Old A3 heading North before Hindhead Tunnel built
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- Following a conversation about what a difference the Hindhead Tunnel has made to the A3 and to the countryside around the Devil's Punchbowl, here is a recording made of the "Old A3" before the tunnel opened.
Undaunted Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Thanks for posting this video! Reminded me of good times traveling this road in the 1980's and 90's
Thanks for the memories of the old A3 through Hindhead. I used to use that road heading from Chelmsford where I was based down to Portsmouth twice a week for 10 years . I enjoyed the whole stretch from Guildford down as the scenery changed with the seasons. Best part was at the Queen Elizabeth country park and all the trees
I put in the national speed limit sign with the square below it (5:15) on the right late one night when I couldn't sleep and my lodger, who worked for Balfour Beaty had the job to do. It was actually on the wrong side of the railing, I think that was national trust land, because the sign was so big that to put it on the highway side like we were meant to, it would have been clipped by large vehicles.
I used to travel from uni down the A3 late at night to avoid traffic, and miss coming round the Devil's Punchbowl seeing it full of fog like low clouds.
What a lovely trip down memory lane - late 70/80s my dad and I used this road to and from London in all weathers - we used to swop over the driving at the transport cafe - can't remember if it was just before hindhead or after - thanks for sharing this with us
Commuted from Chichester and later Petersfield to London from '76 and finally stopped in '90. How different it would have been with the tunnel, the Hindhead crossroads in summer, convoys of caravans, sheer hell. Anyone remember a red Peugeot 104ZS YPO 464 S?
Tunnel opened July 2011 so video must be from just before then. Thanks for the memories !
I ride my motorbike across the junction of the 2 byways at 7:12 so peaceful today.
I loved seeing this, I remember that road fondly, unfortunately the music kinda spoils it for me a little.
Good to hear that we jogged a few memories... and sorry to hear that the music didn't help. Unfortunately, when we recorded the video, we continued our conversation... which also, all these years later, wouldn't have been particularly enjoyable to listen to! 🙂
It's better with sound turned off.
Amazing they finally built the tunnel, I like driving through it, and I don’t remember the road before even though I took the route many times, but I know it was very busy. The prices of property in that area went up a lot round that time.
I've driven that road many times before and after the tunnel was opened. I really don't remember much about the old route. I didn't strike me as remarkable. Just a bend in the road and slow traffic. I've been to the conservation area recently. Some old tarmac road still remains. Not sure if this was the original A3 or a service lane alongside it. You can still see 'SLOW' painted on the surface. I went on a bank holiday weekend which was a big mistake. Far too many people, their screaming kids and dogs off the lead. The green welly brigade were out in force as well as the £3000 mountain bike riding, lycra-clad cyclists.
By passes are a huge improvement to places that have to endure huge volumes of traffic all day long. I can remember the A595, which carries a huge volume of traffic, being removed from a village near me and now part of the old road is a cul de sac with almost no traffic and the rest is generally quiet.
Used to commute from Leatherhead to Portsmouth for two periods in the 90s either side of the Petersfield bypass being built and as I was going against the traffic I rarely had to queue for long if at all at the Hindhead crossroads. After the Petersfield bypass was built I got close beating an hour for the journey but never could - the tunnel might have made it possible.
That run must have doneon a Sunday morning. Rush hour that was the time..in the week..its good the tunnel was built. Cant help thinking the businesses on the main road afterwards suffered a bit
Did that drive hundreds of times between my home in Richmond and my father's home in Petersfield.
How interesting to see how it was. That's a great road.
I'd have thought that it would have been better to build that tunnel and leave the road too for sports cars.
It was part of the agreement with the National Trust for the tunnel to go through their land that the old road was rewilded.
The old A3 that went through Devil's Punch Bowl was a accident hotspot with lots of sharp corners and bends. Now it's just straight forward through Hindhead Tunnel. Wish that Highways England would of sorted out Ham Barn roundabout near Liss, Hampshire and to straighten up the A3 there with a new junction. Which means going from London to Portsmouth and back would make it lot quicker and better.
Nice one how soon we forget
Fun fact, the left hand bend going north bound you see @ 6:12 onwards, used to be dual carriageway (until just after the barrier) before they cheveroned it to a single lane (booo), was a good place to pass trucks who (obviously) had to go slow, and overly-nervous drivers who crawled around it 😛.
(And yes I know it was downgraded because of idiots failing to take into account it was a sharp bend and losing it! especially in the wet IIRC. Guess what, if it's wet and you have sharp corner you should go slower!🙄).
I don't remember when they downgraded it to one lane, does anyone else?
I was most upset when the snackbar was compulsory moved out of the lay-by north of Hindhead as the dual carriageway resumed.
The guy that ran was a bit eccentric but a good bloke with a laugh.
There was a campaign to try and save it, but the council wouldn't allow a new licence for anyone after that.
I’m more upset by the fact that Hindhead Commons was a great little walking space for local residents like myself at Tyndalls and it’s been absolutely ruined by all the morons that go up there now.
7'.16" - Was that Steve McQueen??!!
Is this roadway now buried under dirt? I can see where the town’s smog was a problem.
How accident prone was this road in its heyday?
I remember this road which I used to travel on to see a friend. He moved and have never been there since the tunnel open. How far after the Hindhead traffic lights is it now closed?
goo.gl/maps/gNvf8GXukZjdMUiS7 at the National Trust car park. Certainly quieter on that patch now!
Thanks for the link. Interestng to see that the traffic lights are now a roundabout. I wonder if the traffic would have flowed better with that in place when it was the A3.
Hard to believe that the road is now a dead end I clicked on the ahead arrow expecting a view along what is now a path, but the A3 reappers!
@@heene Possibly because Google Street View sent a car along there when it was a main road, and haven't been able to for obvious reasons since.
They should’ve had opened the Hindhead Tunnel in the 1980s
So is this road totally gone now?
Road has been returned to nature...( maps.app.goo.gl/YrKLbyLMZqrskTnc9 - The Hindhead end)... and is now mostly a "Byway Open To All Traffic"... though I'm not sure how popular you'd be if you drove it...
@@ukmotortalk Thats a shame I have fond memories of riding my motorcycle across it a few times. Beautiful scenes. Thanks for the response.
@@ukmotortalk It serves as an access point for farms and houses down at High Combe gives a route through to Hindhead rather than going down the A3.
@@user-wm4me4bc6f Thanks for the info. Will have to go and take a walk down there sometime.
@@ukmotortalk wouldn’t bother if if were you places has gone to the dogs.
Old A3 ? Isnt that a Ford Galaxy ? 😁
Wow
I still dont get why this road was closed.
So good that it was! No more traffic jams and a huge benefit to local wildlife.
I think they should have kept the old route in case of tunnel closures!
The old section of A3 could no longer cope with the volume of traffic. The traffic jams in that part were legendary - particularly during the summer months when the amount of vehicles on the road increased significantly.
The old section was designed back in the 1930's (so predated WW2!) to cater for traffic volumes more than at that time but not with the levels of the 21st century.
This is why it closed in the end. Something drastic HAD to be done - and building a tunnel through the North Downs was the answer.
In hindsight, I'm amazed the old section of A3 there, lasted as long as it did. The tunnel was long overdue, and probably should have been done twenty years before it was.
It's sad that the old section had to go, but it was no longer fit for purpose; and was designed for an earlier age, when there were far fewer cars around.
@@robtyman4281 has the old road been dug up completely now?
@@Car10121-s Yes it has. It was broken up and then covered over with rubble and earth.....which has since sprouted grass. They kept its contour outline so it can be used as a rough wide pathway for walkers and mountain bikers. But it can't be used by vehicles anymore.