A blog developed from "Publicity Hazard : Pont Hafren"
fbb does not normally blog on matters of the monstrous motor car (!) but researching the Pont Hafren blogs (links at the end of this offering) led him, virtually, to the little village of Aust in South Gloucestershire. It has two churches; of England ...
... and Evangelical.
It has a small village hall and a picturesque pub, the "Boar's Head" ...
... plus, alongside some pretty chocolate box cottages, a couple of delightful petrol pumps.
There's no petrol, indeed no filling station to serve you, but it ain't 'arf quaint. The road to the left of the pumps is called "Back Row" cleverly named because it's a "row" of cottages "round the back". Despite the diminutive size of this pretty backwater it still has a bus service, calling at the Boars Head ...
... once a week. It will take you to Thornbury for the shops ...
... and the doctor and connections with frequent buses forward to Bristol or Gloucester. Connections are also, in theory, available at Severn Beach but fbb would not recommend the idea.
Once upon a time it was even signposted from the centre of Bristol ...
... but perhaps that sign of celebrity was more to do with the ferry across the Severn to Beachley, ancient forerunner of Pont Hafren, the Severn Road Bridge. The old sign was, by the way, at the top of Queens Road in Bristol; but new roads and motorways have potentially removed long distance traffic from the junction. This is all you will find at the same spot today.
Apart from the ferry, Aust was never particularly pulsating, a small village on the B4405/B4461 between Severn Beach and Thornbury.
But, daddy, daddy! They've built a motorway in the back garden! And here it is, completely obliterating the old road through the village.
And if you happen to live on the former cul-de-sac, Sandy Lane, there really IS a motorway in your back garden ...
... there, at the top of that embankment.
Tomorrow we examine the effects of this incredible intrusion on the village and its public transport. The results may well surprise our readers as, by way of compensation for continuous noise, fumes and general yuk (somewhat improved with the diversion of most of the traffic via SSC, the so-called second Severn crossing), the bus service to this hidden hamlet is the best it has ever been.
If you can find it!
--------------------------------------------------------------
Links to Pont Hafren blogs:-
Looking forward to part two...
ReplyDeletePDD