1.
Poole
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Poole /puːl/ is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is 33 kilometres east of Dorchester, and adjoins Bournemouth to the east, the local council is Borough of Poole and was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council. The borough had a population of 147,645 at the 2011 census, together with Bournemouth and Christchurch, the town forms the South East Dorset conurbation with a total population of over 465,000. Human settlement in the dates back to before the Iron Age. The earliest recorded use of the name was in the 12th century when the town began to emerge as an important port. Later, the town had important trade links with North America and, at its peak during the 18th century, in the Second World War, Poole was one of the main departing points for the Normandy landings. Poole is a tourist resort, attracting visitors with its natural harbour, history. The town has a port with cross-Channel freight and passenger ferry services. The headquarters of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution are in Poole, despite their names, Poole is the home of The Arts University Bournemouth, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and a significant part of Bournemouth University. The towns name derives from a corruption of the Celtic word bol, variants include Pool, Pole, Poles, Poll, Polle, Polman, and Poolman. The area around modern Poole has been inhabited for the past 2,500 years, during the 3rd century BC, Celts known as the Durotriges moved from hilltop settlements at Maiden Castle and Badbury Rings to heathland around the River Frome and Poole Harbour. The Romans landed at Poole during their conquest of Britain in the 1st century and took over an Iron Age settlement at Hamworthy, in Anglo-Saxon times, Poole was included in the Kingdom of Wessex. The settlement was used as a base for fishing and the harbour a place for ships to anchor on their way to the River Frome, following the Norman conquest of England, Poole rapidly grew into a busy port as the importance of Wareham declined. The town was part of the manor of Canford, but does not exist as an entry in the Domesday Book. The earliest written mention of Poole occurred on a document from 1196 describing the newly built St Jamess Chapel in La Pole. The Lord of the Manor, Sir William Longspée, sold a charter of liberties to the burgesses of Poole in 1248 to raise funds for his participation in the Seventh Crusade. Consequently, Poole gained a measure of freedom from feudal rule and acquired the right to appoint a mayor. In 1568, Poole gained further autonomy when it was granted independence from Dorset
2.
Dorset
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Dorset /ˈdɔːrsᵻt/ is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the county, which is governed by Dorset County Council. Covering an area of 2,653 square kilometres, Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, the county town is Dorchester which is in the south. After the reorganisation of government in 1974 the countys border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth. Around half of the lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The county has a history of human settlement stretching back to the Neolithic era. The Romans conquered Dorsets indigenous Celtic tribe, and during the early Middle Ages, the first recorded Viking raid on the British Isles occurred in Dorset during the eighth century, and the Black Death entered England at Melcombe Regis in 1348. During the Second World War, Dorset was heavily involved in the preparations for the invasion of Normandy, the former was the sailing venue in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and both have clubs or hire venues for sailing, Cornish pilot gig rowing, sea kayaking and powerboating. Dorset has a varied landscape featuring broad elevated chalk downs, steep limestone ridges, over half the county is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Three-quarters of its coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast Natural World Heritage Site due to its geological and it features notable landforms such as Lulworth Cove, the Isle of Portland, Chesil Beach and Durdle Door. Agriculture was traditionally the major industry of Dorset but is now in decline, there are no motorways in Dorset but a network of A roads cross the county and two railway main lines connect to London. Dorset has ports at Poole, Weymouth and Portland, and an international airport, the county has a variety of museums, theatres and festivals, and is host to one of Europes largest outdoor shows. It is the birthplace of Thomas Hardy, who used the county as the setting of his novels. Dorset derives its name from the county town of Dorchester, the Romans established the settlement in the 1st century and named it Durnovaria which was a Latinised version of a Common Brittonic word possibly meaning place with fist-sized pebbles. It is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in AD845 and in the 10th century the countys archaic name, the first human visitors to Dorset were Mesolithic hunters, from around 8000 BC. The first permanent Neolithic settlers appeared around 3000 BC and were responsible for the creation of the Dorset Cursus, from 2800 BC onwards Bronze Age farmers cleared Dorsets woodlands for agricultural use and Dorsets high chalk hills provided a location for numerous round barrows. During the Iron Age, the British tribe known as the Durotriges established a series of forts across the county—most notably Maiden Castle which is one of the largest in Europe. The Romans arrived in Dorset during their conquest of Britain in AD43, Maiden Castle was captured by a Roman legion under the command of Vespasian, and the Roman settlement of Durnovaria was established nearby
3.
A35 road
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The A35 is a road in southern England, connecting Honiton in Devon and Southampton in Hampshire. It is a road for some of its length. Most of its route passes through Dorset and the New Forest and it originally connected Exeter and Southampton, the original A35 ran along what is now the A3052 joining the present road at Charmouth. Beginning in Honiton off the A30 road, the A35 travels in a roughly south-easterly direction past Axminster, Charmouth, after Bridport, there is a 2-mile section of dual carriageway, before it reaches its bypass around Dorchester. After Dorchester, there are approximately 8 miles of dual carriageway, including the Puddletown bypass, on reaching Christchurch, there is a dual-carriageway bypass. It then heads in a direction through the New Forest. It continues through Ashurst and Totton, meeting the A36 road and it then turns north-east, acting as the western part of Southamptons ring road, with the A27 road making up the eastern part. It terminates at Swaythling, on the outskirts of Southampton. In Bournemouth, it has been diverted around the Sovereign Centre of Boscombe along Centenary Way and its route through Poole and Bournemouth passes through suburbs. The A35 is a route along Englands south coast, and is congested. To help solve the congestion, sections of the A35 were upgraded between Honiton and Bere Regis, the Puddletown dual carriageway were financed under a Design, Build, Finance and Operate contract running from 1996-2026
4.
A31 road
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The A31 is a major trunk road in southern England that runs from Guildford in Surrey to Bere Regis in Dorset. The old route to Winchesters centre then Romsey and the New Forest forms two roads, the B3404 and A3090 roads and is marked for cyclists and it passes Wimborne Minster and by-passes Charborough Park before terminating at a roundabout junction with the A35 road at Bere Regis. The A35 is not a road east of Bere Regis. The A31 is part of the ancient route from London to Winchester, many sections of the A31 were upgraded to dual carriageway in the 1960s, except for the section of road running through the New Forest. The upgrade of the A31 through the New Forest started in the early 1960s, the Governments intention was to create at least one high-speed route to the south coast, while the guardians of the forest, the Verderers, resisted any further development. The first section of the A31 to be dualled was the section that the M27 feeds into at Jct1, further developments occurred from Ringwood to Picket Post near the turn-off for Burley. From 1966-1972, the sections were completed rapidly due to the construction of the M27 motorway up to Jct 1. The Highways Agency declares the New Forest A31 section as being an abnormal, the westbound route, particularly, suffers from poor horizontal and vertical alignment due to its original function as an old single carriageway. Dorset County Council cites relieving this junction as a priority in the Bournemouth LTP 2006-2011. In December 2014 the Government announced a series of schemes as part of an investment in transport infrastructure that included widening the Westbound carriageway to 3 lanes. This section of road is single carriageway for its length, a long section around Winterborne Zelston has a 40 mph speed limit. There are no good overtaking places on this stretch of road due to its narrow, there are three long straight sections of road along Charborough Park, at the end of each straight there is blind bend. Due to the lack of alternative overtaking places traffic use this stretch of road to overtake, the 6 ft wall that runs alongside the road has many holes, and repaired sections which have been hit by cars over the years. The A31 crosses the A350 at a large roundabout, due to the volume of traffic crossing this roundabout on both the A350 and A31, clear lane markings have been added to ease congestion. Sections along the A31 have been widened or straightened and junctions enhanced, a section of the A31 between Winchester and Ower in Hampshire is now known as the A3090. A short dual carriageway section starts from the A36 roundabout near Ower, SABRE - A31 Highways Agency A31 Route Management Strategy
5.
A354 road (Great Britain)
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The A354 is a primary route in England which runs from Salisbury in Wiltshire to Easton on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, a total distance of 51 miles. From Salisbury the road crosses Cranborne Chase and briefly merges with the A350 at the Blandford Forum bypass before crossing the Dorset Downs,7 miles to the west it splits from the Dorchester bypass and runs south. The road now bypasses Upwey and Broadwey on a new section of road which has some 2 lane sections going north and 1 lane continuously going south towards Weymouth, after the old and new sections meet at Manor Roundabout the road follows down Weymouth Way alongside Radipole Lake. The final stretch runs across a bridge over Chesil beach onto Portland. The project was to build a 3. 75-mile single carriageway road, with crawler lane along part, the main carriageway of the Weymouth Relief Road opened on Thursday 17 March 2011. The 2012 Olympics at Portland played a factor in making £89m funding for the road available. 1983 - The Dorset Structure Plan proposed to construct the A354 Weymouth, december 1987 to April 1988 - a public inquiry was held into proposals for development in the Lorton area which included a new single carriagewayroute running from Mount Pleasant to Littlemoor. These proposals were refused consent by the Secretary of State, between 1989 and 1992 - various studies and consultation exercises undertaken into alternative route options and alignments for a dual carriageway road between the Ridgeway and north Weymouth. 1992 - work on an application and Environmental Statement for this scheme began. July 1994 - a dual carriageway road along the alignment was granted planning permission,1996 - A public inquiry into the Compulsory Purchase and Side Road Orders was held. The Secretary of State approved these orders, however, work on the scheme was never started as, following a Government review of road construction, the funding for the scheme was not forthcoming. The planning permission lapsed after 5 years, following the lapse of permission Dorset County Council undertook a review of the previously consented scheme. September 2005 - a planning application and Environmental Statement for a road along the route was submitted by Dorset County Council. As a result of the councils re-assessment, changes were made to the September 2005 proposals, March 2011 - Relief Road was opened Dorset for you - Weymouth Relief Road
6.
A36 road
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The A36 is a trunk road and primary route in southwest England that links the port city of Southampton to the city of Bath. At Bath, the A36 connects with the A4 road to Bristol, originally, the A36 continued to Avonmouth, but this section was renumbered to the A4. The majority of the A36 is built to single carriageway standard, the A36 in Salisbury acts as the citys ring road, bypassing the city centre to dual carriageway standard. Just south-east of Salisbury the largest dualled section runs for about 4 miles, the A36 reverts to single carriageway standard through Totton until it terminates
7.
A30 road
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The A30 is a major road in England, running south-west from London to Lands End. The road has one of the most important in Britain since the 17th century. It used to provide the most direct route from London to the South West, nowadays much of this function is performed by the M3 motorway, however, the section from Honiton to Lands End is a dual carriageway for most of its length and retains trunk road status. The A30 begins at Henlys Roundabout, a junction with the A4 near Hounslow and it runs along the south side of Heathrow Airport, then past Ashford and Staines-upon-Thames, before reaching the M25 motorway. This first section is entirely dual carriageway, after crossing the M25, the A30 runs parallel to the M3 all the way to Basingstoke, bypassing Egham and passing through Bagshot, Camberley, Hartley Wintney and Hook. Just west of Basingstoke, at junction 8 of the M3, the A30 runs parallel to this road all the way to just north-east of Honiton, passing through Stockbridge, Salisbury, Shaftesbury, Sherborne, Yeovil, Crewkerne and Chard. Between the M25 and Honiton, the A30 is mostly single carriageway, however, there are short stretches of dual carriageway from Camberley to Basingstoke, which has a dualled inner ring road, two between Stockbridge and Salisbury, and between Sherborne and Yeovil. This section is a road as far as Penzance. It is mostly dual carriageway, but there are short sections of single carriageway. To pass Exeter, through traffic can join the M5 motorway for three miles, West of Exeter, the A30 is dual carriageway through Devon and into Cornwall, bypassing Whiddon Down, Okehampton and Launceston. The dual carriageway continues through Cornwall to Bodmin Moor, where there is a stretch of single carriageway. The dual carriageway resumes until Carland Cross, after there is a single carriageway stretch to Chiverton Cross. Highways England are currently progressing plans to dual this section of carriageway, from Chiverton Cross, the dual carriageway bypasses Redruth and Camborne. The A30 returns to single carriageway west of Camborne, and a bypass takes the road around Hayle. Between Hayle and Penzance, the A30 returns to the original route, approaching Penzance, the A30 briefly becomes a dual carriageway once again. Once west of Penzance, the A30 becomes a rural road running through or past several villages. A large section of the A30 follows the course of the historic London – Lands End coaching road, the road appeared on John Ogilbys map of Britain in 1675, and was covered by Ogilbys later strip-maps showing The Road from London to The Lands End in Cornwall. Beyond Exeter, the route went via Plymouth and then followed the Cornish south coast via St Austell down to Penzance, some distance away from the modern A30
8.
A303 road
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The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the routes from London to South West England. It is a primary A road throughout its length, passing through five counties, the road has evolved from historical routes, some of which are thousands of years old including the Harrow Way and the Fosse Way. The modern route was first laid out in the early 19th century as the New Direct Road and it was initially in demand but fell into disuse as railways became popular from the 1840s onwards. It was not thought of as a significant through route when roads were initially numbered, since then, the A303 has gradually been upgraded to modern standards, though there are still several unimproved parts. As a primary route to southwestern England, the A303 is frequently congested on its single carriageway sections, as it passes through the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, attempts to upgrade the road in those areas have been controversial. In particular, the Stonehenge tunnel, which would see the A303 rerouted underground, has proposed and delayed several times. Nevertheless, the remains a popular alternative to motorway driving. The A303 is about 93 miles long and it starts at the M3 motorway south of Basingstoke at Junction 8, as a dual carriageway. It heads south west, crossing the A34 near Bullington before passing south of Andover, the road then passes by Solstice Park and Bulford Camp before bypassing Amesbury and entering the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. The route then becomes single carriageway before passing Stonehenge itself, the presence of the road through a World Heritage Site has been controversial for decades. After Winterbourne Stoke the route again becomes dual carriageway from Yarnbury Castle and across the Wylye valley. Continuing west, it passes south of Wincanton and then north of Sparkford to a roundabout where the road once more to single carriageway. The road then bypasses Ilchester and RNAS Yeovilton and widens to dual carriageway again, between Ilchester and Shores Bridge the road follows the course of the Roman Fosse Way. At Yeovilton the road becomes dual two lane again, and connects with the A37 which joins it until it reaches the end of the bypass and this final section of dual carriageway ends at South Petherton. It runs north of Ilminster as a road where it meets the A358. The A303 is of a lower standard west of Ilminster and is no longer considered part of the road network. It passes through the Blackdown Hills as a road following the contours of the land
9.
A342 road (Great Britain)
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The A342 is an A road in England that runs from Pewsham near Chippenham, Wiltshire to Andover, Hampshire. The road begins at the A4 junction just outside the village of Pewsham. It heads south past the village of Derry Hill towards Devizes, just outside Devizes the road meets the A361, and once in the centre of town it meets the A360. Continuing southeast in the Vale of Pewsey, under the slope of Salisbury Plain. After passing through Everleigh the road meets the A338 before entering Ludgershall, the final part of the route travels southeast where the road ends at a roundabout with the A343 and A303 just outside Andover
10.
A346 road (Great Britain)
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The A346 is a road in Wiltshire, southern England, that runs from Ludgershall to Swindon. The road begins off the A342 road 1 mile north-west of the town of Ludgershall. Shortly afterwards it joins the route of the A338 road for 5 miles, at a roundabout south of Burbage, the road re-appears, and heads north, bypassing the village. The road crosses over the Kennet and Avon Canal and passes through Savernake Forest, the road then goes through the town of Marlborough, where it meets the A4 road. The road heads north still, through the valley of the River Og, the road is built entirely to single carriageway standard, and is a primary route from Burbage to the M4. Until the M4 motorway was opened, the route ended at Marlborough and it was extended northward over part of the former route of the A345
11.
A4 road (England)
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The A4 is a major road in England from Central London to Avonmouth via Heathrow Airport, Reading, Bath and Bristol. It is historically known as the Bath Road with newer sections including the Great West Road, the road was once the main route from London to Bath and the west of England and formed, after the A40, the second main western artery from London. The A4 has gone through many transformations through the ages from pre-Roman routes, Roman roads, during the Middle Ages, most byways and tracks served to connect villages with their nearest market town. A survey of Savernake Forest near Hungerford in 1228 mentions The King’s Street running between the town and Marlborough and this street corresponded roughly with the route of the modern A4. In 1632, Thomas Witherings was appointed Postmaster of Foreign Mails by Charles I, Three years later, the king charged him with building six Great Roads to aid in the delivery of the post, of which the Great West Road was one. It was not until the 17th century that a route between London and Bristol started to resemble todays road. During the 17th century, the A4 was known as the Great Road to Bristol, when Queen Anne started patronising the spa city of Bath, the road became more commonly known as Bath Road. Over the years, the direction of the road has taken many detours depending on such factors as changes in tolls or turnpike patronage, the first turnpike on this road was between Reading and Theale in 1714. Due to increasing traffic, sections of the road between Kensington, over Hounslow Hill, to Twyford were turnpike by 1717 with the remaining sections placed under turnpike trusts. This was not always the case with the Bath Road, as many of the landowners along the route co-operated informally. As a result, control of the Bath Road was easy to maintain, tollhouses were established at Colnbrook, Maidenhead, Twyford, Castle Street Reading, Thatcham and Benham. During the 1820s, the employment of good surveyors improved the condition of the road, the tolls raised from such clientele ensured that when the turnpike trusts handed over the route to local highway boards, they had no financial liabilities. Justices of the Peace were empowered by the 1862 Rural Highways Act to combine turnpike trusts into Highways Districts and this meant that by the late 1860s trusts were either not renewing their powers or were being terminated by General Acts of Parliament. For example, most turnpikes in Berkshire, including the Bath Road, were officially wound up by 1878 when legislation transferred responsibility for dis-enturnpiked roads to the new county councils. With the improvement being made to the systems, the business of moving mail became easier. In Bristol, an office had been well established by the 1670s. The journey time to London at this period was about 16, a letter from Bath in 1684 took about 3 days going via a postal office in Marshfield on the Bristol Road. Journey times during the Turnpike era fell with the improvements from 2 days in 1752 to 38 hours in 1782 and 18 hours by 1836, Royal Mail coaches in 1836 were able to do the trip in 12 to 13 hours
12.
M4 motorway
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The M4 is a motorway which runs between London and South Wales in the United Kingdom. Major towns and cities along the route include Slough, Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff, a new Severn bridge, known as the Second Severn Crossing, was opened in 1996 with the M4 rerouted to use it. The M4 runs close to the A4 from London to Bristol, after crossing the River Severn it follows the A48 through South Wales, using the Brynglas Tunnels at Junction 25a, Newport and terminates just north of Pontarddulais. It is one of three motorways in Wales, the other two, the A48 and M48, branch off it. The area of land along the M4, with its towns, european route E30 includes most of the M4, although it is not signed as such. The Maidenhead bypass opened in 1961 whilst J1-J5 opened in 1965, the stretch from J18 to the west of Newport was opened in 1966, including the Severn Bridge. The Port Talbot by-pass, also built in the 1960s and now part of the M4, was originally the A48 motorway, the English section of the motorway was completed on 22 December 1971 when the 50-mile stretch between Junctions 9 and 15 was opened to traffic. The Welsh section was completed in 1993, when the Briton Ferry motorway bridge opened, the Second Severn Crossing opened in 1996, together with new link motorways on either side of the estuary to divert the M4 over the new crossing. The existing route over the Severn Bridge was redesignated the M48, in June 1999 the section of the third lane between Junctions 2 and 3 was converted to a bus lane, first as a pilot scheme and then permanently in 2001. A lower speed limit was introduced along the bus lane section at the same time, between 2007 and January 2010 the section from Castleton to Coryton was widened to six lanes. The scheme was opened on 25 January 2010 by Ieuan Wyn Jones the Deputy First Minister for Wales. During 2009 the Newport section of the motorway between Junctions 23a and 29 was upgraded with a new concrete central barrier. A similar claim was made for a 30-mile section of road in Scotland close to Aberdeen in September 2009 with refuelling points at Bridge of Don, Ellon and Peterhead. Between 2008 and 2010, Junction 11, near Reading, was remodelled with a new four-lane motorway junction. It also involved the movement of the local Highways Agency and Fire Service offices, and the construction of a footbridge network, a new bus-lane. Sound barriers for nearby areas were also installed. In April 2008, the decision to preserve a rare Vickers machine gun pillbox, the table below shows the timeline for the construction of the motorway on a section by section basis. Tolls are charged in one only, westbound
13.
A417 road
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The A417 is a main road in England running from Streatley, Berkshire to Hope under Dinmore, Herefordshire. It is best known for its section between Cirencester and Gloucester where it has primary status and forms part of the link between the settlements of Swindon and Gloucester. When the A417 was first designated in 1922, it ran only from Streatley to Cirencester, in 1935 it was extended to Gloucester, on the former route of the A419, and on to Ledbury and Hope under Dinmore. There have been numerous upgrades and bypasses, particularly on the primary section, at Faringdon, its traditional route over Folly Hill and down through the market place has been blocked by the more recent development of the A420 and has been diverted to the south. The Birdlip bypass, opened in 1988, avoided a steep gradient as the road descended the Cotswold Edge escarpment to Brockworth. It runs from Streatley at its junction with the A329 to Wantage, in Wantage, it negotiates the market place (around King Alfreds statue and thence to Faringdon, via Stanford in the Vale. It leads on to Lechlade, where it crosses the River Thames and it then runs past the Cotswold Water Park, through Fairford to Cirencester and thence to Gloucester. From the start of the Cirencester bypass to Gloucester, the A417 forms part of a major new route connecting the M4 with the M5 at Gloucester. At the A429 roundabout on the older Cirencester bypass, the A417 follows the A429 north for 0.5 miles, the 6-mile Cirencester & Stratton Bypass opened on 9 December 1997. This route carries traffic between the ports of the south coast and the industrial Midlands, the 4-mile dual-carriageway North of Stratton to Nettleton Improvement opened on 16 January 1998. The roundabout at the end of this often has congestion during peak hours. The 2-mile £2. 4m single-carriageway Birdlip bypass opened in December 1988 and this point, before the Air Balloon roundabout, has a grand vista of the Severn Valley. After the roundabout and the Air Balloon pub, the road turns sharply and this is a bottleneck at peak times, and there are plans for a dual-carriageway section here. These plans were listed within a roads expansion programme pledged during the governments 2014 Autumn Statement for delivery during the coming 5-8 years, a very rough googlemap of the 3 options proposed can be found here. The 3-mile £36m Brockworth Bypass opened in December 1995, and included the new junction 11a of the M5, the A417 then passes through the twin villages of Corse and Staunton. It crosses the M50 Ross Spur motorway at junction 2, then meets the Ledbury bypass, where the road widens out. Between Gloucester and Ledbury there are changes of speed limit. From Ledbury, it goes west, overlapping the A438, then at a set of lights known as the Trumpet Crossroad
14.
A415 road (Great Britain)
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The A415 is a British A road which runs from the A4074 at Berinsfield, Oxfordshire, to Witney, passing through Abingdon, Marcham and Kingston Bagpuize. It crosses the River Thames twice, at Abingdon Bridge and Newbridge, when UK roads were first classified in 1922, the A415 started at a junction with the A4 just west of Maidenhead in Berkshire. It ran through Henley-on-Thames and Benson to Shillingford where it joined the then A42 and it left the A42 a mile west at Dorchester. In the 1930s the section from Maidenhead to Shillingford became part of the A423 and it is now part of the A4130 and the A4074. In the 1980s, when the Dorchester Bypass was opened, the start of the A415 was switched to the end of the bypass
15.
Besselsleigh
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Besselsleigh or Bessels Leigh is a village and civil parish about 4 1⁄2 miles south-west of Oxford. Besselsleigh was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire, the village is just off the A420 road between Oxford and Swindon. Besselsleigh is almost certainly the Lea or Leigh owned by a Saxon named Earmund in the 7th century, the manor of Leigh passed to the family of a Thomas Bessels in the mid-14th century and by the next century the village had acquired its present toponym. The Church of England parish church of Saint Lawrence existed by the 12th century, the church was rebuilt in the latter part of the 13th century, which is the date of the Decorated Gothic west window of the nave and east window of the chancel. Most of the windows are Perpendicular Gothic, that in the north wall of the chancel from the 14th century. In 1632 William Lenthall paid for St Lawrences to be beautified and repaired, the font is 17th century and the pulpit is 18th century. St Lawrences is a Grade II* listed building, the aircraft crashed onto what was then a military firing range at Great Park Farm, Besselsleigh and almost immediately burst into flames. All three members of its crew were killed, at the time United States Army soldiers were billeted at Besselsleigh Park. They and a man, Ron Amey, tried without success to rescue the crew. The pilot, Sgt DC Adamson, is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission section of Botley Cemetery, Ron Amey went on to succeed his father William Amey as head of the Amey quarrying and construction company. Besselsleigh has a house, the Greyhound. The Greyhound is in the coat of arms of the Lenthall family who used to own Besselsleigh Hall, parklands Campus at the edge of the village is an independent special school for boys and girls aged 11 to 16, run by the charity Action for Children. Marcham, where an RAF Armstrong Whitworth Whitley aircraft crashed on a flight in 1942 Page, WH, Ditchfield, PH. A History of the County of Berkshire, 360° Panorama of Christmas Lights in the Village Media related to Besselsleigh at Wikimedia Commons
16.
Oxfordshire
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Oxfordshire is a county in South East England bordering on Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. The county has major education and tourist industries and is noted for the concentration of performance companies and facilities. Oxford University Press is the largest firm among a concentration of print and publishing firms, the main centre of population is the city of Oxford. The highest point is White Horse Hill, in the Vale of White Horse, oxfordshires county flower is the Snakes-head Fritillary. Historically the area has always had some importance, since it contains valuable agricultural land in the centre of the county, largely ignored by the Romans, it was not until the formation of a settlement at Oxford in the eighth century that the area grew in importance. Alfred the Great was born across the Thames in Wantage, Vale of White Horse, the University of Oxford was founded in 1096, though its collegiate structure did not develop until later on. The university in the county town of Oxford grew in importance during the Middle Ages, the area was part of the Cotswolds wool trade from the 13th century, generating much wealth, particularly in the western portions of the county in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. Morris Motors was founded in Oxford in 1912, bringing industry to an otherwise agricultural county. The importance of agriculture as an employer has declined rapidly in the 20th century though, nonetheless, Oxfordshire remains a very agricultural county by land use, with a lower population than neighbouring Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, which are both smaller. The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the army unit in the area, was based at Cowley Barracks on Bullingdon Green. Conversely, the Caversham area of Reading, now administratively in Berkshire, was part of Oxfordshire as was the parish of Stokenchurch. This is a chart of trend of gross value added of Oxfordshire at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Oxfordshire has a comprehensive education system with 23 independent schools and 35 state secondary schools. Only eight schools do not have a form, these are mostly in South Oxfordshire. The county has two universities, the ancient University of Oxford and the modern Oxford Brookes University, both located in Oxford, in addition, Wroxton College, located in Banbury, is affiliated with Fairleigh Dickinson University of New Jersey. The dreaming spires of the buildings of the University of Oxford are among the reasons for Oxford being the sixth most visited city in the United Kingdom for international visitors. Among many notable University buildings are the Sheldonian Theatre, built 1664–68 to the design of Sir Christopher Wren, Blenheim Palace close to Woodstock was built by the great architect John Vanbrugh for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, after he had won the battle of Blenheim. The gardens, which can be visited, were designed by the landscape gardener Capability Brown, in the palace, which can also be visited by the public, Sir Winston Churchill was born in 1874
17.
A420 road
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The A420 is a road between Bristol and Oxford in England. Between Swindon and Oxford it is a primary route, since the opening of the M4 motorway, the road is in two sections. The first section begins on Old Market Street near the centre of Bristol, from here it travels eastward over the southern part of the Cotswolds, to the north of Bath, to Chippenham in Wiltshire. The second section starts at a junction with the A419 east of Swindon and it then travels under the Great Western Main Line at the twin-arch Acorn Bridge and by-passes Shrivenham and Watchfield, then on towards Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse. A new section by-passes Faringdon, just south of Folly Hill, the A420 then travels the corallian limestone ridge that forms the north-west boundary of the Vale of White Horse, passing Littleworth, Buckland and Longworth. A dual-carriageway section by-passes Southmoor and Kingston Bagpuize on its way to Oxford, most of the road between Swindon and Oxford, apart from the dual carriageway sections and a short section around Faringdon, is limited to 50 mph. A further dual-carriageway section bypasses Cumnor Hill, to give a view of the City of Dreaming Spires that is Oxford from the west and it then passes the Oxford Ring Road, through the suburb of Botley and down the Botley Road. It crosses the River Thames on Osney Bridge and reaches central Oxford after passing under the Cherwell Valley Line next to Oxford station. Within Oxford, it is routed along Oxpens Road, then Thames Street, parts of St Aldates then the High Street, which is closed to most motor traffic. Large vehicles such as lorries are advised by large signs at Oxford and Swindon not to take this route and use the alternative A34 and this is not enforced and the road is often heavily congested due to slow HGVs taking the shorter A420 route. The road has a poor accident record and this coupled with heavy peak time traffic has caused it to be nicknamed the A420 Road to Hell in the local media. What is now the A420 was established in the early 18th century as a route between Chippenham and Bristol via Tog Hill, avoiding the older and more established route via Bath. It was an important road for Bristol, whose communications with Bath had been disputed, when first classified in 1922, the A420 ran between Chippenham and Botley, near Oxford. The road between Bristol and Chippenham was the A430, the two roads were later joined and the A430 renumbered A420. The road from Botley through Oxford to Headington was originally part of the A40, when the northern Oxford bypass was built in the 1930s, the A40 was rerouted along the bypass and the road through Oxford was renumbered A420. As a result of the building of the M4 motorway and subsequent road modernisation, from Chippenham to Lyneham through Sutton Benger and to the north of RAF Lyneham and its limestone ridge, it became the B4069. From Lyneham to Swindon it became part of the A3102, from Swindon through Stratton St Margaret to the A419 it became the A4312. Sir Bevil Grenvilles Monument in Lansdown is near the A420
18.
Roads in the United Kingdom
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Roads in the United Kingdom form a network of varied quality and capacity. Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour or by the use of the speed limit symbol. Some vehicle categories have various lower maximum limits enforced by speed limiters, enforcement of UK road speed limits increasingly uses speed guns, automated in-vehicle systems and automated roadside traffic cameras. A unified numbering system is in place for Great Britain, whilst in Northern Ireland, the earliest specifically engineered roads were built during the British Iron Age. The road network was expanded during the Roman occupation, some of these survive and others were lost. New roads were added in the Middle Ages and from the 17th century onwards, certain aspects of the legal framework remain under the competence of the United Kingdom parliament. Although some roads have much older origins, the network was subject to development from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. From then, construction of roads has become controversial with direct action campaigns by environmentalists in opposition. In the UK, vehicles drive on the left and on multi-lane carriageways drivers are expected to keep to the left lane except when overtaking, in Great Britain, the Highway Code applies to drivers. In Northern Ireland, the Highway Code for Northern Ireland applies, UK speed limits are shown in mph. With a few exceptions, they are in multiples of 10, unless a lower speed limit is posted on a road, the national speed limit applies, which varies between class of vehicles and the type of road. In a built-up area, unless signs indicate otherwise, a limit of 30 miles per hour applies, other limits are shown in the table. For a road to be classed as a carriageway, the two directions of traffic flow must be physically separated by a central reservation. Roads in the UK are classified as M, A, or B roads, as well as categories of more minor roads, for internal purposes. These numbers follow a zonal system, there is no available explanation for the allocation of road numbers in Northern Ireland. The majority of the major routes are motorways, and are designed to carry long distance traffic. The next category is the A roads, which form the route network. A primary route is defined as, primary destinations are usually cities and large towns, to which, as a result of their size, a high volume of traffic is expected to go
19.
Bournemouth
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Bournemouth /ˈbɔːrnməθ/ is a large coastal resort town on the south coast of England directly to the east of the Jurassic Coast, a 96-mile World Heritage Site. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 183,491 making it the largest settlement in Dorset. With Poole to the west and Christchurch in the east, Bournemouth forms the South East Dorset conurbation, before it was founded in 1810 by Lewis Tregonwell, the area was a deserted heathland occasionally visited by fishermen and smugglers. Initially marketed as a resort, the town received a boost when it appeared in Dr Granvilles book. Bournemouths growth really accelerated with the arrival of the railway and it became a town in 1870. Historically part of Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of government in 1974. Since 1997, the town has been administered by a unitary authority, the local council is Bournemouth Borough Council. The town centre has notable Victorian architecture and the 202-foot spire of St Peters Church, Bournemouths location has made it a popular destination for tourists, attracting over five million visitors annually with its beaches and popular nightlife. The town is also a centre of business, home of the Bournemouth International Centre or BIC. The word bourne, meaning a stream, is a derivative of burna. A travel guide published in 1831 calls the place Bourne Cliffe or Tregonwells Bourne after its founder, the Spas of England, published ten years later, calls it simply Bourne as does an 1838 edition of the Hampshire Advertiser. In the late 19th century Bournemouth became predominant, although its two-word form appears to have remained in use up until at least the early 20th century, in the 12th century the region around the mouth of the River Bourne was part of the Hundred of Holdenhurst. Although the Dorset and Hampshire region surrounding it had been the site of settlement for thousands of years, Westover was largely a remote. In 1574 the Earl of Southampton noted that the area was Devoid of all habitation, on this barren and uncultivated heath there was not a human to direct us. Bronze Age burials near Moordown, and the discovery of Iron Age pottery on the East Cliff in 1969, Hengistbury Head, added to the borough in 1932, was the site of a much older Palaeolithic encampment. No-one lived at the mouth of the Bourne river and the regular visitors to the area before the 19th century were a few fishermen, turf cutters. Prior to the Christchurch Inclosures Act 1802, more than 70% of the Westover area was common land, in 1809 the Tapps Arms public house appeared on the heath. A few years later, in 1812, the first official residents, retired army officer Lewis Tregonwell and his wife, the area was well known to Tregonwell who, during the Napoleonic wars, spent much of his time searching the heath and coastline for French invaders and smugglers
20.
Ringwood
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Ringwood is an historic market town and civil parish in Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest and northeast of Bournemouth. It has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, and has held a market since the Middle Ages. The town is situated in the southwest of Hampshire, on the border with Dorset, Ringwood is recorded in a charter of 961, in which King Edgar gave 22 hides of land in Rimecuda to Abingdon Abbey. The name is recorded in the 10th century as Runcwuda and Rimucwuda. The second element Wuda means a wood, Rimuc may be derived from Rima meaning border, the name may refer to Ringwoods position on the fringe of the New Forest, or on the border of Hampshire. William Camden in 1607 gave a more fanciful derivation, claiming that the original name was Regne-wood. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Ringwood had been appropriated by the Crown and all, prior to 1066 Ringwood had been held by Earl Tostig. During the 12th and early 13th centuries Ringwood, like other manors of which John and Henry III had the immediate overlordship and it was held by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset until his execution in 1552, and then briefly by John Gates who was executed in 1553. His grandson, the eighth Baron, sold it in 1794 to John Morant of Brockenhurst, a mill in Ringwood is mentioned in the Domesday Book and later there were two. In March 1226 Henry III granted a market in Ringwood on Wednesdays to Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke. In 1337 the Earl of Salisbury, as lord of Ringwood Manor, was granted a fair on the feast-day of Saint Andrew. There was also another fair held on the feast of Saint Peter in the 16th century, after the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth was arrested near Horton, Dorset. Monmouth is believed to have hidden in a ditch under an ash tree disguised as a shepherd, Monmouth was then taken to the house now named Monmouth House in West Street. It was there that he wrote a letter to James II begging forgiveness and this was not granted, and he was brought to trial in the Tower of London by the infamous Hanging Judge Jefferies. Also after the Battle of Sedgemoor, a local lady, Alice Lisle. When her home, Moyles Court, was raided, the men were found and she was sentenced by the same Judge Jefferies to be burned at the stake, she received a late reprieve, and the sentence was reduced to beheading. She is buried at St Marys Church, Ellingham, one mile from her Moyles Court home and her tomb can be found to the right of the church entrance, it is easily spotted as the lid has been left unfinished with rough edges. There is now a pub called the Alice Lisle near Moyles Court, the Town Hall was erected by John Morant in 1868
21.
Salisbury
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Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England, and the only city within the county. It is the third-largest settlement in the county, after Swindon and Chippenham, with a population of 40,302, the city is located in the southeast of Wiltshire, near the edge of Salisbury Plain. Its cathedral was located to the north at Old Sarum, following its relocation. The new town received its city charter in 1227 under the name New Sarum, which continued to be its name until 2009. It sits at the confluence of five rivers, the Nadder, Ebble, Wylye, and Bourne are tributary to the Hampshire Avon, which flows to the south coast and into the sea at Christchurch in Dorset. Salisbury railway station serves the city and is a regional interchange, Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is about 8 miles northwest of Salisbury and greatly aids the local economy. The city itself, Old Sarum, the present cathedral and the ruins of the one also attract visitors. The first part of the name is of obscure origin, the form Sarum is a Latinization of Sar, a medieval abbreviation for Sarisberie. Salisbury appeared in the Welsh Chronicle of the Britons as Caer-Caradog, Caer-Gradawc, cair-Caratauc, one of the 28 British cities listed in the History of the Britons, has also been identified with Salisbury. The hilltop at Old Sarum lies near the Neolithic sites of Stonehenge and Avebury and it commanded a salient between the River Bourne and the Hampshire Avon near a crossroads of several early trade routes. During the Iron Age, a hillfort was constructed around it sometime between 600 and 300 BC, the Romans may have occupied the site or left it in the hands of an allied tribe. Amid the Saxon invasions, Old Sarum fell to King Cynric of Wessex in 552, preferring settlements in bottomland like nearby Wilton, the Saxons largely ignored Old Sarum until the Viking invasions led King Alfred to restore its fortifications. Along with Wilton, however, it was abandoned by its residents to be sacked and burned by the Dano-Norwegian king Sweyn Forkbeard in 1003 and it subsequently became the site of Wiltons mint. Following the Norman invasion, a castle was constructed by 1070. The castle was directly by the Norman kings, its castellan was generally also the sheriff of Wiltshire. Hermann and his successor Saint Osmund began the construction of the first Salisbury cathedral, the cathedral was consecrated on 5 April 1092 but suffered extensive damage in a storm, traditionally said to have occurred only five days later. Bishop Roger was an ally of Henry I who served as his viceroy during the kings absence to Normandy and directed the royal administration. He refurbished and expanded Old Sarums cathedral in the 1110s and began work on a palace during the 1130s
22.
Tidworth
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Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, located along the A338 road and close to the A303 road. It has a civilian population. Tidworth was listed in the Domesday Book as Todeorde, in the Andover Hundred and it was once the family home of the Studd family. On John Speeds maps, the town is referred to as Tudworth, North Tudworth belonging to Amesbury hundred in Wilshire, and South Tudworth to Andover hundred in Hamshire. When the boundary between Wiltshire and Hampshire was redrawn in 1992, the old distinction between North Tidworth and South Tidworth vanished, and the town became part of Wiltshire. The two parts remained as civil parishes until 1 April 2004. In recent years the population of the town has increased as Tidworth Camp has expanded, the population of Tidworth will continue to increase with the implementation of the Army Basing Plan leading up to 2020. The parish elects a town council, the parish includes the village of Perham Down. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for most local government functions, an electoral ward exists with the same name. The population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 9,174 and its situation near the A303, and hence the M3, places Tidworth within commuting distance of London. Tidworth has a commercial area containing two supermarkets, two veterinary surgeries, a pharmacy, and other shops and services including a 900mobile phone shop. A dental surgery serves Tidworth and the area, covering approximately 5,000 people. In 2003 a new centre was completed, the cost being split between the Ministry of Defence and the NHS, as it serves the armed forces and their dependants within the surrounding area. Tidworth has one of the lowest crime rates per thousand in Wiltshire, in 2014, it was rated by the Royal Mail as the most attractive postcode area to live in in England. The community is served by three schools and an infant school. The Wellington Academy, which was sponsored by Wellington College, opened in September 2009. The academy has a sixth form college, a sports pitch. The parent unit of the CCF is 26 Royal Engineers, housed nearby at Swinton Barracks, the local garrison commander is a governor of the academy
23.
Wantage
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Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about 8 miles south-west of Abingdon,10 miles west of Didcot,15 miles south-west of Oxford and 14 miles north north-west of Newbury, historically part of Berkshire, it is notable as the birthplace of King Alfred the Great in 849. Wantage was a small Roman settlement but the origin of the toponym is somewhat uncertain and it is generally thought to be from an Old English phrase meaning decreasing river. King Alfred the Great was born at the palace there in the 9th century. Wantage appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 and its value was £61 and it was in the kings ownership until Richard I passed it to the Earl of Albemarle in 1190. Weekly trading rights were first granted to the town by Henry III in 1246 Markets are now held twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, royalist troops were stationed in Wantage during the English Civil War. In the 19th century, Lord Wantage became a local and national benefactor. He was very involved in founding the British Red Cross Society, in 1877 he paid for a marble statue of King Alfred by Count Gleichen to be erected in Wantage market place, where it still stands today. He also donated the Victoria Cross Gallery to the town and this contained paintings by Louis William Desanges depicting deeds which led to the award of a number of VCs, including his own gained during the Crimean War. It is now a shopping arcade, since 1848, Wantage has been home to the Community of Saint Mary the Virgin, one of the largest communities of Anglican nuns in the world. Wantage once had two breweries which were taken over by Morlands of Abingdon, in 1988 the town was thrust into the headlines after a Brass Tacks programme entitled Shire Wars exposed the drunken violence that plagued the town and surrounding villages at that time. Wantage has a council consisting of 16 councillors,11 of whom are Conservatives with the remaining five councillors being made up of four Liberal Democrats. It is also part of the district of the Vale of White Horse, until 1974, Wantage had two local government councils, Wantage Rural District, which had its headquarters in Belmont, Wantage and Wantage Urban District, which had its headquarters in Portway. These bodies were abolished as part of the Local Government Act 1972 and became part of the Vale of White Horse District Council. The Wantage constituency is represented by Conservative MP Ed Vaizey. Vaizey was first elected in the 2005 general election and was re-elected again in 2010 and 2015, the nearby towns of Didcot, Faringdon and Wallingford are also part of the Wantage constituency. At the time of the 2010 general election, the Wantage constituency had an electorate of 80,456. Wantage is at the foot of the Berkshire Downs escarpment in the Vale of the White Horse, there are gallops at Black Bushes and nearby villages with racing stables at East Hendred, Letcombe Bassett, Lockinge and Uffington
24.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
25.
Grade separation
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The composition of such transport axes does not have to be uniform, it can consist of a mixture of roads, footpaths, railways, canals, or airport runways. Bridges, tunnels, or a combination of both can be built at a junction to achieve the grade separation. Roads with grade separation generally allow traffic to move freely, with interruptions, and at higher overall speeds. In addition, less trouble between traffic movements reduces the risk of accidents, grade-separated road junctions are typically space-intensive, complicated, and costly, due to the need for large physical structures such as tunnels, ramps, and bridges. Their height can be obtrusive, and this, combined with the traffic volumes that grade-separated roads attract, tend to make them unpopular to nearby landowners. For these reasons, proposals for new grade-separated roads can receive significant public opposition, however, they require significant engineering effort, and are very expensive and time-consuming to construct. Grade-separated pedestrian and cycling routes often require modest space since they do not typically intersect with the facility that they cross, grade-separation can create accessibility problems for people with disabilities due to the vertical gradient required to pass or to reach rail platforms. The term is most widely applied to describe a road junction in which the flow of traffic on one or more of the roads is not disrupted. Instead of a connection, traffic must use on and off ramps or slip roads to access the other roads at the junction. The road which carries on through the junction can also be referred to as grade separated, typically, large freeways, highways, motorways, or dual carriageways are chosen to be grade separated, through their entire length or for part of it. Grade separation drastically increases the capacity of a road compared to a road with at-grade junctions. For instance, it is uncommon to find an at-grade junction on a British motorway, it is all. Interstate Highway, though a few do exist, if traffic can traverse the junction from any direction without being forced to come to a halt, then the junction is described as fully grade separated or free-flowing. These junctions connect two freeways, Stack interchange Cloverleaf interchange These junctions connect two roads, but only one is fully grade-separated, i. e. This situation is most prevalent either where the designer has placed the on-slip to the road before the off-slip at a junction. Weaving can be alleviated by using collector/distributor roads to separate entering and exiting traffic, attempts have been made to increase the capacity of railways by making tracks cross in a grade-separated manner, as opposed to the traditional use of flat crossings to change tracks. A grade-separated rail interchange is known as a junction and one which is not a level junction. Also in Britain, the Southern Railway later made use of flying junctions on other parts of its busy former LSWR main line
26.
Dual carriageway
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A dual carriageway is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation. Roads with two or more carriageways which are designed to higher standards with controlled access are generally classed as motorways, freeways, a road without a central reservation is a single carriageway regardless of the number of lanes. Dual carriageways have improved road traffic safety over single carriageways and typically have speed limits as a result. In some places, express lanes and local/collector lanes are used within a system to provide more capacity. A very early example of a dual carriageway was the Via Portuensis, in 1907 the Long Island Motor Parkway opened, and roughly 20% of it featured a semi-dual-carriageway design. The New York City Belt Parkway system, which was built between 1907 and 1934, also pioneered the same design, however the majority of it featured concrete or brick railings as lane dividers instead of grass medians. In 1924 the first Italian autostrada was opened running 55 km from Milan to Varese and it featured a broad road bed and did not feature lane dividers except near cities and through the mountains. The London end of the Great West Road became Britains first dual carriageway when it was opened in 1925 by King George V, in 1927 the Rome bypass was opened. It ran 92 km bypassing Rome to the east, almost the entire length featured a dual-carriageway design. In the early 1930s it was extended all the way to Naples. Most of the routing was destroyed by the Allies in the World War II. By 1930 several US and European cities had built dual-carriageway highways, in 1932 the first German autobahn opened between Cologne and Bonn. It ran 21 km and became a precedent for future highways, although it, like the first autostrada, did not feature a dual-carriageway design, it inspired the mass construction of future high-speed roadways. During the 1930s, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union began construction of a network of dual carriageway expressways. By 1942, Germany had over 3,200 km of dual carriageway roads, Italy had nearly 1,300 km, opened to traffic in 1940, the 160-mile-long Pennsylvania Turnpike was the first rural dual carriageway built in the United States. By 1955 several states had built dual carriageway freeways and turnpikes, completed in 1994, the major highway system links all the major cities of the United States. In the UK, although the dual carriageway applies to any road with physically separated lanes. Such major dual carriageways usually have two lanes of traffic in each direction, with the lane nearest the centre being reserved for overtaking, occasionally dual carriageways have only one lane in each direction, or more than two lanes each way
27.
Bournemouth Airport
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Bournemouth Airport is an airport located 3.5 NM north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941 and began services in the late 1950s. Passenger numbers peaked in 2007 when just over one million passed through the airport, in 2016 the passenger total was around 670,000. Ryanair and Thomson Airways remain the primary users of the airport, which is owned and operated by Manchester Airports Group, the largest British airport operator. Bournemouth Airport is situated on the edge of Hurn village in the Borough of Christchurch,4 miles north of Bournemouth,1 mile west of the A338 and approximately 100 miles south west of London. The airport is accessible via the A31 from the M27 and M3 motorways to the east, the nearest other airports serving the area are Exeter International Airport, Bristol Airport and Southampton Airport. From November 1944 the airfield took over from Bristols Whitchurch airport as the operating base for British Overseas Airways Corporation until Heathrow fully opened in 1948. Starting in October 1945 Hurn served as Londons transatlantic airport until Heathrow opened to the airlines in mid-1946 and it was the starting point of the first England-Australia landplane service, which took three days in Avro Lancastrians. 1958 saw the first Palmair charter from the airport, using a single 36 seat Viking aircraft destined for Palma de Mallorca, the service was one of the first charter flights in the United Kingdom. 1970s Flights to Spain and Majorca, dan Air and Silver City operated from Hurn. Vickers-Armstrongs took over some ex-BOAC hangars at Hurn in 1951 and started production of Varsities, then Viscounts and eventually, as the British Aircraft Corporation, the BAC One-Eleven. During a 33-year period 222 One-Elevens,146 Varsities and 279 Viscounts were built, the closure of the British Aerospace site in 1984 ended Bournemouths role as a significant player in the aircraft manufacturing industry. The former aircraft factory now forms one of Dorsets largest industrial sites, adjacent to the entrance to Bournemouth Airport was the College of Air Traffic Control, operated by NATS, the now privatised provider of air traffic control services in the UK. Established by the Ministry of Civil Aviation as the School of Air Traffic Control in 1949, students from home and abroad were trained in all aspects of ATC operations and went on to work throughout the world. Electronic computer-based ATC simulators were widely employed, usefully situated at an operational airfield, for a considerable period training in Approach Radar Control was facilitated by the airport ATC unit. Students were able to practise live radar control exercises using temporarily detached Civil Aviation Flying Unit Dove aircraft as live targets, the building was also the home to the Air Traffic Control Evaluation Unit, responsible for developing technology used within the service. During 2011 NATS transferred ATC training to its headquarters facility at Whiteley near Southampton, the Hurn facility was purchased by a free school, Parkfield School, serving Bournemouth and the local area. In 1969 the airport was purchased jointly by the Bournemouth Corporation and Dorset County Council, the new owners decided to redevelop the facility as a commercial airport and, by 1980, the airport became used by charter airlines, when European Aviation began services
28.
River Avon, Hampshire
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The River Avon is a river in the south of England. It is sometimes known as the Salisbury Avon or the Hampshire Avon in order to distinguish it from the various other River Avons in England and it is one of the rivers in Britain in which the phenomenon of anchor ice has been observed. The Avon is thought to more species of fish than any other river in Britain. The rivers name is a tautology, Avon is derived from the Proto-Brythonic word meaning river, the Avon begins as two separate rivers. The western Avon rises to the east of Devizes, draining the Vale of Pewsey, and these two merge at Upavon, flowing southwards across Salisbury Plain through Durrington, Amesbury and Salisbury. All the significant direct and indirect tributaries of the Avon, including the Nadder, Wylye, Bourne and Ebble, about half of the length of the river is within Wiltshire, and only relatively short proportions are entirely within the current boundaries of Hampshire or Dorset. As there are two rivers with the name Avon in Wiltshire, this led to the river being popularly known as the Hampshire Avon or the Salisbury Avon, the Avon Valley Path runs parallel with the river from Salisbury to Christchurch. Court cases were brought in the 18th century concerning the loss of navigation of the river, one was in 1737 and another was in 1772. Canoeists seeking legitimate access to the Avon have recently identified a long-forgotten Act in their favour, the Act for making the River Avon navigable from Christchurch to the city of New Sarum was enacted in 1664 under Charles II. This act has not been repealed, hence remains in force, there is also a sister project called Living River which runs from 2006 to 2010. This is providing access and recreation, as well as biodiversity. The prize for 2009 was awarded to Lake Simcoe, in 1993 the Avon Valley between Bickton and Christchurch was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Other Rivers Avon Rivers of the United Kingdom
29.
Concurrency (road)
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A concurrency in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers. When two freeways share the same right-of-way, it is called a common section or commons. Other terminology for a concurrency includes overlap, coincidence, duplex, triplex, multiplex, concurrent numbering can become very common in countries that allow it. In some countries, however, concurrent numbering is avoided by posting only one number on road signs. Criticism of concurrencies include environmental intrusion, as well as being considered a factor in road accidents, most concurrencies are simply a combination of two route numbers on the same physical road. This is often advantageous as well as economically advantageous, it may be better for two route numbers to be combined into one along riverways or through mountain valleys. Some nations allow for concurrencies to occur, however, some nations specifically do not allow it to happen, in those nations which do permit concurrencies, it can become very common. In these countries, there are a variety of concurrences which can occur, an example of this is the concurrency of I-70 and I-76 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in western Pennsylvania. A triple Interstate concurrency is found north of Madison, Wisconsin, with I-39, I-90, Wisconsin has another triple Interstate concurrency along the five-mile section of I-41, I-43, and I-894 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The concurrency of I-41 and I-43 on this roadway is an example of a wrong-way concurrency, the longest Interstate highway concurrency is I-80 and I-90 for 265 miles across Indiana and Ohio. There are examples of eight-way concurrencies, I-465 around Indianapolis and Georgia State Route 10 Loop around downtown Athens, Georgia. Portions of the 53-mile I-465 overlap with I-74, US31, US36, US40, US52, US421, SR37, seven of the eight other designations overlap between exits 46 and 47 to create an eight-way concurrency. In the United States, concurrencies are simply marked by placing signs for both routes on the same or adjacent posts, the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices prescribes that when mounting these adjacent signs together that the numbers will be arranged vertically or horizontally in order of precedence. The order to be used is Interstate Highways, U. S. Highways, state highways, and finally county roads, several states do not officially have any concurrencies, instead officially ending routes on each side of one. There are several circumstances where unusual concurrencies exist along state borders, one example occurs along the Oklahoma–Arkansas state line. At the northern end of this border Oklahoma State Highway 20 runs concurrently with Arkansas Highway 43, concurrencies are also found in Canada. In Manitoba, the Trans-Canada Highway from Winnipeg to Portage la Prairie is concurrently signed with Yellowhead Highway, in Ontario, the Queen Elizabeth Way and Highway 403 run concurrently between Burlington and Oakville, forming the provinces only concurrency between two 400-series highways. In the United Kingdom, routes do not run concurrently with others, where this would normally occur, the roadway takes the number of only one of the routes, while the other routes are considered to have a gap and are signed in brackets
30.
Hampshire
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Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the capital city of England. The larger South Hampshire metropolitan area has a population of 1,547,000, Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. It is bordered by Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, the southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and the Solent, facing the Isle of Wight. At its greatest size in 1890, Hampshire was the fifth largest county in England and it now has an overall area of 3,700 square kilometres, and measures about 86 kilometres east–west and 76 kilometres north–south. Hampshires tourist attractions include many seaside resorts and two parks, the New Forest and the South Downs. Hampshire has a maritime history and two of Europes largest ports, Portsmouth and Southampton, lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of writers Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Hampshire takes its name from the settlement that is now the city of Southampton. Southampton was known in Old English as Hamtun, roughly meaning village-town, the old name was recorded in the Domesday book as Hantescire, and it is from this spelling that the modern abbreviation Hants derives. From 1889 until 1959, the county was named the County of Southampton and has also been known as Southamptonshire. The region is believed to have continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 BCE. At this time Britain was still attached to the European continent and was covered with deciduous woodland. The first inhabitants came overland from Europe, these were anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, notable sites from this period include Bouldnor Cliff. Agriculture had arrived in southern Britain by 4000 BCE, and with it a neolithic culture, some deforestation took place at that time, although it was during the Bronze Age, beginning in 2200 BCE, that this became more widespread and systematic. Hampshire has few monuments to show from early periods, although nearby Stonehenge was built in several phases at some time between 3100 BCE and 2200 BCE. It is maintained that by this period the people of Britain predominantly spoke a Celtic language, hillforts largely declined in importance in the second half of the second century BCE, with many being abandoned. Julius Caesar invaded southeastern England briefly in 55 and again in 54 BCE, notable sites from this period include Hengistbury Head, which was a major port. There is a Museum of the Iron Age in Andover, the Romans invaded Britain again in 43 CE, and Hampshire was incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia very quickly
31.
Single carriageway
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A single carriageway or undivided highway is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a single carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. A two-lane road or two-lane highway is a single carriageway with one lane for each direction, a single-track road has a single lane with passing places for traffic in both directions. Road traffic safety is generally worse for high-speed single carriageways than for dual carriageways due to the lack of separation between traffic moving in opposing directions, the term single carriageway is used for roads in the Republic of Ireland. In urban areas, the speed limit is 50 km/h. The maximum UK speed limit for single-carriageway roads is lower than the maximum for dual-carriageway roads, the National Speed Limit, which is lower for built-up areas, only applies in places where a lower numeric speed limit is not in place. The UK has one major single-carriageway motorway, the A38, but a number of roads at motorway interchanges are single-carriageway. In the U. S. the expression undivided highway is likely to mean a multi-lane road with only striping between the two directions of traffic flow, a road with two lanes of traffic moving in opposite directions is specifically called a two-lane road. Two-way undivided roads have a center line. This center line may be solid, broken, or a combination of the two, with the different styles denoting whether passing is permitted at a given location, drivers can always tell the direction of traffic flow by looking at the striping coloration. Since successful experiments in the late 1960s, some undivided highways in the U. S. have had a neutral left-turn lane. This configuration is called a left turn lane. Essentially, this puts a turning lane in the position of where a median would be if the road were divided. These roads almost always have an odd number of lanes overall, usually five, TWLTLs are most frequently built in suburban commercial areas where there are a large number of closely spaced driveways. State laws typically require drivers using the center lane to use signals, to drive slowly in that lane. Operationally TWLTLs can be if the left-turn demand exceeds the amount of storage that can be accommodated in the center lane. Operational problems can occur if there is limited visibility due to curvature or terrain
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Fordingbridge
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It is 81 miles southwest of London, and 10 miles south of the city of Salisbury. Fordingbridge is a market town. The Avon Valley Path passes through the town, Fordingbridge is a town and civil parish in Hampshire on the banks of the River Avon. The first Great Bridge, from which the received its present name, was built in mediaeval times. Close by is a play area, secluded memorial gardens, parks. A bronze statue of the painter Augustus John stands on the banks of the Avon near the Great Bridge, not far from the High Street is the parish church of St. Mary the Virgin which has some typical Norman characteristics. Lands in Fordingbridge and the advowson of the church were granted to Kings College, Cambridge in 1447 by Henry VI, after being given to the Crown by Humphrey, the Fordingbridge Museum, which houses local history exhibits, and the Visitor Information Centre are located in Kings Yard. There is also a Roman villa in the village of Rockbourne. The local comprehensive school is The Burgate School And Sixth Form Centre, which is situated in Burgate, Fordingbridge Hospital is a small community hospital on the site of a Victorian workhouse. Most of the old buildings remain but the inpatient ward is a recent addition. The towns medical centre is on the site in Bartons Road Since 1982 Fordingbridge has been twinned with Vimoutiers in Normandy. Fordingbridge is also home to Fordingbridge Turks FC, one of the 50 oldest football clubs in England, the Turks name seems to derive from wishing to emulate the determination shown by Ottoman forces at Siege of Plevna. The recreation ground is home to Fordingbridge Rugby Club, who have been one of the more successful Hampshire clubs in recent years. The parish of Fordingbridge contains the hamlets of Burgate to the north, Criddlestyle to the east, Bickton to the south, Burgate and Bickton are settlements dating back to the time of the Domesday Book, and in fact Bickton was a larger settlement than Fordingbridge in 1086. Criddlestyle is an ancient manor, also known as East Mill, the largest hamlet today is Ashford, which was the location of an ancient watermill, and was the location of Fordingbridge railway station until it was closed in 1964. Fordingbridge is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the name Forde, the manor was held by a certain Robert from Robert the son of Gerald. Prior to 1066 it had held by Alwy from King Edward. At the beginning of the 13th century Fordingbridge was held by Hugh de Linguire, from that date Fordingbridge followed the same descent as Rowner
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Wiltshire
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Wiltshire is a county in South West England with an area of 3,485 km2. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, the county town was originally Wilton, after which the county is named, but Wiltshire Council is now based in the new county town of Trowbridge. Wiltshire is characterised by its high downland and wide valleys, Salisbury Plain is noted for being the location of the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles and other ancient landmarks, and as a training area for the British Army. The city of Salisbury is notable for its mediaeval cathedral, important country houses open to the public include Longleat, near Warminster, and the National Trusts Stourhead, near Mere. The county, in the 9th century written as Wiltunscir, later Wiltonshire, is named after the county town of Wilton. Wiltshire is notable for its pre-Roman archaeology, the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age people that occupied southern Britain built settlements on the hills and downland that cover Wiltshire. Stonehenge and Avebury are perhaps the most famous Neolithic sites in the UK, in the 6th and 7th centuries Wiltshire was at the western edge of Saxon Britain, as Cranborne Chase and the Somerset Levels prevented the advance to the west. The Battle of Bedwyn was fought in 675 between Escuin, a West Saxon nobleman who had seized the throne of Queen Saxburga, in 878 the Danes invaded the county. Following the Norman Conquest, large areas of the country came into the possession of the crown, at the time of the Domesday Survey the industry of Wiltshire was largely agricultural,390 mills are mentioned, and vineyards at Tollard and Lacock. In the 17th century English Civil War Wiltshire was largely Parliamentarian, the Battle of Roundway Down, a Royalist victory, was fought near Devizes. The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry currently lives on as Y Squadron, based in Swindon, around 1800 the Kennet and Avon Canal was built through Wiltshire, providing a route for transporting cargoes from Bristol to London until the development of the Great Western Railway. Information on the 261 civil parishes of Wiltshire is available on the Wiltshire Community History website, run by the Libraries and this site includes maps, demographic data, historic and modern pictures and short histories. The local nickname for Wiltshire natives is moonrakers and this originated from a story of smugglers who managed to foil the local Excise men by hiding their alcohol, possibly French brandy in barrels or kegs, in a village pond. The officials took them for simple yokels or mad and left them alone, many villages claim the tale for their own village pond, but the story is most commonly linked with The Crammer in Devizes. Two-thirds of Wiltshire, a rural county, lies on chalk. This chalk is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group, the largest area of chalk in Wiltshire is Salisbury Plain, which is used mainly for arable agriculture and by the British Army as training ranges. The highest point in the county is the Tan Hill–Milk Hill ridge in the Pewsey Vale, just to the north of Salisbury Plain, the chalk uplands run northeast into West Berkshire in the Marlborough Downs ridge, and southwest into Dorset as Cranborne Chase. Cranborne Chase, which straddles the border, has, like Salisbury Plain, yielded much Stone Age, the Marlborough Downs are part of the North Wessex Downs AONB, a 1,730 km2 conservation area
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Downton, Wiltshire
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Downton is a village and civil parish on the River Avon in southern Wiltshire, England, about 6 miles southeast of the city of Salisbury. The parish is on the county boundary with Hampshire and is close to the New Forest, it includes the villages of Wick and Charlton-All-Saints, the Trafalgar Park estate erased the former settlement of Standlynch. The parish church, Trafalgar House and two houses are Grade I listed. Downton village is on the east bank of the river, Wick lies on the opposite bank, and is linked to Charlton by the A338 Poole-Oxfordshire road which accompanies the river north-south through the parish. Downton can trace its ancient inhabitants to the Neolithic, Iron Age, Roman, evidence of Neolithic occupation was found at Downton in 1956-7 in advance of a housing development. Close to this site, in 1953 the site of a Roman villa was discovered, excavations in 1955-6 revealed a villa with tessellated floors, at least two featuring mosaics, a hypocaust and bath house. Roman features were found over an area of about 12 acres, the villa is no longer visible, but the finds, including one of the mosaics, are displayed in Salisbury Museum. Clearbury Ring, on ground in the northwest of the parish, is an Iron Age hillfort. The ancient parish of Downton covered an area, extending north to Nunton. Downton was probably the village in the 7th and 8th centuries. The Domesday Book of 1068 recorded a settlement of 131 households at Downton. Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, built a castle near the river. Moot House was built c.1700 just to the east, today the house is a Grade I listed building while the gardens are owned and managed by a preservation trust and are open to the public. The Manor House, northwest of the church, is a Grade I listed hall house with attached chapel from the 14th century. The manor house at Stadlynch was built in 1733 for Sir Peter Vandeput and extended in 1766 by Henry Dawkins, plantation owner and Member of Parliament. In 1814 the nation bought the estate and gave it to Lord Nelsons heirs, the artist John Constable visited Downton in 1820, and his sketch of the Avon with the church in the background is held in the British Museum. In 1836, a time of continued agricultural hardship, the parish sponsored an emigration of more than 200 of its people to Upper Canada for opportunities there. They sailed in April 1836 on the ship King William, the Salisbury and Dorset Junction Railway, linking Salisbury with the line to Poole and Bournemouth, was built north-south across the parish and opened in 1866
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A354 road
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The A354 is a primary route in England which runs from Salisbury in Wiltshire to Easton on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, a total distance of 51 miles. From Salisbury the road crosses Cranborne Chase and briefly merges with the A350 at the Blandford Forum bypass before crossing the Dorset Downs,7 miles to the west it splits from the Dorchester bypass and runs south. The road now bypasses Upwey and Broadwey on a new section of road which has some 2 lane sections going north and 1 lane continuously going south towards Weymouth, after the old and new sections meet at Manor Roundabout the road follows down Weymouth Way alongside Radipole Lake. The final stretch runs across a bridge over Chesil beach onto Portland. The project was to build a 3. 75-mile single carriageway road, with crawler lane along part, the main carriageway of the Weymouth Relief Road opened on Thursday 17 March 2011. The 2012 Olympics at Portland played a factor in making £89m funding for the road available. 1983 - The Dorset Structure Plan proposed to construct the A354 Weymouth, december 1987 to April 1988 - a public inquiry was held into proposals for development in the Lorton area which included a new single carriagewayroute running from Mount Pleasant to Littlemoor. These proposals were refused consent by the Secretary of State, between 1989 and 1992 - various studies and consultation exercises undertaken into alternative route options and alignments for a dual carriageway road between the Ridgeway and north Weymouth. 1992 - work on an application and Environmental Statement for this scheme began. July 1994 - a dual carriageway road along the alignment was granted planning permission,1996 - A public inquiry into the Compulsory Purchase and Side Road Orders was held. The Secretary of State approved these orders, however, work on the scheme was never started as, following a Government review of road construction, the funding for the scheme was not forthcoming. The planning permission lapsed after 5 years, following the lapse of permission Dorset County Council undertook a review of the previously consented scheme. September 2005 - a planning application and Environmental Statement for a road along the route was submitted by Dorset County Council. As a result of the councils re-assessment, changes were made to the September 2005 proposals, March 2011 - Relief Road was opened Dorset for you - Weymouth Relief Road
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Britford
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Britford is a village and civil parish beside the River Avon about 1.5 miles southeast of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. The village is just off the A338 road, the 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 592. The place-name Britford is first attested in a Saxon charter of circa 670 and it appears as Bretford and Bredford in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as Brideford in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1203. The name means ford, and has the same etymology as Bridford in Devon. Little Woodbury,0.5 miles southwest of the village, is the site of an Iron Age settlement, excavations in 1938–39 revealed the sites of granaries, storage pits and a circular house nearly 50 feet in diameter. Great Woodbury,1 mile from the village, is the remains of an Iron Age hill fort, the nave of the Church of England parish church of Saint Peter is Saxon, built probably in the 9th century. On each side of the nave there is a round-headed Saxon arch into a porticus, the arch to the south porticus is plain, but that to the north porticus is supported by decorated stone slabs. The carving on one slab seems to be developed from the style of decoration of the Bewcastle and Ruthwell crosses at the beginning of the 8th century, in the 14th century the north and south transepts were added, making the church the cruciform building it is today. Each transept is next to the Saxon porticus on its corresponding side, the arches where the transepts meet the nave are Decorated Gothic, as is the east window of the chancel. A 15th-century tomb chest monument in the church is supposed to be that of Henry Stafford, also 15th-century is a small, iron-bound wooden chest in the north transept. The finely-carved pulpit is late 17th century, the west wall of the nave was rebuilt in 1764. Over the crossing is a tower, which was rebuilt in 1764 or 1767. John Robartes, 1st Earl of Radnor had a mausoleum added to the northwest corner of the transept in 1764 or 1777. The building was restored in 1873 to the designs of George Edmund Street, the west window of the nave has stained glass made by Ward and Hughes of London in 1882. St Peters is a Grade I listed building, in the second quarter of the 13th century Britford had an anchoress called Joan. In 1215 King John granted her an income of one penny per day and she received royal gifts of oaks in 1226,1231 and 1245. In 1237 the sheriff of Salisbury was ordered to ensure that the courtyard around her house was enclosed with a wall. St Peters has a ring of six bells, five including the tenor bell were cast in 1765 by Robert Wells I of Aldbourne
37.
Collingbourne Ducis
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Collingbourne Ducis is a village and civil parish on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, about 10 miles south of Marlborough. It is one of villages on the River Bourne which is a seasonal river. The parish includes the hamlets of Cadley and Sunton, from the Domesday Book we know Earl Harold held the manor, and in 1086 a large settlement of 87 households was recorded. In 1256 the village was named Collingbourne Earls after the Lord of the Manor, the Earl of Leicester, john of Gaunt inherited the manor, became the Duke of Lancaster, and the village was thus known as Collingbourne Ducis or Dukes. Sunton House is a Grade II* listed seven-bay house from c, the architect C. E. Ponting was born in Collingbourne Ducis in 1850. The restoration of St. Andrews parish church in 1856 by G. E, street made a lasting impression on him. The Bourne Iron Works in the village was established by James Rawlings in the 1860s, the line passed close to the east of Collingbourne Ducis and Collingbourne station was close to the village centre, south of the Cadley road. The station closed when the line was closed to passengers in 1961, Sunton, and the northern part of Cadley, were transferred to the parish from Collingbourne Kingston in 1934. In 1974 a Saxon cemetery of archaeological significance was discovered in Cadley, in 1998 a Saxon settlement was found in Saunders Meadow during the construction of a housing estate. The Post Office at Collingbourne Ducis was mentioned by Sir Anthony Hopkins character, Mr. Stevens, the Church of England parish church of St Andrew is from the early 13th century. Alterations in the 14th century included the addition of the tower, in 1856 the chancel was narrowed and a vestry added, to designs of G. E. Street, further restoration in 1877 was by Sir Arthur Blomfield, the church is a Grade II* listed building. The parish was united with Everleigh in 1977 after the closure of St Peters and it forms part of the Savernake team ministry. A Primitive Methodist chapel was built at Cadley in 1880, the building was sold for residential use in 1988. Collingbourne Ducis is a parish with an elected parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all significant local government functions, Collingbourne Church of England Primary School serves the parish and surrounding area, including Collingbourne Kingston. Its building opened in 2004 at a new site on the northwest outskirts of the village, until then it occupied a National School building dating from 1859, near the school is a village hall with playing fields. The village has a pub, the Tipple Inn, in an 18th-century building, Collingbourne Ducis Parish Council Collingbourne Ducis
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Swindon
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Swindon is a large town in Wiltshire, South West England, midway between Bristol,35 miles to the west and Reading,35 miles to the east. London is 78 miles to the east, and Cardiff is 78 miles to the west, at the 2011 census, it had a population of 185,609. Swindon became an Expanded Town under the Town Development Act 1952, Swindon railway station is on the line from London Paddington to Bristol. Swindon Borough Council is an authority, independent of Wiltshire Council since 1997. Residents of Swindon are known as Swindonians, the town and wider borough also has the headquarters of the Nationwide Building Society and a Honda car manufacturing plant. The original Anglo-Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, believed to be derived from the Old English words swine and dun meaning pig hill or possibly Sweyns hill, Swindon was a small market town, mainly for barter trade, until roughly 1848. This original market area is on top of the hill in central Swindon, the Industrial Revolution was responsible for an acceleration of Swindons growth. It started with the construction of the Wilts and Berks Canal in 1810, the canals brought trade to the area and Swindons population started to grow. Between 1841 and 1842, Isambard Kingdom Brunels Swindon Works was built for the repair, the GWR built a small railway village to house some of its workers. The Steam Railway Museum and English Heritage, including the English Heritage Archive, in 1878 the fund began providing artificial limbs made by craftsmen from the carriage and wagon works, and nine years later opened its first dental surgery. In his first few months in post the dentist extracted more than 2000 teeth, from the opening in 1892 of the Health Centre, a doctor could also prescribe a haircut or even a bath. The cradle-to-grave extent of service was later used as a blueprint for the NHS. The Mechanics Institute, formed in 1844, moved into a building looking rather like a church and included a covered market, on 1 May 1855. The New Swindon Improvement Company, a co-operative, raised the funds for this path self-improvement and it was a groundbreaking organisation that transformed the railways workforce into some of the countrys best-educated manual workers. It had the UKs first lending library, and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre, the Institute also nurtured pioneering trades unionists and encouraged local democracy. During the second half of the 19th century, Swindon New Town grew around the line between London and Bristol. In 1900, the market town, Old Swindon, merged with its new neighbour at the bottom of the hill to become a single town
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A346 road
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The A346 is a road in Wiltshire, southern England, that runs from Ludgershall to Swindon. The road begins off the A342 road 1 mile north-west of the town of Ludgershall. Shortly afterwards it joins the route of the A338 road for 5 miles, at a roundabout south of Burbage, the road re-appears, and heads north, bypassing the village. The road crosses over the Kennet and Avon Canal and passes through Savernake Forest, the road then goes through the town of Marlborough, where it meets the A4 road. The road heads north still, through the valley of the River Og, the road is built entirely to single carriageway standard, and is a primary route from Burbage to the M4. Until the M4 motorway was opened, the route ended at Marlborough and it was extended northward over part of the former route of the A345
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Berkshire
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Berkshire is a county in south east England, west of London. It was recognised as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of Windsor Castle by the Queen in 1957, Berkshire is a county of historic origin and is a home county, a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county without a county council. Berkshire County Council was the main county governance from 1889 to 1998 except for the separately administered County Borough of Reading, in 1974, significant alterations were made to the countys administrative boundaries although the traditional boundaries of Berkshire were not changed. The towns of Abingdon, Didcot and Wantage were transferred to Oxfordshire, Slough was gained from Buckinghamshire, since 1998, Berkshire has been governed by the six unitary authorities of Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham. It borders the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Surrey, according to Asser, it takes its name from a large forest of box trees that was called Bearroc. Berkshire has been the scene of notable battles through its history. Alfred the Greats campaign against the Danes included the Battles of Englefield, Ashdown, Newbury was the site of two English Civil War battles, the First Battle of Newbury in 1643 and the Second Battle of Newbury in 1644. The nearby Donnington Castle was reduced to a ruin in the aftermath of the second battle, another Battle of Reading took place on 9 December 1688. It was the only military action in England during the Glorious Revolution. Reading became the new county town in 1867, taking over from Abingdon, boundary alterations in the early part of the 20th century were minor, with Caversham from Oxfordshire becoming part of the Reading county borough, and cessions in the Oxford area. On 1 April 1974 Berkshires boundaries changed under the Local Government Act 1972, Berkshire took over administration of Slough and Eton and part of the former Eton Rural District from Buckinghamshire. 94 Signal Squadron still keep the Uffington White Horse in their insignia, the original Local Government White Paper would have transferred Henley-on-Thames from Oxfordshire to Berkshire, this proposal did not make it into the Bill as introduced. On 1 April 1998 Berkshire County Council was abolished under a recommendation of the Banham Commission, unlike similar reforms elsewhere at the same time, the non-metropolitan county was not abolished. Berkshire divides into two distinct sections with the boundary lying roughly on a north-south line through the centre of Reading. The eastern section of Berkshire lies largely to the south of the River Thames, in two places the county now includes land to the north of the river. Tributaries of the Thames, including the Loddon and Blackwater, increase the amount of low lying land in the area. Beyond the flood plains, the land rises gently to the county boundaries with Surrey, much of this area is still well wooded, especially around Bracknell and Windsor Great Park. In the west of the county and heading upstream, the Thames veers away to the north of the county boundary, leaving the county behind at the Goring Gap
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Hungerford
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Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, centred 8 miles west of Newbury,9 miles east of Marlborough,30 miles northeast of Salisbury and 67 miles west of London. Its amenities include shops, cafés, restaurants, schools and sports teams or clubs in the national sports. Hungerford is an abbreviation and vowel shift from a Saxon name meaning Hanging Wood Ford. The town’s symbol is the star and crescent moon. The place does not occur in the Domesday Book of 1086, by 1241, it called itself a borough. In the late 14th century, John of Gaunt was medieval lord of the manor, during the English Civil War, the Earl of Essex and his army spent the night here in June 1644. In October of the year, the Earl of Manchester’s cavalry were also quartered in the town. Then, in the November, the King’s forces arrived in Hungerford on their way to Abingdon, during the Glorious Revolution of 1688, William of Orange was offered the Crown of England while staying at the Bear Inn in Hungerford. The Hungerford land south of the Kennet was for the centuries, until an 18th-century widespread growth in cultivation the area, st. Lawrences parish church stands next to the Kennet and Avon Canal. It was rebuilt in 1814–1816 by John Pinch the elder in Gothic Revival style, in the late 19th century, two policeman were shot by poachers in Eddington. Their memorial crosses still stand where they fell, the Hungerford massacre occurred on 19 August 1987. All of his victims were shot in the town or in nearby Savernake Forest, a report on this incident was commissioned by Home Secretary Douglas Hurd from the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Colin Smith. It is one of three highly costly firearms atrocities in terms of lives since the invention of such rapid fire weapons, the other two being the Dunblane massacre and Cumbria shootings. The massacre led to the Firearms Act 1988, which banned the ownership of semi-automatic centre-fire rifles, the Hungerford Report had demonstrated that Ryans collection of weapons was legally licensed. Hungerford is a parish, covering the town of Hungerford. Parish council responsibilities are undertaken by Hungerford Town Council, which consists of fifteen councillors and committee members. The mayor is elected from amongst their numbers, the parish forms part of the district administered by the unitary authority of West Berkshire, and local government responsibilities are shared between the town council and unitary authority. Hungerford is part of the Newbury parliamentary constituency and its MP is the Conservative Richard Benyon, son of Sir William Benyon of Englefield House
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Marlborough, Wiltshire
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Marlborough is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath. It boasts the second widest high street in Britain, after Stockton-on-Tees, the town is on the River Kennet. The earliest sign of habitation is a 62 feet high prehistoric tumulus in the grounds of Marlborough College. Recent radiocarbon dating has found it to date from about 2400 BC and it is of similar age to the larger Silbury Hill about 5 miles west of the town. Legend has it that the Mound is the site of Merlin. On John Speeds map of Wiltshire, the name is recorded as Marlinges boroe. The towns motto is Ubi nunc sapientis ossa Merlini - Where now are the bones of wise Merlin, more plausibly, the towns name probably derives from the medieval term for chalky ground marl – thus town on chalk. Roman remains and the large Mildenhall Hoard of coins have found two miles to the east of Marlborough, at Mildenhall. A later Saxon settlement grew up around The Green and two river crossings were made at Isbury Lane and Stonebridge Lane. In 1067 William the Conqueror assumed control of the Marlborough area and set about building a motte and bailey castle. This was completed in around 1100, stone was used to strengthen the castle in around 1175. The first written record of Marlborough dates from the Domesday Book in 1087, William also established a mint in Marlborough, which coined the William I and the early William II silver pennies. The coins display the name of the town as Maerlebi or Maerleber and he also established the neighbouring Savernake Forest as a favourite Royal hunting ground and Marlborough castle became a Royal residence. Henry I observed Easter here in 1110, Henry II stayed at Marlborough castle in talks with the King of Scotland. His son, Richard I gave the castle to his brother John, King John was married here and spent time in Marlborough. He also established that weekly markets may be held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, later Henry III was also married here. Henry III held Parliament here, in 1267, when the Statute of Marlborough was passed and this seven-hundred-year-old law states that no-one shall seize his neighbours goods for alleged wrong without permission of the Court. Apart from Charters, it is the oldest statute in English law which has not yet been repealed, the castle fell into disrepair by the end of the 14th century but remained Crown property
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Newbury, Berkshire
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Newbury /ˈnjuːbəri/ is a historic market town and the principal town in the west of Berkshire, England and has its own civil parish as well as the administrative headquarters of West Berkshire. It spans both sides of the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre spread around its large market square. Newbury is famous for its racecourse, and as the headquarters of Vodafone UK, the town is located in the valley of the River Kennet,26 miles south of Oxford,25 miles north of Winchester,27 miles south east of Swindon and 20 miles west of Reading. Newbury lies on the edge of the picturesque Berkshire Downs, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of outstanding natural beauty and it lies in south central West Berkshire,3 miles north of the Hampshire/ West Berkshire county boundary. In the suburban village of Donnington lies the part-ruined Donnington Castle, to the south is a narrower range of hills including Walbury Hill and a few private landscape gardens and mansions such as Highclere Castle. Together with the town of Thatcham,3 miles distant. There was a Mesolithic settlement at Newbury, artefacts were recovered from the Greenham Dairy Farm in 1963, and the Faraday Road site in 2002. Additional material was found in excavations along the route of the Newbury Bypass, Newbury was founded late in the 11th century following the Norman conquest as a new borough, hence its name. Although there are references to the borough that predate the Domesday Survey it is not mentioned by name in the survey. However, its existence within the manor of Ulvritone is evident from the rise in value of that manor at a time when most manors were worth less than in Saxon times. In 1086 the Domesday Book assesses the borough as having land for 12 ploughs,2 mills, woodland for 25 pigs,11 villeins,11 bordars, and 51 enclosures rendering 70s 7d. Doubt has been cast over the existence of Newbury Castle, but the town did have connections and was visited a number of times by King John. Historically, the economic foundation was the cloth trade. This is reflected in the person of the 16th century cloth magnate, Jack of Newbury, the proprietor of what may well have been the first factory in England, and the later tale of the Newbury Coat. The latter was the outcome of a bet as to whether a suit could be produced by the end of the day from wool taken from a sheeps back at the beginning. The local legend was immortalized in a humorous novel by Elizabethan writer Thomas Deloney. Newbury was the site of two battles during the English Civil War, the First Battle of Newbury in 1643, the nearby Donnington Castle was reduced to a ruin in the aftermath of the second battle. The disruption of trade during the war, compounded by a collapse of the local cloth trade in the late 16th century
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Great Shefford
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Great Shefford is a village and civil parish on the River Lambourn in West Berkshire, England. The modern civil parish includes the parish of Little or East Shefford. The parish also includes the village of Shefford Woodlands, about 1.5 miles southwest of Great Shefford, the 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 896, and 880 are listed on the Millennium Stone opposite the petrol station. The population grew by approximately 5% in the ten years to 2011, the toponym of both Sheffords is derived from the Old English for sheep ford. Great Shefford village has a church, public house, school, shop. From 1898 until 1960 Great Shefford railway station on the Lambourn Valley Railway served the parish, the nearest main line station is in central Newbury, with a journey time to London Paddington from 50 minutes to 67 minutes. The A338 between Hungerford to the south and Wantage to the runs through the village, one. The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary is one of two existing churches in Berkshire. The other one is at St Gregorys parish church at nearby Welford, the church of Saint Stephen at Shefford Woodlands is a former Methodist chapel that was consecrated as part of St Marys Church of England parish in 1911. St Thomas Church, East Shefford contains important monuments to the widespread Fettiplace family, a History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4. Media related to Great Shefford at Wikimedia Commons Great Shefford and Shefford Woodlands St Marys and St Stephens Churches Website
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Grove, Oxfordshire
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Grove is a village and civil parish on Letcombe Brook, about 1 1⁄2 miles north of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire, the 2011 Census recorded the parishs population as 7,178. King Stephen granted land at Grove to the Benedictine Abbey of Bermondsey in 1142, Grove is said to have had a chapel of St. John the Baptist until it was destroyed in 1733. It would have been a chapelry of the parish of Wantage. A new Church of England parish church was built in 1832, the 1832 building was replaced by a new parish church of St. James the Great built in 1900 or 1901. St. James was a Gothic Revival building in an Early English Gothic style with six bays, Robson, son of the architect Edward Robert Robson. The font is an 18th-century wooden one brought from All Saints parish church, in the 1960s Sir Nikolaus Pevsner found St. James to be derelict. In the 1960s a new church of St. John the Baptist was built to replace St. James. The foundation stone is dated 1965 and it incorporates items from St. James including the font, a stained glass window depicting St. James and a panel listing successive vicars of the parish. In 1622 Thomas Grove had a watermill at Grove and it is a chequer brick building of three bays and its doorway has bolection moulding. The common lands of Wantage and Grove were enclosed by an Act of Parliament passed in 1803, the land awards under the Act seem to have been made in 1806. In 1770 the turnpike road was built as a direct route between Wantage and Oxford. Between 1796 and 1810 the Wilts & Berks Canal was built and its main route passed through the village and a branch of the canal was built between Grove and Wantage. In 1840 the Great Western Railway opened Wantage Road railway station on the boundary of Grove. In 1875 the Wantage Tramway was built and this was a single track laid alongside the turnpike road linking Wantage Road Station and Wantage. It was operated by steam locomotives which pulled both a passenger tramcar and a goods wagons. Competition from the railway and tramway reduced canal traffic, and the Wilts, increasing competition from road transport reduced traffic on the tram, and passenger tram services were ended in 1925. In 1942 RAF Grove was opened as a Bomber Command training base, in 1943 it was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces and the 45th Air Depot Group established one of the largest and busiest supply airfields in Europe
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