Thanet Way
| Thanet Way | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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| From: | Brenley Corner (TR038599) | |||||||||
| To: | Monkton (TR284655) | |||||||||
| Via: | Whitstable & Herne Bay | |||||||||
| Distance: | 18 miles (29 km) | |||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Thanet Way was known as the Coastal Road during planning and construction.
It was planned to allow Thanet bound traffic to avoid Canterbury and to provide better access to Whitstable and Herne Bay. The road is primarily associated with A299 but the section between Whitstable and Eddington has been by-passed and is now A2990.
History
Early Plans before 1925
Early calls for a Coastal Road between Whitstable and Margate
An early call for a coastal road between Whitstable and Margate was made in November 1912 at the conference of representatives of Chambers of Commerce and Trade Societies of East Kent. The proposal was for a new road between Reculver and Birchington along the coast, and for the highway between Whitstable and Herne Bay to be straightened and improved. It was pointed out that, with previous land loss in that area, it should be well set back from the sea.
It was said that from Whitstable there was a good road through Faversham to London. The road from Whitstable to Herne Bay was a mile and a half longer than it need be and was very tortuous and highly dangerous for night traffic. It was stated that the Road Board had received at least one million pounds and in the last three months had given grants of £172,000, but none of that coming to Kent. The drive was commerce and it was noted that the motor traffic was enormous and the people who used them were bound to leave money behind. The resolution was adopted and it was decided that the various towns interested should be asked to support the application.
At the next conference in May 1913 a letter was read from the Roads Board. It said that the cost of the project must be borne by the authorities through whose districts the road would pass, but intimated that if the scheme, when prepared, met with their approval they would be willing to advance the necessary funds. Whitstable Urban District Council's support had been secured and Herne Bay and Margate Councils were to be approached.
Even during the war years there was still some talk about the road. An editorial in the Thanet Advertiser in May 1915 said that neither Ramsgate or Broadstairs would benefit from the then scheme and that those towns should see that they were not out of the reckoning. It was in response to the Esat Kent Chambers of Commerce conference deciding that an approach should be made to Kent County Council and the various local authorities affected.
We then move to November 1921 when a new Coastal Road between Faversham and Margate was discussed at Herne Bay and District Chamber of Commerce. Again the route east of Herne Bay was through Reculver and over the marshes to Birchington. The Margate Chamber had also supported it.
Councils become involved
By now the District Councils were also considering the scheme and the Clerk of Faversham Rural District Council arranged a conference meeting at the Ministry of Transport on 28th July 1922 to discuss a Coastal Road from Faversham to Herne Bay. Owing to the financial conditions it was considered impossible for the present. The Ministry would offer a 25% grant towards the cost of improving the road at Graveney Marshes, west of Whitstable, but the Council refused to maintain the road if improved because it was flooded by the sea, so decided not to proceed with the work.
It does not seem to have been put forward as an unemployment relief scheme probably because Kent County Council were directing their schemes to provide bypass roads to reduce congestion in villages and towns on the A2 and A20 routes out of London, and closer to where the main unemployment occurred. Building roads to increase trade to certain small towns was probably not high on the agenda.
This is borne out in the conference of June 1923. It was stated that, although the matter of the proposed road had been in the hands of local committees for two years, it had been shelved because the County Council did not have the funds to proceed. All allocated funds had already been absorbed elsewhere. Two schemes to link the Faversham – Whitstable road with Thanet were debated. Both were about 2 miles in length and would cost approximately £30,000:
- a new road from Reculver to St. Nicholas, to join the main road to Thanet
- a new road from Reculver to Birchington
There were further resolutions about the need for the road from public bodies and so the Ministry of Transport arranged another conference in April 1924. The outcome was that Kent County Council approved a scheme for a new Coastal Road between Faversham and Thanet. The land was estimated to cost £50,000 of which the Ministry of Transport was to contribute £25,000. They then arranged a conference in July 1924 for representatives of the Authorities who would benefit from the scheme to discuss the basis for apportioning the cost between those Authorities. This was the remaining 25% if the County Council was to provide the other 25%. There were tentative proposals and the representatives were to go back to their respective Authorities with the proposals.
There was a further conference in September 1924 where the cost apportionments were outlined, although Faversham thought that as the road commenced outside their boundary they ought not to contribute. It was pointed out that a good deal of Faversham traffic would use the road.
Maining the existing road
The Ministry of Transport put forward the proposal in December 1924. It asked the local councils if the necessary arrangements could be made that the Class 2 District Road between Faversham and Whitstable be improved and taken over as a main road by Kent County Council. The Ministry offered a sweetener of 50% towards the cost of additional improvements to unclassified roads.
When it came to grants towards the main road improvements at Seasalter, Faversham Rural District Council were holding out for 75% at a Ministry meeting in October 1925 but the Ministry were only offering 50%. At a later Council meeting a member asked “why should they spend money in this wretched road when a new road was coming” and that they dare not face the ratepayers with such an expense. The meeting agreed to write to the Ministry stating that they could not carry out such an expensive scheme at the moment.
There was a meeting in June 1926 of the various councils and Ministry of Transport to discuss the improvement of the Faversham to Whitstable road. They met on the Faversham and Sesalter roads. Faversham Rural District Council pressed for their section of road to be mained, but this was opposed by other representatives since it would encourage more traffic over the then B2040 between Whitstable and Herne Bay and the then B2045 between Herne Bay and the A28 Margate road at Upstreet.
The party inspected the road from Whitstable to Upstreet. It seems unusual that they were contemplating the upgrade of the existing roads when the Coastal Road seemed to be progressing, but maybe it was to be an interim measure. A short section of the Coastal Road between Seasalter Cross and the top of Borstal Hill at Whitstable was put forward, as a suggestion, to be constructed.
On the question of the Whitstable to Herne Bay section it was suggested that it would be cheaper, or as cheap, to construct a length of the Coastal Road, instead of improving and straightening the existing road and a length between Swalecliffe railway arch and the arch at Westcliffe was suggested. A continuation to Cobbler's Bridge, linking to Eddington Lane was suggested. It was then left for the Ministry of Transport and County Surveyor to prepare and produce figures of works and details of works prior to the maining of the road.
There was more correspondence and, in response to a May 1927 letter from Faversham Rural District Council, the Ministry wrote back on 27 June 1927 to say that the Faversham – Whitstable had been elevated to Class 1 in the Department’s scheme of grants towards maintenance and improvement of classified roads. The road had been inspected by an officer of the Department and a satisfactory provision in the estimates of improvements had been made. Herne Bay had also been informed that the portion of the road running through their district was Class 1.
Slow progress after 1925
The inland route east of Herne Bay
Plans for the route had been prepared and the cost apportionments agreed by June 1926. This confirmed that the route east of Herne Bay would not follow the coast through Reculver, but would go inland to Acol. An improvement between St Nicholas at Wade and Acol had been proposed before. It would have involved the widening of A28 to Brooks End and an upgrading of the minor road to Acol. Traffic from there would use the formar B2049 to bypass Birchington, Westgate on Sea and Westbrook to get to Margate. The 19 mile road's cost was now put at £1 million.
Local objections
In August 1926 the Council ordered the acquisition of the land on the line of the route and authorised compulsory purchase, where necessary, with arbitration as to price. Of course this bought protests from some landowners. The residents of South Street, Seasalter protested to Blean Rural District Council in October 1926 that it would take part of their gardens and could not understand why the route was so close to the town. They put forward alternative routes. A meeting was arranged, but the Chairman said that they were rather late in the day. Mr A.E. Palmer, nurseryman of Eddington also complained that the compensation offered would not allow him to obtain land elsewhere to start afresh. The school houses on Parsonage Road would also be split by the road, creating a more dangerous crossing for the pupils.
It was reported in November 1928 that the road was held up, pending agreement to the grant from the Road Fund. The County Council proceeded with preliminary arrangements.
Seasalter Parish Council was still pressing for alternative routes in March 1929 and had pursuaded the County Council Surveyor to look at these and take levels. It would still come down to costs and it was stated that if the amended route worked out to be thousands of pounds more they could not support it.
Work starts
By July 1929, with the road still pending, the cost had gone up to £2 million. It was hoped that the New Government would make a start on the road to alleviate unemployment. Good news came the next month when reports in the press said that the Government had recommended the Coastal Road be started.
Eddington to St. Nicholas-at-Wade
The Eddington to St. Nicholas-at-Wade section received 24 tenders in February 1930. The lowest was £141,959 16s 8d and the Ministry were to choose from the lowest 3 tenders. The cost was much lower than Kent County Council’s cost estimate in May 1928 of £183,270 (excluding land).
This section was almost complete by October 1932 and there were calls for it to be opened in advance of the Herne Bay and Whitstable section, which was still awaiting the funding from the Road Fund. At a Margate Town Council meeting it was said that only a little over 100 yards had to be completed at each end, and it could be opened in the next month. All Kent County Council would commit to was that it would be opened at an early date.
The precise opening date, whether in late 1932 or early 1933, has not been ascertained despite a search of the Thanet Advertiser and Whitstable Times. It comes to a court case report for a note of it being in use, a scene that could have come from a 1930’s movie.
It took place on 2 February 1933 and the defendant motorist had been seen under the influence of drink and behaving in a strange manner at a coursing meeting near Sarre. A policeman on duty tried to persuade him not to drive but the defendant got in his car and drove off onto the Canterbury – Margate road, almost running over the kerb on the exit. The policeman had got ahead to stop in the middle of the road and signalled for the driver to stop, but the driver continued and drove at him. The car zig-zagged up the road and turned onto the new coastal road to Herne Bay, twice bumping up the kerb. The policeman boarded another car and gave chase. When the cars were level he jumped onto the running board of the defendant’s car and asked him to stop, which he did. The defendant then said “what is the charge sergeant? Drunk and incapable I suppose. It ought to be”. He pleaded guilty.
Although the majority of the section was in use, it seems that it only ran to Broomfield at the Herne Bay end. The Eddington to Broomfield section was reported on 2 June 1933 as having been opened for traffic, thus completing the Eddington to St. Nicolas-at-Wade section.
Opening Dates
| Location | Historic County | Date | Distance | Notes | Location Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brenley Corner – Borstal Hill, Whitstable | Kent | 1934 | 5.5 miles (8.9 km) | 2nd section. Opened at Easter 1934. | |
| Borstal Hill, Whitstable - Chestfield Corner, Swalecliffe | Kent | 1935 | 2.6 miles (4.2 km) | The final section of the original scheme. Opened on 23 October 1935. | |
| Chestfield Corner, Swalecliffe – Eddington | Kent | 1935 | 2.8 miles (4.5 km) | Opened on weekend of 8/9 June 1935. | |
| Eddington - St Nicholas at Wade | Kent | 1933 | 6.5 miles (10.5 km) | Reported as in use at the eastern end on 2 February 1933, although it may have opened earlier and after October 1932. The western section from Eddington to Broomfield was opened on 2 June 1933 to complete the section from Herne Bay to St. Nicholas at Wade. | |
| St Nicholas at Wade – Monkton | Kent | 1939 | 1.1 miles (1.8 km) | The later spur. Opened on 26 May 1939. |
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