Dartford crossing

Dartford crossing's tunnels and bridge today

The Dartford crossing joins the two ends of the M25 orbital motorway around London where otherwise the Thames estuary would get in the way. It now provides four lanes in either direction using two tunnels (North bound) and the Queen Elizabeth bridge (South bound) and has just been fitted with automatic toll collection. The crossing was opened in stages. The west tunnel was opened first in 1963 providing just one lane in each direction. That was long before the M25 was even a twinkle. And that's where I come in. I must have been about 11 then. My parents were in the habit of making the journey to visit my Dad's folk in Rayleigh, Essex maybe twice a year and this post is going to be all about the various routes we used. So prepare to be very, very bored or maybe stop reading at this point.

I explained here and here a bit about Rayleigh. My older sister and I used to dread going there. The feeling of dread started about half the way along the Arterial road - but I am racing ahead of myself. Suffice it to say that the destination was dreadful but the journey I loved. I have always loved journeys (whether driving or as a passenger) - and generally like the journeying somewhat more than the destination, the destination being a sort of necessary evil means to an end.  Whereas for Ali it is the opposite.

Google maps reckons a 2 hour drive from Alresford to Rayleigh. Back in those days it was more like 4 hours. Before 1963 the only way to get to Rayleigh was by going through London. The Dartford tunnel provided a route that happily avoided London altogether.

For the sake of those my readers (if anyone has made it this far) who might not be cognisant with South East England geography, here is a summary of the various routes on a modern map (there were no motorways in this area back then).

The various routes highlighted (click to enlarge)

The green and magenta routes were two ways of approaching London. Once in London you either went through the centre (imagine contemplating central London as a through route now!) or the North Circular road (shown in red). There was a South Circular but it was (and I believe still is) single carriageway and tortuous, so we rarely used it. And then the new Dartford route shown in blue.

After 1963 we almost always used the Dartford route, so my memories of the other routes must be from before I was 11.

We generally approached London on the A30 (green route). I am not quite clear on exactly how we jumped from the A31 (the magenta route and which goes through Alresford) to the A30. Either it would have been via Basingstoke as shown, or more likely further to the right through Aldershot (A331). It matters little because my memories are from further along.

We (I include my older sister, the younger one not yet having a say) used to beg my dad to go through central London because then we would get to see the pièce de résistance Piccadilly Circus with its amazing neon advertisements and the statue of Eros in the centre of the road back (as it was back then).

Piccadilly Circus and Eros

But again I am racing ahead. The A30 around Staines area passes through some very beautiful countryside. Indeed the very name "A30" is to me evocative of every good thing as (going in the opposite direction) it took us to our beloved Devon or Cornwall for our annual holiday.

Let's start at Camberley - I think my father was born (or something like that) there. Next comes Virginia Water. We would sometimes stop there to stretch our legs and it remains in my memory as a mystical place of dreams. That such a beautiful place (and name) should exist purely for the sake of enjoyment amazed me.

The cascade, Virginia Water

Totem pole, Virginia Water

The soil is sandy in this part of Surrey. Grey sand. The sort (my parents told me) that snakes liked, so we were to be careful on a hot day (because apparently snakes like to sun-bathe). The only poisonous snake we have in the UK is the Adder and it can be recognised by the "V" on its head. I think I have only seen one once in the wild and it was not at Virginia Water.

Shortly after this the fairy-tale red-brick building which is the Royal Holloway university rose above the tree tops on our right. Much more recently my niece was a student there, lucky thing.

Royal Holloway

And then, on the left, the water meadow Runnymede, another possible halt for a leg stretch or sandwich and, by coincidence, the place where King John signed the Magnacarta on the 15th of June, 1215. A bit before my time. And further to the left the vast reaches of the Royal Windsor Park and its famous castle.

We pass through Egham which always brought a chuckle (my father repeated his jokes often, it is a senile weakness I find myself slipping into) and Staines and then pass by two giant reservoirs on our left. All I can see from the road was a high, neatly grassed bank, but my father says there is water on the other side. So now I look out for these landmarks whenever I fly into Heathrow.

The road now hugs the edge of Heathrow airport and we see the giant tail-fins of parked aircraft and hope to get a close view of an aircraft taking off or landing. There are gigantic hangers marked BOAC or BEA.

After Heathrow the A30 joins the A4 "Great West Road" which is our artery into the depths of London. But this time we turn left and follow the North Circular Road (A406) which, back then, was single carriageway with only limited stretches of dual carriageway further along. It starts as Gunnersbury Avenue opposite Gunnersbury Park where we stop for mum to do some unspecified business with a charity there. It seems to take her ages while we have to wait in the car with nothing to do.

All these roads in and out of or around London suburbia have endless rows of semi-detached houses either side. I found it hard (and still do) to imagine how there could be so many people and why-ever they would want to live nose-to-chin along busy roads like these?  I do not remember much else about the North Circular - it was mostly boring houses, but there were some interesting bridges especially where it crosses the river Lee.

1952 map of the North Circular (A406) crossing river Lee and Gants Hill

Gants Hill underground station

Gants Hill sticks in my memory: it is where we turned onto the A12 eastbound and so was the beginning of the end of London. I think we stopped there once for a bite to eat or maybe the loo. I remember the London Underground signs there although am not sure why this station of all the hundreds should be so special. Today the North Circular has been re-routed and passes to the west of Gants Hill.

Flyover at Gallows Corner

Miles upon miles of suburbia followed, punctuated only by the round-about at Gallows Corner where we turned onto the Southend arterial road (A127). It seemed to take forever to get London behind us. I can recall my father's pleasure when, in 1970, a flyover was erected over this round-about to favour traffic on the arterial road. The flyover was made of prefabricated units rather in the way I might have made a bridge using toy bricks. One ascended at constant slope, then suddenly the angle changed to horizontal and then suddenly again to the descent. Apparently this flyover was meant to have a lifetime of 15 years but it is still in use today.

And then the arterial road. In my time it was dual carriageway all the way past Rayleigh to Southend. It was, we were told, a marvel of engineering. Originally a single carriageway, it was largely built by hand in 1920 as the first road in this country made specifically for motorised vehicles.

Half way from London to Southend

As we travel from Gallows Corner towards Rayleigh the hedgerows seem to get shabbier and shabbier and that feeling of dread in the pit of the stomach becomes more and more evident. Dad points out the Halfway House which seems to me a mild wonder for just happening to be exactly half way. I do not think we ever patronised the place.

Basildon onion

The next landmark we look for is the Basildon "onion" which, my father informs us, is a water tower. Which in itself sets me thinking: how could such a small structure contain enough water for a town like Basildon? The new town Basildon with its high-rise flats was, Ginty told us, something out of the Apocalypse. This made it all the more interesting to us children even though we had little idea what he meant.

Recent view of "the cutting" A127 ascent to Rayleigh

1955 photograph of the Weir round-about

We are now dangerously close to Rayleigh. I try to suppress the fact and at least enjoy the last few remaining miles which end in the cutting as we climb the hill on which Rayleigh is built. At the Weir round-about (it now has an underpass) we turn left, then right along Glasseys Lane and right again into Weir Gardens. Number 10 was almost at the end on the left. The picture below is from Google street view and shows the property still standing but sadly overgrown now that my aunt has died.

10 Weir Gardens, from Google street view

We park and ring the doorbell. The door opens and out wafts that Rayleigh smell followed by a gushing Aunt Mary, Nana and Ginty and a jumble of dogs intermingled with the odd cat. Perfunctory kisses are exchanged (how I hated them). We bring in our stuff and then sit down to eat watery boiled smoked fish with bread-and-butter and start counting the days until we leave.

As there is probably a rule about how long a blog-post can be I will have to tell the rest of this story in a future post.