Road Closed

There used to be a tunnel here!

Our village lies on what is notionally called ‘The Great North Road’ .. the traditional main road from London to Edinburgh..and the village was often gridlocked with traffic.

A two lane dual carriageway was constructed to bypass the village and it became part of the A1….it went over this road (Tenter Hill) and so a tunnel was created under the new road..in this shot, the fence at the top in the tree line (where the sky ends)  is where the old southbound lane was.

Bus services through the village were kept going with the use of single decker buses that would fit through the tunnel.

Eventually the two lane A1 was itself bypassed with a three lane dual carriageway…which cut through old tunnel…so a bridge was built over the new road and the the tunnel was closed off in the village…leaving just this wall! The old white lines of the road to the tunnel can be still be seen.

The three lane dual carriageway was eventually upgraded to A1(M) and all the local junctions were closed.

I didn’t get very far on my walk today..can you tell?