Farm and climbs Mill Hill then becomes dual carriageway atGringley on the Hill, which it bypasses to the south on the edge of the escarpment; the bypass was built in the late 1930s.[7] On the bypass,Clayworth Road exits to the right andBeacon Hill Road (and theTrent Valley Way) to the left, both part of the B1403 (fromMisterton). It climbsBeacon Hill, resuming the former route. To the southWest Burton power stations andCottam power stations can beseen. It gently descends the hill and at Beckingham meets theA161 (from the north) at aroundabout near Mill Farm. Previously it met the A161 in the village.
There had been a terrible crash at 11.15am on Tuesday 16 April 1968 at the A631 level crossing, which made national news, where five occupants were killed, including three children. It was the 10am York to Great Yarmouth train, and thelevel crossing was a new automatic half-barrier, which had been installed 18 months earlier. The driver of the car was John Hilton, aged 50, manager of theNew Charnwood Restaurant atBlyth, Nottinghamshire, with his two sons Stuart, 8, and Irvine, 9, and his daughter Sheena, 13, and with his mother-in-law Maria Moody.[8] His wife, May, was elsewhere.[9] A.F. Budge were given the £725,301 contract for the Beckingham bypass in March 1973, to take 18 months from April 1973; the bypass was finished in January 1974, with soil from the Gainsborough relief road, eight months early.[10][11][12]
The road becomesdual carriageway again as the road follows theBeckingham Bypass, then reaches another roundabout with theA620, from the south (and for Retford). The road continues as dual carriageway, crossing theDoncaster to Lincoln Line, with the former road beingRamper Road to the south, and becomes the single carriagewayThe Flood Road, on the former route, being the Beckingham-Saundby parish boundary. Approaching Gainsborough itpasses theStonehouseTrent Port. CrossingTrent Bridge, Gainsborough it entersWest Lindsey andLincolnshire. It then goes through Gainsborough, meeting two spurs ofLea Road (A156) andTrinity Street (A159) at aroundabout. There is anexit forThorndike Way, the A631 Gainsborough Relief Road, which opened in March 1974.Lindsey County Council intended to continue the dual carriageway all the way to the A15 at Caenby Corner. On the southern relief road, it passesThe Gainsborough Academy (former Trent Valley Academy) to the south, and there is aright turn attraffic lights forHeapham Road.Corringham Road (B1433), the former route, is to the left, and nearby is theRoad Safety Markings Association.
AtWoodhouse Farm it resumes itsformer route. AsCorringham Road it entersCorringham,passing theBeckett Arms. There is a left turn forHemswell Lane, and it continues asHarpswell Lane, becoming the parish boundary for two miles betweenHemswell and Harpswell. Itclimbs theLincoln Cliff to meetMiddle Street (B1398) at aroundabout atHarpswell. It becomes the parish boundary betweenHemswell Cliff and Harpswell, with theformerRAF Hemswell (whereThe Dam Busters was filmed in 1954) adjacent on the left, and theHemswell Court conference centre on the right. There is a right turn forDog Kennel Road (forGlentworth). The road becomes the parish boundary of Hemswell Cliff and Glentworth. AtCaenby Corner it meets theA15 at a roundabout near theTOTALCaenby Corner Garage, and passes through the parish ofGlentham. Near Highfield Farm it becomes the parish boundary of Glentham and Caenby, thenpasses through Glentham and theCrown Inn, and in thedistance are theLincolnshire Wolds. AtBishopbridge it crosses theRiver Ancholme, which is its must southern navigable point. It passesThe Bell and becomes the parish boundary betweenOsgodby (to the north) andWest Rasen (to the south).
AtKingerby Wood, the A1103 continues for four miles to the left as a trunk road to the A46, and the A631 leaves to the right as a non-trunk road. Most traffic will follow the A1103 forGrimsby. The road becomes more twisty and meets aroundabout atWest Rasen, where it crosses theRiver Rase. AsGainsborough Road itmeets the trunk road A46, from the right, atMiddle Rasen where the A46 does not have priority. It follows the A46 for a half-mile, and the A46 continues to the left, with the A631 leaving at a right turn. It entersMarket Rasen asGainsborough Road then becomesKing Street. It meets the B1202 (former A46) from the left, and asQueen Street passesunder theNewark to Grimsby Line then is crosses by the B1203 attraffic lights. AsWillingham Road it passes theDe Aston School andMarket Rasen Racecourse on the right. InTealby parish itpasses throughWillingham Woods.
Itpasses throughNorth Willingham, with a right turn forSixhills. It thenascends the westernedge of theLincolnshire Wolds asWillingham Road to 142 metres height, crossingCaistor High Street (B1225) at Boucherette Farm, where it entersEast Lindsey. Itpasses throughLudford where it is briefly followed by theViking Way, passing theBlack Horse on the right and theWhite Hart. At a crossroads the Viking Way leaves to the right. Itpasses through the parish ofCalcethorpe with Kelstern, with a left turn forKelstern. It passes Cotes Grange Farm with acrossroads forWelton le Wold, to the right. It passes throughSouth Elkington, where in the parish ofElikington itterminates at theA157 just outside Louth(53°21′55″N0°02′02″W / 53.3652°N 0.0339°W /53.3652; -0.0339 (A631 road (eastern end))).
Download coordinates as:
A roads in Zone 6 of theGreat Britain road numbering scheme | ||
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53°23′36″N0°45′36″W / 53.3932°N 0.76°W /53.3932; -0.76 (A631 road)