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 A view looking east fromDandry Mire Viaduct at Garsdale Headc. 1900.Moorcock Inn is still trading as a pub and the view remains largely unchanged in this rural upland scene. | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 70 mi (110 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| West end | Kendal 54°19′49″N2°44′29″W / 54.3303°N 2.7413°W /54.3303; -2.7413 (A684 road (western end)) |
| Major intersections | A6 M6 A683 A6108 A6055A1(M)  A167A19 |
| East end | Ellerbeck (A19 road) 54°22′07″N1°19′15″W / 54.3685°N 1.3209°W /54.3685; -1.3209 (A684 road (eastern end)) |
| Location | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Primary destinations | Bedale,Kendal,Hawes,Leyburn,Northallerton,Sedbergh |
| Road network | |
TheA684 is anA road that runs throughCumbria andNorth Yorkshire, starting atKendal, Cumbria and ending atEllerbeck and theA19 road in North Yorkshire. It crosses the full width of theYorkshire Dales, passing throughGarsdale and the full length ofWensleydale.
Flooding can be a problem after heavy rain, especially at Appersett, near Hawes, and heavy snow can close the road temporarily at the Black Horse hill and in Garsdale.
The A684 has primary status for the short length between Kendal and junction 37 of theM6 motorway, though even this primary section involves two hills and some tricky twists. East of the M6, the road descends the "Black Horse" hill and passes through Sedbergh where there is a short diversion to avoid the main street and a difficult right-angled bend. Another right-angled bend 6 miles (9.7 km) east at Garsdale Hall, and the road goes further up the valley to the watershed at Garsdale Head. After this the road passes under Garsdale (orDandry Mire, or Moorcock) viaduct[1] where after there is a junction with theB6259 road toKirkby Stephen. The road drops down through upper Wensleydale into Appersett, a junction with theB6255 and into the town of Hawes
There is a 17-ton MGW (maximum gross weight) restriction over the bridge spanning theWiddale Beck in Appersett. Because of this, heavy eastbound traffic must leave just before the bridge and proceed onto an unclassified road throughHardraw and then turn south onto Burnt Acres Lane bringing the vehicles back to the A684 just east of Hawes town centre. Heavy westbound traffic from the B6255 is expected to go through Hawes eastwards and then back through Hardraw to avoid the weight restriction.[2]
In Hawes, after the junction with B6255 road toIngleton, the road splits into single lanes with the eastbound fork dropping down to the junction with Burnt Acres Lane and the westbound taking a cobbled road through the town. The two forks meet up at the Market Square in Hawes.[2]
There is a triangular road junction in Bainbridge with the road to Askrigg before the road goes east again over theRiver Bain. After passing Askrigg and bridging the confluence of theBishopdale andWalden Becks, the road meets theB6160 fromAddingham where there is agrade II listedAA phone box.[3]
It then passes through West Witton, Wensley, Leyburn (where it runs in tandem with theA6108 for a short distance), Constable Burton, Patrick Brompton and Crakehall before arriving at Bedale. The road used to continue through Bedale Town and on through Aiskew and then after another ungated crossing of the Wensleydale Railway, it had a junction with a slip road to theA6055 (the old A1 Junction going North). Now, Bedale is bypassed (see below) and the road intersects with the A6055 and theA1(M) just north of Leeming Bar and rejoins the old route just east of Leeming Bar.[4]
The road then heads out through Morton-On-Swale, Ainderby Steeple and into Northallerton via Romanby where it crosses theRiver Wiske on a bridge built in 1957, avoiding thegrade II listed Howden Bridge.[5][6] At Northallerton, it first meets the A167 and runs in tandem as theA167 through Northallerton. The road crosses two adjacent railways in the town; the first is a gated crossing on the freight lines to and fromTeesside, and the second is under the railway station atNorthallerton on theEast Coast Main Line.[7] The road carries on eastwards meeting theA168 and loops east then northwards around the town centre before it leaves the A167/A168 and heads north out of the town.
The road then heads mainly eastwards avoiding Brompton but going through Ellerbeck before arriving at a large junction with the A19 that allows access north and south and also onto an unclassified road intoOsmotherley.
On 16 July 2014 the Department of Transport announced the go-ahead for the villages ofLeeming Bar andAiskew and the town ofBedale in North Yorkshire to be bypassed.[8] The bypass, which opened to traffic on 11 August 2016,[9] leaves the old A684 just north ofSt Gregory's Church in Bedale and runs eastwards for 3 miles (4.8 km)[10] to a point about 0.6 miles (1 km) east of Leeming Bar. It connects with junction 51 on the A1M and theA6055 just north of Leeming Bar.[11] Archaeological excavations in advance of the road construction discovered anIron Age settlement and theAiskew Roman villa.[12]
In 2014,EuroRAP published a brochure based on data collected between 2010 and 2012. It listed the A684 as being a High Risk road along its entire length from the M6 to the A19.[13]
Download coordinates as:
A roads in Zone 6 of theGreat Britain road numbering scheme | ||
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54°17′47″N2°01′00″W / 54.2964°N 2.0167°W /54.2964; -2.0167 (A684 road)