Twyford Down
Twyford Down | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 142 m (466 ft) |
Coordinates | 51°02′41″N 1°16′47″W / 51.04463°N 1.27959°W |
Geography | |
Location | South Downs, England |
OS grid | SU506275 |
Topo map | OS Landranger 185 |
Twyford Down is an area of chalk
In 1991, the down was the site of a major
The motorway was completed as planned and provides a link of continuous motorway between Greater London and the South Coast ports. Nevertheless, the protests attracted interest from the national media, and drew attention to this form of campaigning. Subsequent road schemes took greater account of the environment or were cancelled. Several protesters at Twyford Down subsequently formed campaign groups, or joined existing ones such as the Campaign for Better Transport.
History
Twyford Down sits to the southeast of Winchester and the northeast of Twyford, and is part of the
In 1675,
Hockley Golf Club was established as a private members' club on the down in 1914.[10]
The M3 motorway extension
Background
Outline strategic planning for the route of what was to be later known as the
Winchester had been a traffic bottleneck for many years as several major routes passed through the historic city centre, including the A31, A33 and
As a 1930s road construction project, the bypass was built to then-contemporary standards, including
Public inquiries
At this point, the option of going over or through Twyford Down had not been considered, and the alignment of the proposed six-
In 1981, Kenneth Clarke, then the Parliamentary Secretary for Transport, stated that, since the route of the M3 was then fixed as far as Bar End, to the north of St. Catherine's Hill, that its route from there to Compton would undergo a fresh study,[25] specifically stating that the Winchester Bypass should continue to be operational during construction of any new road, and that environmental matters were a key concern.[26]: 11 By February 1983, consulting engineers Mott, Hay and Anderson had submitted a recommendation to complete the M3 through Twyford Down. Following the completion of the motorway to Bar End in the summer of 1985,[12] the junction at Hockley was the only set of traffic lights between London and Southampton.
The
Protests
We respectfully petition the City Council to heed the strength of the case against the M3 and by vote in Council to rescind their previous support for the motorway between Popham and Compton.
Petition from the M3 Joint Action Group to Winchester City Council[19]
Protests against the completion of the M3 had been ongoing since 1973, with the formation of the M3 Joint Action Group by David Pare. The group gathered together a petition of 19,000, of which 11,227 were Winchester residents. The group was also active in distributing leaflets to the local community.[19]
In March 1992, two
The principal arguments of the protesters were their concern about making wildlife species, such as the
Protesters demonstrated their opposition to the road's construction by blocking the path of construction equipment.[36] They were met by security officers from Group 4. In December 1992, in view of a film crew from The Observer, a protester was manhandled by five officers.[1] Another protester, according to a report by local MP John Denham, was strangled by officers and left unconscious on top of the Down for 30 minutes.[1] Maggie Lambert, then a mature photography student, took numerous photographs of the protest, and challenged an injunction which suggested she had been involved with direct action. While Lord Justice Mann admitted there was no evidence to suggest she had done anything more than take photographs, the injunction was upheld.[1] Protester Rebecca Lush of the Donga Tribe, who had stayed on the down from September to the night of eviction, later claimed "It was a horrific experience and very violent. We were dragged through thorns and we were being kicked and punched and someone pulled out a clump of my hair."[37] In March 1993, Kenneth Carlisle, then Minister for Roads and Traffic, refused to order an inquiry into any wrongdoing or excessive force by security officers, stating it was a matter for the police.[38]
The protest attracted different classes of people, the many of whom were peaceful. According to Denham, a popular phrase amongst those protesting was "I never thought that I would find myself doing something like this."[1] Stephen Ward, who had been involved in the original 1970s protest, decided in early 1993 that excessive force was being used against protesters, and started keeping a log of events. He used this log when defending other protesters in court. He visited those who had been imprisoned and helped establish a legal precedent of the right for protesters and demonstrators to have a witness while being questioned.[39]
Several artists, such as Jill Bray (b.1936) marked their protest by creating work based on the Twyford Down landscape.[40][41]
Outcome
In 1995, the motorway section through Twyford Down was opened, making the M3 a continuous motorway. The old A33 Winchester Bypass between Bar End and Compton was then closed and removed. The new cutting caused the loss of 1.91 hectares (4.7 acres) of SSSI land. To redress this, the old route of the A33 was planted with 7.2 hectares (18 acres) of species-rich grassland under the supervision and monitoring of the
Soon after the construction of the Twyford Down cutting, the pace of road construction in the United Kingdom slowed. In 1994, a government committee concluded that building more roads would only encourage more traffic, and that the way to ease congestion and pollution was to take measures to control car use rather than accommodate more. When Labour came to power in 1997, many road schemes were cancelled.[42][43]
In 2000, campaigners mounted legal action to preserve an area of grassland created on the route of the old A33 Winchester bypass in mitigation of the land lost to the motorway which was threatened by a
In 2004,
Twyford Down became part of the western extremity of the South Downs National Park in 2011, having previously been designated as part of the East Hampshire AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).[53]
Cultural references
The acid jazz band Galliano released a 1994 single "Twyford Down" in response to the M3 road building.[54]
See also
- Environmental direct action in the United Kingdom
- M11 link road protest
- Newbury bypass
- Road protest in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ a b c d e f John Denham (2 December 1994). "Twyford Down". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ISBN 0-7518-3340-1.
- ^ "One Inch Map sheet 168 (Winchester)". Ordnance Survey. 1959. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "Hampshire Conservation Volunteers : Deacon Hill". Hampshire County Council. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "Spiritual Places – Twyford Down". BBC Hampshire. 9 March 2004. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "The Pilgrims' Trail". Hampshire County Council. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "Old Hampshire mapped". Geography department, University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "Milne's map of Hampshire". 1791. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "One Inch (first series) map". Ordnance Survey. 1855. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "Hockley Golf Club – How to join". Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-86077-446-1.
- ^ a b c "M3 London to Southampton : Statistics and opinions". Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7277-0159-6.
- ^ Edward Burgin (23 June 1937). "BY-PASS SCHEMES". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ "Winchester by-pass open tomorrow". The Times. No. 48527. 31 January 1940. p. 5.
- ^ "A by-pass road at Winchester: Opposition to proposed route". The Times. No. 45317. 25 September 1929. p. 9.
- ^ Bob Brown (11 November 1968). "Town By-Pass Schemes". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ "Kingsworthy (Winchester) link road completed". Hampshire County Council. August 1969. hs-hl-hb200015672-b-00-000. Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Keith Speed (30 April 1973). "M3, WINCHESTER". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ Lord Montagu of Beaulieu (7 August 1980). "A33: Hockley Crossroads Improvement". Hansard. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ ISBN 0-419-20270-6.
- ^ ISBN 0-333-23188-0.
- ^ a b Morgan Morgan-Giles (26 July 1976). "M3 MOTORWAY INQUIRY". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 6 March 2013.
- ^ a b Roger Bell (18 June 1995). "Infamous traffic lights go back to nature". The Independent. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ^ Kenneth Clarke (18 March 1981). "Roads (Hampshire)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9780203475713.
- ^ a b "Taming The Tarmac: The Lesson of Twyford Down". Cambridge University. Archived from the original on 29 November 2006. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ Cristopher Chope (11 June 1991). "A33". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- John Davidson (27 March 1990). "Environment Policy: M.3 Route Decision". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ Monbiot, George (21 February 1997). "Multi-issue Politics". Times Literary Supplement. News International. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-317-34205-2.
- ^ Michael Carttiss (20 May 1992). "European Communities (Amendment) Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ John Denham (3 June 1992). "Earth Summit". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ Tim Jackson; Nicholas Schoon (1 August 1992). "EC clears way for road link at Twyford Down". The Independent. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ^ "Learning Zone : Extending the motorway at Twyford Down". BBC News. Archived from the original on 3 February 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-134-69786-1.
- ^ "Campaigners vow to fight road plans on Twyford Down 20th anniversary". Hampshire Chronicle. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ^ Kenneth Carlisle (10 March 1993). "Twyford Down". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ John Vidal (14 December 2002). "Obituary : Stephen Ward". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ Representing the Environment. John R. Gold, George Revill. 2004. Routledge. p21. Jill Bray 'Passing the Chalk'
- ^ "Kevis House Gallery — Jill Bray - an essay".
- ^ Chris Marshall. "What did the "New Deal for Trunk Roads" mean?". Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ a b Sally Churchward (1 October 2012). "The Battle for Twyford Down – was it worth it?". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ^ "More legal action over park-and-ride". Hampshire Chronicle. 22 March 2002.
- ^ Michael McCarthy (22 December 2001). "Greens left outraged by "second betrayal of Twyford Down"". The Independent. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ "Autumn start for park and ride". Hampshire Chronicle. Newsquest Media Group. 3 May 2001. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
- ^ "Ten years on, Winchester Cathedral wins £86,000 windfall for M3 noise". Andover Advertiser. Newsquest Media Group. 26 August 2004. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
- ^ "Direct action road protest veterans delegation to Dept for Transport". indymedia. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
- ^ "Road Block – About us". Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
- ^ "Road Block – about us". Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ "Twenty Years Since Twyford". ITV Meridian News. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ John Vidal (28 September 2012). "Twyford Down's Dongas return 20 years after M3 protest". The Guardian.
- ^ Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. "Map of South Downs National Park" (PDF). Retrieved 6 March 2013.
- ^ Nicholas Barber (17 July 1994). "Rock / No twists but lots of shouting - and a big tease". The Independent. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
Further reading
- Bryant, B (1995). Twyford Down: Roads, Campaigning and Environmental Law. E & FN Spon. ISBN 0-419-20270-6.
External links
- Photo gallery of mass trespass from Urban75
- BBC Hampshire webpage containing summary of Twyford Down's historical and contemporary significance.
- British Library page with short relevant section under heading of Dreamers and Dissenters — Treehouse and Tunnels.
- SABRE – Winchester Bypass. Further history about the background to the road construction in the area, with maps.