England Road Tours - A696 in Northumberland

Today's road tour takes us along the A696, beginning at the A1 on the northwestern side of Newcastle and carrying us to the A68, another major route 14 miles short of the Scottish border. A route of local importance, and a connector from Newcastle to the Scottish border towns of Hawick and Jedburgh, the road also serves the town of Ponteland. Originally, the A696 began at the A1 on Gallowgate near the centre of Newcastle, as designated in the original 1922 numbering scheme. By the 1990s, the A1 was rerouted west of the city, and to avoid numbering inconsistencies the A696 had to be shortened accordingly, and now begins at the A1 Junction 77 Kenton Bar. The rest of the route remains virtually unchanged since first designated. Filmed March 2023