NCN4
NCN4 | ||||
| ||||
From: | Greenwich (TQ381779) | |||
To: | Fishguard (SM945381) | |||
Via: | Westminster, Kingston, Staines, Maidenhead, Reading, Newbury, Bath, Bristol, Chepstow, Newport, Port Talbot, Swansea, Llanelli, Carmarthen, Tenby, Pembroke Dock | |||
Meets: | NCN1, NCN21, NCN425, NCN223, NCN461, NCN61, NCN5, NCN23, NCN246, NCN254, NCN403, NCN45, NCN24, NCN244, NCN410, NCN3, NCN33, NCN41, NCN42, NCN47, NCN475, NCN8, NCN881, NCN883, NCN884, NCN885, NCN887, NCN43 | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Central London • Fishguard • Haverfordwest • Pembroke Dock • Tenby • St Clears • Carmarthen • Llanelli • Swansea • Port Talbot • Newport • Chepstow • London • Kingston upon Thames • Westminster • Bath • Bristol • Trowbridge • Maidenhead • Newbury • Reading • Staines | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Berkshire • Buckinghamshire • Carmarthenshire • Glamorgan • Gloucestershire • Kent • Middlesex • Monmouthshire • Pembrokeshire • Surrey • Somerset • Wiltshire | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
|
Route
Severn Bridge
NCN 4 crosses from England to Wales the same way as the M4 used to, now the M48 - across the Severn and Wye Bridges. This is rather unusual, in that this cycle path dates back to the beginning of the motorway age. If you look at the original special roads act 1949, Schedule 3 specifies some trunk road schemes to be treated as Special Roads. All of the roads in this schedule specify only Class I and II traffic - of course what would become motorways. These are identifiable as the A1(M) Stevenage Bypass, M4 Newport Bypass, and M48 (but back in the day also the M4). That is, all except one.[1]
Registered Number of Order | Description of Road | Class of Traffic (as described in Second Schedule) |
---|---|---|
S.R. & O., 1947, No. 1562 | The north of Almondsbury—South of Haysgate Trunk Road (Severn Bridge, Counties of Gloucester and Monmouth)— | |
(a) from the junction of Redhill Lane in the Parish of Aust to the junction with Thornhill Road in the Parish of Chepstow ; | Classes I, II, III, IV. V, VI, VII and IX | |
(b) any other part of the road | Classes I and II |
The result is that the Severn Bridge is a Special Road that allows all classes of traffic except for ridden or led animals. But, in implementation, we get two special roads. There is the M48 motorway that allows Class I and Class II traffic, and then there are the cycle paths/maintenance tracks, one on either side of the bridge, which allow all except Class I, Class II, and Class VIII traffic, and carries NCN 4. However, modern signage contradicts this original order in several places - the signs in place in the modern day prohibit all motor vehicles except for motorcycles under 50cc, there are headroom limits, and there are no signs prohibiting our animalian friends. Whether the bridge has successfully been crossed on horseback remains an open question.
Links
References