Scandal-lovers will be thrilled by the rape and sodomy charges against the Second Earl of Castlehaven in 1631. Fort does not mention that the events prompted the creation, in a roundabout way, of Milton's Comus; I do, probably just to show off. But I did not know a very great deal else that is here, and it is the millennia-spanning nature of the book that gives it its charm and point. Few books can include both Stonehenge and Barbara Castle. I'm in favour of Dualling the A358 as soon as possible either wholly or partially in sections. The amount of commuting from places like Ilminster to Taunton/Bristol etc has gone from zero thirty years ago to quite a bit. Together with Taunton - Yeovil traffic, this is justified as a local scheme, but as an online upgrade of the present route not an expressway. (ie I wouldn't grade separate the A372 junction and would keep the traffic lights.

Excerpt taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=7646 Concerns mount over plans for two-mile road tunnel past Stonehenge". The Guardian. 2 April 2019 . Retrieved 11 March 2020. Henderson, Mark (1 August 1998). "Transport cut raises fear of jams tomorrow". The Times. p.14 . Retrieved 19 August 2016. In 2011, BBC Four broadcast the documentary A303 Highway to the Sun. [71] The writer Tom Fort drove the length of the A303 in a Morris Traveller, making various stops. [72] The following year, he published a book with the same title; it covers the history of the road, and British road planning, together with landscape, history and general travel writing. During research, one interviewee recommended using the A303 to reach southwest England, adding it was "less boring than the motorway, and you've always got Stonehenge". [73] The programme was praised for its eclecticism and enthusiasm for what could have been a tedious subject. [74] [75] Junctions and landmarks [ edit ] A Highways England video of the proposed new bypasses and the tunnel shows that the government plans to “de-trunk” the A303, which currently runs close to the megaliths, with the “old” road converted into use for non-motorized users.

While many people dismiss the King Arthur story as fable, some historians believe there is evidence suggesting that behind the embellished myths stands a real Romano-British warrior called Brenin Athrwys (meaning King Bear Man) who ruled over a large part of the South West and Wales in the sixth century. He is thought to have fought invading Saxons hoards at Cadbury Castle and was killed on the banks of the nearby River Cam. The crunch will come when the "acceptable alternative" becomes unacceptable due to over use. I would suspect that it would be far cheaper to dual the remaining S2 bits of the A303 than widen large chunks of the M4 & M5 to D4M or D4HS. (although you might have to add in widening the M3 to D4M as well to cope with the extra A303 traffic). Based on experience, project costs tend to grow rather than fall, at least in the early years,” said Amyas Morse, the head of the National Audit Office (NAO) in 2019. There's a world of difference driving on one of these pre-motorway trunk roads, infinitely more interesting Cyclists visiting Stonehenge in 1896. Photo from "Cycling Illustrated." Cycling Illustrated/archives

A cyclist stops to look at Stonehenge as the sun sets ahead of Summer Solstice on June 20, 2020 in ... [+] Amesbury, United Kingdom. (Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images) Getty Images

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I would also hazard a guess that the amount of people who choose to drive from Taunton to London via A358/A303 tends to zero, as from Taunton the M5/M4 is not such a long way round and its all motorway. This shows the other problem with diverting the A303 to Taunton. Once you send Exeter-London traffic up to M5 J25, I suspect that all bar traffic for the South London suburbs, Surrey and Kent will stay on the M5 - even if the A303/A358 were fully dualled, especially the commercial traffic - The M4 also has a far better route into central London than the M3. think of the A1, pre-upgrading; once past Wetherby, you had farms, and houses, cosying right up to the road-side Travis, John F (1993). The Rise of the Devon Seaside Resorts, 1750–1900. University of Exeter Press. p.64. ISBN 978-0-859-89392-3.

The shape of a story formed. A book, I thought. Then someone came along and said, "What about a film?" Road Construction, South Western region". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 11 November 1968 . Retrieved 18 August 2016. Indeed for a route of regional importance you cannot, however for a route of national importance you can. The decision to downgrade the London to Penzance trunk road from a route of national importance to a route of regional importance looks to me to be driven by treasury bean counting rather than the reality of the situation.I was never quite sure what political affiliation the author held, as he seemed equally dismissive of most political persuasions, although his particular dislikes shone through pretty clearly, and I don't think there was ever a Minister of Transport that was held in any kind of esteem. I could pretty much have done without all of the political rants. Plans to improve the A303 between Sparkford and Ilchester by upgrading three miles of single carriageway to high-quality dual carriageway were approved by the government in February 2021. [66] Work began on this section that October. [67] Cultural references [ edit ] Tom Fort drove the length of the A303 in a Morris Traveller, and his account was turned into a book and television documentary Stonehenge A303 Road Improvement Scheme – Frequently Asked Questions". National Trust . Retrieved 18 August 2016. Keeping with King Arthur connections, moving further west between Sparkford and Podimore, the majestic Glastonbury Tor can be seen on the horizon to the right. Despite being located more than ten miles away, the iconic Tor can be spotted rising above the Somerset Levels from the A303.

Thank you mh48. Glad you enjoyed the journey and that it inspired you to do some research of your own. The typical Friday or Saturday holiday flow that occurs on say 10-15 weekends of the year (or even be generous and say 20) or the flow that happens on the other ~230 weekdays say a wet Tuesday in February? South of Doncaster, the 'GNR' still has beautiful old coaching inns sanding, some in disrepair (at Scrooby Top) Which brings us to another misnamed documentary, as it would have been far more accurate to call Hunting Britain's Most Wanted (Channel 4), Hunting the Rest of the World's Most Wanted, since it followed Scotland Yard's extradition unit rounding up foreign crims who had legged it to the UK. But there the similarities with the A303 ended. Where Fort's film surprised with its eccentricity, Britain's Most Wanted battered you with its dullness. If the producers had set out to show that, contrary to what the public may think, catching serious criminals on the run from abroad is actually pretty boring, then they couldn't have done a better job. The TV show that drew my attention to this book is a muted highlights reel by comparison but still better than most things to be seen on the idiot box.

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On the way it goes over three of my favourite rivers for fishing - the Test, the Avon, and the Wylye. The issue should not be whether to dual the A303 instead of the A358, it is whether to dual the A303 as well as the A358. Tom Fort's book, named for a well-used English road, is a smoother ride: elegantly written, with a dry humour and an eyebrow raised - Economist