Abandoned A602 - Watton at Stone, Herts

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c2R
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Abandoned A602 - Watton at Stone, Herts

Post by c2R »

Dear all...

Have been out taking some photos of the abandoned former A602 at Watton at Stone. This piece of road was abandoned in 1986 with the opening of the Watton-at-Stone bypass and re-routing of the A602 along the former B1001 to Ware.

clicky

As you can see, nature is taking the road back (slowly) - white lines are beginning to fade..... all the road signs were removed when the bypass was opened, so there are none of those left..... but part of the road must have been resurfaced not long before being taken out of commission - the moss covered bit with the pinker surface and lay-by is very different from the older blacktop nearer the village.

Grid ref is: TL304189

Regards
Chris
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True Yorkie
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Post by True Yorkie »

things like this usually end up as off-road cycle paths... if this happened here it would be a high-quality path i would think, considering some I've ridden on!!
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Post by c2R »

Yeah.... interestingly that doesn't seem to have happened round here...

the other one that's similarly interesting is the exB1001 (now A602) Paynes Hall bypass at TL338165. That was built in the 70s - the old road was, for a short distance, completely removed, while the new road has no pedestrian or cyclist facilities, and being a 70s B road, had no metre hard strips either.
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Post by haymansafc »

Many thanks for the pictures, Chris. Abandoned alignments are one of my favourite road past times but unfortunately, there are next to none of them by me. Even semi-abandoned alignments are few and far between. I take it the old A602 you picture is this stub? If you click on an aerial shot, all you largely see is a small wood! How is access to the road blocked off?

It’s a shame none of the old signs are left. At least the old markings are still visible after 21 years. They do make for some ‘errie’ pictures.

Quite a few years ago I remember reading on here of an abandoned section of B road (I believe it was bypassed due to a narrow bridge from memory) near Aberdeen. The B9077 or B9119 rings a bell, or a B road in that area. I remember there were numerous pictures of the old alignment taken which was in a very similar state to the A602 you picture here, with nature slowly reclaiming the surface. I can’t for the life of me find the topic now and I did look for it about a year back too - I think it may even date back to the old MSN days. I’m sure there was an old roadsign (or certainly the odd post) still in situ there.
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c2R
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Post by c2R »

haymansafc wrote:Many thanks for the pictures, Chris. Abandoned alignments are one of my favourite road past times but unfortunately, there are next to none of them by me. Even semi-abandoned alignments are few and far between. I take it the old A602 you picture is this stub? If you click on an aerial shot, all you largely see is a small wood! How is access to the road blocked off?
That's the exact location, yes... in fact all the entire length from the Perrywood lane turn to the current A119 is the piece of road.

Access from the Perrywood lane end is blocked by a large modern metal gate, and behind that is a wall with another metal gate in the middle of the road (enough for a car to pass through). Both gates are heavily padlocked to deter anyone from trying to get into the site. At the other end, a mound of earth and hedges separate the old road from the new curve alignment. Interesting to say the least.... I'd have thought that allowing access for walkers and cyclists would have been on the cards... but perhaps it was decided that there would be no safe crossing point to the path on the other side of the A119, what with the new bend that was constructed for the bypass, so they didn't bother?
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Post by SteveA30 »

They are the best old road pics I've seen. So atmospheric, especially the tunnel of sunlit trees.
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Post by FreddyTheFrog »

haymansafc wrote:Quite a few years ago I remember reading on here of an abandoned section of B road (I believe it was bypassed due to a narrow bridge from memory) near Aberdeen. The B9077 or B9119 rings a bell, or a B road in that area. I remember there were numerous pictures of the old alignment taken which was in a very similar state to the A602 you picture here, with nature slowly reclaiming the surface. I can’t for the life of me find the topic now and I did look for it about a year back too - I think it may even date back to the old MSN days. I’m sure there was an old roadsign (or certainly the odd post) still in situ there.
Does this ring any bells? I am in Aberdeen next week and I will go hunting so any help will be appreciated.
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Post by haymansafc »

c2R wrote: Access from the Perrywood lane end is blocked by a large modern metal gate, and behind that is a wall with another metal gate in the middle of the road (enough for a car to pass through). Both gates are heavily padlocked to deter anyone from trying to get into the site. At the other end, a mound of earth and hedges separate the old road from the new curve alignment. Interesting to say the least.... I’d have thought that allowing access for walkers and cyclists would have been on the cards... but perhaps it was decided that there would be no safe crossing point to the path on the other side of the A119, what with the new bend that was constructed for the bypass, so they didn’t bother?
The usual then! Such a shame it’s been more or less completely blocked off although that’s what gives it that truly abandoned looks.

There was a realignment of the A41 at No Man’s Heath about five years ago and whilst the old road does remain in use for local traffic only, they have gone about the ends of it in a different way. The first small section of old alignment (no more than a few hundred yards) is now an off-line cycle path. The northbound carriageway has been grassed over leaving much of the southbound in use as the cycle lane. Infact, it’s still got the old surface from the A41! As it crosses back over the newer alignment and onto the other side of the road (heading for the village), it goes back to it’s original S2 width complete with original markings and is covered with typical road debris of a road not in use for a while (dust, stones e.t.c.) although it’s open to walkers and cyclists. There is even an abandoned petrol station here - now left to very slowy decay with the rest of the road. About 200yds further down you come to a heavy duty metal gate spanning pretty much the whole width of the road - this is to stop cars using the last few hundred yards of the stub. The old A41 here now retains it’s status a a road (although now just for village use as an unclassified rote) with access to it via a new short access road from the new alignment. At the other side, the road is blocked off by an earth mound (just past a small side street turning), which over the last few years has been turfed over and made to look very neat indeed. A cycle lane runs along down what was the northbound carriageway although all trace of the old A41 here has been removed completely unlike the other cycle lane. This eventually runs back down onto the newer A41.

Again, this is probably one of the better ‘semi abandonned’ routes reasonably close to me and it’s not even fully abandoned! There are no routes around my area to my knowledge which are truly abandoned and left, much like your old A602 pictures. Shame really because I really enjoy seeing abandoned roads like this.
FreddyTheFrog wrote: Does this ring any bells? I am in Aberdeen next week and I will go hunting so any help will be appreciated.
I can’t give you much more information unfortunately. I remember a thread on this particular abandoned section of B road near Aberdeen going back to around 2002/2003 and there were numerous pictures, very similar indeed to these cracking old A602 pictures - they reminded me of it.

I recall it was a section of road bypassed because of an old narrow stone bridge and a few sharp bends - that’s about the only extra information I can provide, sorry. Looking at the map, the B9077 looks like the best candidate.

I just can’t find the old topic on this - so frustrating! Hopefully, another well established SABRE member of the old MSN days may recall this topic too and provide a little help.
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