20/01/2020

Timeline Calne: 20 January 2000, Calne Bypass

Calne's northern bypass nearing completion.
In November 1970, Towning Hill and Partners published the Calne Town Study Report. Among other suggestions about how Calne could grow and develop, it included proposed roads. One of these suggested roads was a bypass that would have provided a way around Calne, without having to travel within it.

Fast forward 17 years and we find the idea of a bypass, or relief road, appearing in the press. Wiltshire County Council had been exploring an extension to The Pippin, one of four options at the time, which would have created an internal relief road. In August 1987, an article appeared that reported that Gordon Mitchell, the director of the Calne Project was asking the County Council to withdraw support for that plan in favour of a northern relief road.

A protest meeting at John Bentley School in December 1988 was attended by 300 people. This made it clear that local people did not want to discuss the four inner relief road options, there had been too much demolition of historic buildings in Calne already. They put forward the idea of a Northern Distributor route. It was now clear that there was a total opposition for any internal relief road[1].

In 1989, a decision for the Calne relief road was made at County Hall in Trowbridge, with 70 campaigners present. All four inner relief road ideas were rejected. At that time, there was no official mention of an external relief road. All money allocated to the inner relief road scheme was diverted to other projects throughout the county. The County Council was reported as saying that they couldn't afford a new relief road anyway.

Previously, in 1987 a confidential meeting between Heron Homes and Jonathan Taylor of the Calne Project took place. Heron Homes wanted to build 96 homes near Chilvester Farm, which aligned well with the Northern Distributor route idea championed by The Calne Project. One letter from Heron Homes to The Calne Project closes by saying "As I see our respective projects going very much hand in hand."[2]. It seemed clear at that point that both groups had the same idea about this development initiating the start of the bypass route.

This development proceeded in the early 1990s, and created Greenacres Way, the beginning of the Northern Distributor route.

Yet more time passed and it wasn't until May 1999 that there were boots on the ground, or rather heavy machinery, scraping out the route of the relief road. By June 1999 there were aready areas tarmacked, but it wouldn't be until January 2000 that the job was complete.

(left to right are likely): Calne Mayor, Deborah Smith, Cllr Fleur de Rhe-Philips (Wiltshire County Council), and Mrs. L. M. Barber (Chair of the North Wiltshire District Council), and Duncan Davidson (Persimmon Homes chairman).
20 January 2000, around 12:45, saw the opening of the bypass, with coachloads of visitors brought in by Hatts Coaches. The ribbon was cut by four officials, not all the names are known for certain, but are likely to be (left to right): Calne Mayor, Deborah Smith, Cllr Fleur de Rhe-Philips (Wiltshire County Council), and Mrs. L. M. Barber (Chair of the North Wiltshire District Council) Duncan Davidson (Persimmon Homes chairman).

North Wiltshire District Council loaned Persimmon Homes £3.5 million to build the relief road. To bring forward the building of the road Calne Town Council contributed £250,000, while Persimmon Homes and North Wiltshire District Council settled the remaining £950,000.

After 30 years, Calne finally had the external relief road suggested by Towning Hill and Partners.


However, that's not quite the end of this tale. The Calne Twinning Association were told that they could decide the name of the road, choosing Caln Pennsylvania Drive in celebration of our twin town Caln, Pennsylvania. However, after a 500-signature petition in favour of 'Beversbrook Road' was handed in to the Calne Area Committee, of the then North Wiltshire District Council, the name was changed[3]. At its northern end, Beversbrook Road runs alongside the medieval settlement of Beversbrook, which is a Scheduled Monument.
















Since opening much housing has been developed by the Calne Consortium headed by Persimmon Homes, who also provided Fynamore Community Primary School. This development is called Lansdowne Park. It has also provided much traffic relief within Calne itself, however the fabled eastern bypass is becoming more pressing as time goes on., but is not part of the 2016-2026 Calne Community Neighbourhood Plan.

References:
[1] WSHC 3271/32
[2] WSHC 3271/27
[3] The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. 2019. Rethink over bypass name | The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7409300.rethink-over-bypass-name/. [Accessed 17 December 2019].

01/01/2020

Place Names of Calne: Streets named for places outside of Wiltshire

Corfe castle, the probable inspiration for Corfe Crescent.
We have a few streets in Calne named for places outside of Wiltshire, listed below. So, why name a street after another town?

Charlieu is an easy one and commemorates the twinning of Calne and Charlieu, France in the early 1970s.

What we know as Oxford Road, is one of the earliest roads and was the direct route to Swindon - and perhaps onwards to Oxford? Interestingly, it seems that at least p

Some place names may have been suggested due to personal connections for the housing developer or a councillor at the time of building the street, or perhaps they reflect some historical relationship that I'm not currently aware of.

The estate near Tesco Express has four apparent place names (Amberley Close, Newbury Avenue, Richmond Road, and Thatcham Close), but apart from Newbury and Thatcham (which are approximately 9 miles apart), there doesn't see to be any real connection when looking at a map. Corfe Crescent is located within Braemor Road, and Oxford Court is an offshoot of Oxford Road.



London road and Oxford road are historic roads in Calne and will have posts with a deeper discussion. As will Cotswold Close, Portland Way, Perbeck Place, which are named for the building material rather than the actual place.


Street Name
Amberley Close
Charlieu Avenue
Corfe Crescent
Dunnet Close
London Road
Newbury Avenue
Oxford Court
Oxford Road
Richmond Road
Rochdale Avenue
Thatcham Close
Westerham Walk

 

To discover more about the place names of Calne, buy the book: