OS Quarter Inch annual revisions

[Truvelo]

Great maps all round, thanks both.

Now for the next conundrum... the Huddersfield Southern and Eastern Bypass and the Mirfield Bypass
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi73

Quite a lengthy scheme that again came to naught. It was in the 1969 Traffic and Transport Plan for Huddersfield, and the SE and E Bypass (described as freeway) was planned for completion by 1980. The Inner Ring Road was the main priority. Mirfield Bypass was a joint scheme with West Riding County Council.

There is a fistful of other schemes listed in the Huddersfield Weekly Examiner of 2 August 1969. I'll have a look at these in due course and probably list them on the Huddersfield Digest page.

I never realised Huddersfield had plans for an outer bypass in addition to the inner ring road. As for Mirfield, I've seen plans for the bypass but they just show the line of the bypass and not the junction layouts. This also includes a bypass for Dewsbury. Quite possibly there were plans for a complete grade separated D2 route from M62 J25 to M1 J40. Early plans for M62 J25 suggest there was to be a certain amount of spaghetti which may have included some freeflow links.

[Steven]

Great maps all round, thanks both.

Now for the next conundrum... the Huddersfield Southern and Eastern Bypass and the Mirfield Bypass
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi73

The Principal Roads Forward Programme in Roads in England 1973-74 has a whole chunk of improvements listed for the area with the relevant ones being:

West Riding CC:
A644 Mirfield Bypass, Dewsbury County Borough Boundary to Colne Bridge, Hudderfield

Dewsbury CB:
A644 Huddersfield Road, Quarry Road to County Borough Boundary
A644 Hudderfield Road Stage 3

Huddersfield CB:
A62 Leeds Road Freeway, IRR and Longroyd Freeway to Colne Bridge
A62 Longroyd Freeway, A62 to Leeds Road Freeway
A62 Inner Ring Road, Western Section, Chapel Hill to Northgate


Bradford CB:
North Radial Route, City Ring Road to Shipley Bypassmote


Unfortunately, I'm missing the editions between 1973-74 and 1978's Policy for Roads, England - which doesn't include Principal Road information, only Trunk Road information - so I can't say when they were dropped from the programme.

[Truvelo]

This is what I have for the Dewsbury Bypass.

[Ross Spur]

The Principal Roads Forward Programme in Roads in England 1973-74 has a whole chunk of improvements listed for the area with the relevant ones being:

West Riding CC:
A644 Mirfield Bypass, Dewsbury County Borough Boundary to Colne Bridge, Hudderfield

Dewsbury CB:
A644 Huddersfield Road, Quarry Road to County Borough Boundary
A644 Hudderfield Road Stage 3

Huddersfield CB:
A62 Leeds Road Freeway, IRR and Longroyd Freeway to Colne Bridge
A62 Longroyd Freeway, A62 to Leeds Road Freeway
A62 Inner Ring Road, Western Section, Chapel Hill to Northgate

Unfortunately, I'm missing the editions between 1973-74 and 1978's Policy for Roads, England - which doesn't include Principal Road information, only Trunk Road information - so I can't say when they were dropped from the programme.

The Huddersfield schemes you have listed are in the Huddersfield Weekly Examiner article. The boundary between the Longroyd Freeway and Leeds Road Freeway was St. Andrews Road. Longroyd Freeway was reported as scrapped by the West Yorkshire Traffic and Transportation sub-committee in October 1976 (it had been postponed in March 1975). Costs had increased from £3.75 million in 1969 to £11 million and there had been a cut in grants for new roads. Leeds Road Freeway lingered on for a bit longer but seems to have been abandoned by 1978.

Mirfield Bypass had also gone by 1978 as well as the Cleckheaton Bypass and Heckmondwike Relief Road.

[Steven]

The next batch is now ready and online, so this lot is all on the 1974 layer (but all come with a 1973 copyright date)

* Sheet 10 (N Wales and Lancashire) Revision E/*
* Sheet 11 (N Midlands and Yorkshire) Revision D/*
* Sheet 12 (South Wales) Revision C/*
* Sheet 13 (The Midlands) Revision D/*
* Sheet 16 (Southern England) Revision D/*
* Sheet 17 (SE England) Revision D/*

Lots there to compare one year to the next!

[Truvelo]

The Huddersfield schemes have now disappeared on the 1974 map, not surprising given this is the year of local government reorganisation.

[Ross Spur]

There's something most strange at Kenilworth - a road under construction to Burton Green, running up the old railway line: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi74

Maybe showing conversion to the Greenway!

[Truvelo]

There's something most strange at Kenilworth - a road under construction to Burton Green, running up the old railway line: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi74

Maybe showing conversion to the Greenway!

I never knew a road was planned on that alignment. Then again, the A452 is dualled north of Balsall Common and is a twisty single carriageway between there and Kenilworth. Perhaps a northern bypass of Kenilworth was planned starting on Hallmeadow Road and then following the abandoned railway to the A46.

[wrinkly]

Not far off being a prefiguring of HS2!

[Ross Spur]

Telford's A442 Eastern Primary shows for the first time (opened in October 1971): https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi74

The western part of Soke Parkway in Peterborough appears as unclassified (opened in October 1972): https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi74

... and the first signs of the expansion of Daventry with Eastern Way under construction: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi74

[Steven]

The final batch of newly out-of-copyright sheets for this year is now available, that from 1975.

This is a huge batch of the majority of GB:

* Sheet 2 (NW Scotland) Revision C/*
* Sheet 3 (Northern Scotland) Revision C/*
* Sheet 7 (Firth of Forth) Revision D/*
* Sheet 9 (NE England) Revision D/*
* Sheet 10 (N Wales and Lancashire) Revision E/*/*
* Sheet 11 (N Midlands and Yorkshire) Revision D/*/*
* Sheet 13 (The Midlands) Revision D/*/*
* Sheet 16 (Southern England) Revision D/*/*
* Sheet 17 (SE England) Revision D/*/*


Enjoy!

[SouthWest Philip]

The final batch of newly out-of-copyright sheets for this year is now available, that from 1975.

Enjoy!

So the M23 opened with none of the intermediate junctions finished and junction numbers two lower than today?

[Truvelo]

The southern section of the Coventry Inner Ring spontaneously turns from single to dual carriageway.

The A5 between Cannock and Lichfield is shown fully dualled which it never has been. It if was it would be a viable competitor to the M6 Toll.

[Ross Spur]

So the M23 opened with none of the intermediate junctions finished and junction numbers two lower than today?

Yes, it opened briefly with no intermediate junctions. The 16 miles was opened on 19 December 1974 per The Gazette. Using the current junction numbers - J10 Crawley Interchange opened on 28 February 1975, J9 Gatwick Interchange on 23 April 1975 and J8 M25 Merstham Interchange on 10 February 1976.

The 1975 Esso Road atlas (Philips) show the junctions at 5 to 9.

[Big Nick]

I'm curious about the dotted road to the east of Potters Bar. It appears to run through the grounds of Northaw Park, which at the time was a childrens home owned by Middlesex County Council and then Haringey.
Was this an earlier planned route of the M16 / M25 from the late 1960s?

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi75

[Steven]

I'm curious about the dotted road to the east of Potters Bar. It appears to run through the grounds of Northaw Park, which at the time was a childrens home owned by Middlesex County Council and then Haringey.
Was this an earlier planned route of the M16 / M25 from the late 1960s?

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi75

I think it's a combination of Coopers Lane Road being shown as an unclassified road, but also a boundary running down the middle of it. That exact symbol isn't mentioned in the map legend, but it's where the Middlesex - Hertfordshire boundary is.

If memory serves, the county boundary was used as the original Greater London administrative boundary before the latter was later realigned to be along the M25 in the 1990s.

[Big Nick]

I'm curious about the dotted road to the east of Potters Bar. It appears to run through the grounds of Northaw Park, which at the time was a childrens home owned by Middlesex County Council and then Haringey.
Was this an earlier planned route of the M16 / M25 from the late 1960s?

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi75

I think it's a combination of Coopers Lane Road being shown as an unclassified road, but also a boundary running down the middle of it. That exact symbol isn't mentioned in the map legend, but it's where the Middlesex - Hertfordshire boundary is.

If memory serves, the county boundary was used as the original Greater London administrative boundary before the latter was later realigned to be along the M25 in the 1990s.

That makes sense, thank you. Looking further east the single dashed line appears around Chigwell Row and Havering which matches the Essex/London boundary of the time.

[Ross Spur]

The M62 temporary junction at Pollington is shown: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... layer=qi75

Opened on 8 November 1974. Closed on eastwards extension opening on 30 September 1975. Dates per The Gazette.

[wrinkly]

The 1974 and 1975 sheets are jumping the gun in showing the A55 diversion east of Abergele as under construction. It was observed to be at a fairly early stage of construction in August 1979 and opened in March 1981.

[Steven]

Following a shuffle around, all five of the out-of-copyright editions of the Quarter Inch Fifth Series Special Sheet of Wales and the Marches have now been added to SABRE Maps.

These are utterly gorgeous maps, with their treatment of mountains being a particular highlight, but of course, they also feature plenty of roads revisions.

They can be found on their own layers, right at the bottom of the OS Quarter Inch layer group - 1959, 1962, 1963, 1967 and 1971.