Thankyou. I used to live in Hindhead in the 1960s and 1970s and drove that road almost every day, turning right at the traffic lights to get home. Funny watching it now in Canada. So long ago. So many memories. I spotted the entrance to the old coaching road. Pity the camera was too low to see the Punchbowl as we went round it.
Thanks for posting this. Many memories of this road as a kid but thank god traffic is gone - precious few open spaces in southern UK without the background roar of traffic.
Hi Chris, Yes, it has certainly reclaimed the Devil's Punchbowl as a quieter, nicer place to walk and enjoy. It has been fascinating watching the old road and its course slowly disappear back to nature.
Just walked around the now NT site at Devil's p.b. interesting to use this vid to match up exactly where I walked this morning. Excellent preservation of a bye-gone era @ukmotortalk!
I vey rarely venture down to this part of England but I just so happened to do so at what must be about the same time this video was taken. I remember seeing what looked like a fully completed tunnel and the roads leading up to it also being completed but driving on this old road. The only time I've been that way since was last month, although I did go down to Portsmouth in 2019 but took the M3 as traffic was bad for the M25 to the A3.
The title's not quite right: this is the A3 southbound _whilst_ the tunnel was being built. I remember the times before_ the tunnel was built when the north side was a single road without the widely split carriageways, and on the south side heading north the lanes merged into one before the dual carriageway ended and the road ran straight into Hindhead with _no_ roundabout.
Yes, you are correct that the tunnel was being built at time of recording, and in fact was probably nearly completed. If I recall, we decided that it needed to be recorded sooner rather than later so we didn't miss the chance. Glad we made the time now.
I can’t remember the A3 heading north into Hindhead with the 2 lanes going down to 1 with the Dual Carriageway ends 2 way traffic signs and the dual carriageway ahead signs
As an Australian, it makes no sense about how the road was closed around the Punch bowl. A very similar thing happened near where I live on the NSW South Coast. The old Princes Highway (Now Donovan’s Road) stayed open with a single set of slip-lanes at each end.
Even worse going back in time, Rochester Way in SE London, loads of traffic crawling along the A2 to Canterbury and Dover, even worse in the days before the M25.
Thankyou. I used to live in Hindhead in the 1960s and 1970s and drove that road almost every day, turning right at the traffic lights to get home. Funny watching it now in Canada. So long ago. So many memories. I spotted the entrance to the old coaching road. Pity the camera was too low to see the Punchbowl as we went round it.
Thanks for posting this. Many memories of this road as a kid but thank god traffic is gone - precious few open spaces in southern UK without the background roar of traffic.
Hi Chris,
Yes, it has certainly reclaimed the Devil's Punchbowl as a quieter, nicer place to walk and enjoy. It has been fascinating watching the old road and its course slowly disappear back to nature.
Just walked around the now NT site at Devil's p.b. interesting to use this vid to match up exactly where I walked this morning. Excellent preservation of a bye-gone era @ukmotortalk!
Thanks for the video, been up that road many times
I remember driving through the tunnel when the satnav did not know about it........
I vey rarely venture down to this part of England but I just so happened to do so at what must be about the same time this video was taken.
I remember seeing what looked like a fully completed tunnel and the roads leading up to it also being completed but driving on this old road.
The only time I've been that way since was last month, although I did go down to Portsmouth in 2019 but took the M3 as traffic was bad for the M25 to the A3.
Memory Lane.
The title's not quite right: this is the A3 southbound _whilst_ the tunnel was being built.
I remember the times before_ the tunnel was built when the north side was a single road without the widely split carriageways, and on the south side heading north the lanes merged into one before the dual carriageway ended and the road ran straight into Hindhead with _no_ roundabout.
Yes, you are correct that the tunnel was being built at time of recording, and in fact was probably nearly completed. If I recall, we decided that it needed to be recorded sooner rather than later so we didn't miss the chance. Glad we made the time now.
I can’t remember the A3 heading north into Hindhead with the 2 lanes going down to 1 with the Dual Carriageway ends 2 way traffic signs and the dual carriageway ahead signs
As an Australian, it makes no sense about how the road was closed around the Punch bowl. A very similar thing happened near where I live on the NSW South Coast. The old Princes Highway (Now Donovan’s Road) stayed open with a single set of slip-lanes at each end.
It was an agreement with the National Trust who owned the land. The tunnel could go ahead if the road was rewilded.
You could easily run a redlight at the Crossroads during the A3 era.
Even worse going back in time, Rochester Way in SE London, loads of traffic crawling along the A2 to Canterbury and Dover, even worse in the days before the M25.
Remember it well. I have posted a video travelling North Bound, April 2011.
Remember it well. But this car was driven much too slowly. The A3 should always be driven at speed, all the way.