CIG_BIG_CIG wrote:

Has the Hook underpass always had the layout it has now where lane 1
diverges off from the rest of the road? Also, has it always had the
slip roads to/from the A3 on the London side only? i.e. have you
always had to drive from Hook to Esher to go towards Pompey if you
were not already on the A3?

No, originally the A3 carried on along what is now the A309 and the Hook
Underpass was just a normal roundabout with slip roads on to the A3 at
both ends.

If you travel along the slip road from the A309 onto the roundabout
(eastbound) you can see the the embankment that used to carry the A3
Kingston by pass before it was diverted onto the Esher By-pass. It's now
grassed over - but still has a bridge over a small stream.

If you aren't already on the A3 but want to go southbound on it there's
no need to go via Esher a better way is to go the other way to Tolworth
and back down again or via Chessington/Oxshot

Stuart wrote to uk.transport.london on Sun, 31 Oct 2004:

CIG_BIG_CIG wrote:

Has the Hook underpass always had the layout it has now where lane 1
diverges off from the rest of the road? Also, has it always had the
slip roads to/from the A3 on the London side only? i.e. have you
always had to drive from Hook to Esher to go towards Pompey if you
were not already on the A3?

No, originally the A3 carried on along what is now the A309 and the
Hook Underpass was just a normal roundabout with slip roads on to the
A3 at both ends.

When I was little, one of our landmarks en route was the "Scilly Isles"
roundabout - as a very small girl, I had absolutely no idea where we
were when we were there, if that makes sense. So, last year, we dropped
a friend off in Hampton, and took the A309 back to the A3. I was
drowsing after a long day out - and snapped awake in a hurry when we got
to that roundabout! I still can't quite see how that was once on the
A3, but talk about reviving long-lost memories.....!
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 26 September 2004

"Mrs Redboots" wrote in message
...

the "Scilly Isles" roundabout -
I still can't quite see how that was once on the A3

No? Look at a map, and imagine a time when the Esher Bypass hadn't yet been
built. The Scilly Isles was then on the A3.

Then imagine that it is even earlier, and the Kingston Bypass hasn't been
built either. The Scilly Isles was on the A3 then as well.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

"Troy Steadman" wrote in message
om...
The Hook Underpass was the first of its type in the country, there is
even a model of it in the Science Museum, but one innovative feature
it had when first built didn't catch on and was quickly removed.

Clue: it was noisy.

The title of the thread makes me suspect that Lemmy was installed in the
tunnel somewhere, but that doesn't sound right.

Jonn

"Jonn Elledge" wrote in message


"Troy Steadman" wrote in message
om...
The Hook Underpass was the first of its type in the country, there is
even a model of it in the Science Museum, but one innovative feature
it had when first built didn't catch on and was quickly removed.

Clue: it was noisy.

The title of the thread makes me suspect that Lemmy was installed in the
tunnel somewhere, but that doesn't sound right.

Jonn

It isn't a tunnel, it's a roundabout on top of the A3 in a cutting,
nowadays a very ordinary intersection but in it's time quite something.
As was the "Ace of Spades" roadhouse on the old roundabout which had not
only a swimming pool but also an airfield.

The "innovative feature" was not Lemmy, but you are in the right order
of noisitude, two *very* noisy things one on either side of the road.


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

Troy Steadman wrote:
"Jonn Elledge" wrote in message


"Troy Steadman" wrote in message
om...
The Hook Underpass was the first of its type in the country,
there is even a model of it in the Science Museum, but one
innovative feature it had when first built didn't catch on and
was quickly removed.

Clue: it was noisy.

The title of the thread makes me suspect that Lemmy was installed
in the tunnel somewhere, but that doesn't sound right.

Jonn

It isn't a tunnel, it's a roundabout on top of the A3 in a cutting,
nowadays a very ordinary intersection but in it's time quite
something. As was the "Ace of Spades" roadhouse on the old
roundabout which had not only a swimming pool but also an airfield.

The "innovative feature" was not Lemmy, but you are in the right
order of noisitude, two *very* noisy things one on either side of
the road.

An excessive speed warning hooter? Though I'm not sure there was any
speed limit on the Kingston By-Pass in those days.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

In message , Richard J.
writes

Troy Steadman wrote:

The "innovative feature" was not Lemmy, but you are in the right
order of noisitude, two *very* noisy things one on either side of
the road.

An excessive speed warning hooter?

I wondered about fog detonators.

--
Paul Terry

Paul Terry wrote in message ...
In message , Richard J.
writes

Troy Steadman wrote:

The "innovative feature" was not Lemmy, but you are in the right
order of noisitude, two *very* noisy things one on either side of
the road.

An excessive speed warning hooter?

I wondered about fog detonators.

Now it is getting cold *you* are getting warm.

Troy Steadman wrote:

It isn't a tunnel, it's a roundabout on top of the A3 in a cutting,
nowadays a very ordinary intersection but in it's time quite something.
As was the "Ace of Spades" roadhouse on the old roundabout which had not
only a swimming pool but also an airfield.

An airfield!? Where was that then?

The Ace of Spades had a major fire many many years ago and AFAIK the
only thing that's left is the facade, still with a metal ace symbol
sticking out of the front. The back of the building is a semi-modern
warehouse type building connected to the shop unit next door. It was a
dinner-dance place for a long while but is now a large golf warehouse.

Incidently, my school was next door to the Ace of Spades roundabout.

"Stuart" wrote in message


Troy Steadman wrote:

It isn't a tunnel, it's a roundabout on top of the A3 in a cutting,
nowadays a very ordinary intersection but in it's time quite something.
As was the "Ace of Spades" roadhouse on the old roundabout which had not
only a swimming pool but also an airfield.

An airfield!? Where was that then?

Farmer Brooms fields behind Kelvin Grove (just across the A3)? There is
a picture in HRA of a 5/- a flight bi-plane in the 1930's. Don't suppose
the pub owned the airfield but it was certainly very close to it, and a
picture in the Cap in Hand makes the connection. Douglas Bader used the
Ace but *didn't* fly to it AFAIK.


--
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