Selected article
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The London Ringways were a series of four
ring roads planned in the 1960s to circle London at various distances from the city centre. They were part of a comprehensive scheme developed by the
Greater London Council to alleviate traffic congestion on the city's road system by providing high speed
motorway-standard roads within the capital linking a series of radial roads taking traffic into and out of the city.
The plan was hugely ambitious and met, almost immediately, with opposition from a number of directions including residents associations, London Borough councils, the
Treasury and the
Department of Transport. Despite this opposition the GLC continued to develop its plans and began the construction of some of the earlier parts of the scheme. In 1972, in an attempt to placate the plan's vociferous opponents, the GLC dropped parts of the two innermost ringways, but the scheme was cancelled in 1973 at which point only three sections had been constructed – the
East Cross Route, part of the
West Cross Route and the
Westway.
Significant sections of the report's proposals have also been built over the subsequent years including improvements to the
North Circular Road and, most importantly, the
M25 and
M26 motorways which were formed from an amalgamation of parts of the two outermost rings. (
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Selected biography
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Sir Charles Herbert Bressey
CB,
CBE (3 January 1874 – 14 April 1951) was a
civil engineer and
surveyor who specialised in road design. Bressey was Chief Engineer for Roads at the
Ministry of Transport from 1921 to 1938. Between 1935 and 1938 he carried out research on road planning and motorway design in preparation for his Highway Development Survey, 1937 for Greater London published in 1938. He served as President of the
Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1938-9.
During World War I, Bressey served in the
Royal Engineers and spent time in France and
Flanders constructing military roads attaining the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel before he left the army in November 1919, when he joined the Ministry of Transport. His 1938 report proposed a series of high capacity motorways radiating outwards from the city and made recommendations for a series of circular routes around the capital and major road improvements in the central area, including tunnels under
Kensington Gardens,
Victoria Park and Islington High Street and a viaduct from
Rotherhithe to
Forest Hill. Although
World War II delayed the implementation of any of the recommendations, they were subsequently featured in a number of post war reports such as Sir
Patrick Abercrombie's
County of London Plan and the
Greater London Council's 1960s
London Ringways scheme and were the origins of plans that were later combined to create London's orbital motorway, the
M25. (
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Selected pictures
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Image 2The original
Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 3
Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 5"Boris Bikes" from the
Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 7The multi-level junction between the
M23 and
M25 motorways near
Merstham in
Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 8
TX4 London Taxi at
Heathrow Airport.
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Image 9Southern approach to the
Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the
River Thames in east London between
Rotherhithe and
Limehouse.
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Image 10Sailing ships at
West India Docks on the
Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the
Canary Wharf development.
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Image 11
Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the
Northern line.
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Image 14
Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the
River Thames in west London.
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Image 15The western departures concourse of
King's Cross railway station.
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Image 17
Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 18Original stations on the
Metropolitan Railway from
The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 19The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the
Inner Circle,
Middle Circle,
Outer Circle and
Super Outer Circle.
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Image 20Preserved
AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport
Green Line livery.
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Image 21
Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 22
55 Broadway, headquarters of the
UERL and its successors, is a Grade I
listed building in Westminster designed by
Charles Holden.
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Image 24
London General Omnibus Company
B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by
AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during
World War I, this vehicle was operated on the
Western Front.
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Image 25
Vauxhall Bridge across the
River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by
F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 26London Underground
Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the
traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 28Early style tube roundel in mosaic at
Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 29Planes waiting at
Heathrow Airport's
Terminal 4.
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Image 30Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the
London Eye.
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Image 31Tram 2548 calls at
Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the
Tramlink network centred on
Croydon in south London.
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Image 32The
New Routemaster built by
Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the
Routemaster.
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Image 33
Hornsey Lane Bridge,
Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 35View of
Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by
Claude de Jongh.
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Image 36Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir
Jacob Epstein on the
London Underground's headquarters at
55 Broadway.
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Image 37
Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the
River Thames between
Chelsea and
Battersea.
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Image 39Helicopter landing at
London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the
River Thames in
Battersea.
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Image 40London Underground
A60 Stock (left) and
1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the
Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 41
Qantas
Boeing 747-400 about to land at
Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue,
Hounslow.
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Image 43Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former
Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 44Escalators at
Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the
station box to reach the deep-level
Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 45The south façade of
King's Cross railway station London terminus of the
East Coast Main Line.
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Image 46Archer statue by
Eric Aumonier at
East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 47The newly constructed junction of the
Westway (
A40) and the
West Cross Route (
A3220) at
White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 48A
tram of the
London United Tramways at Boston Road,
Hanwell, circa 1910.
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