My father was a compulsive hoarder. Well… an enthusiastic collector of things, at least. Some of the things are quite amazing.
Today I am flicking through the folders labelled “Weymouth Relief Road”, ahead of tomorrow’s seaside infrastructure safari along the new Relief Road Cycle Track, and was delighted by this letter, which had clearly been forwarded to the local council…
I’m sure the council get plenty of eccentric letters from members of the public, suggesting things just as mad as building a “relief road” that completely avoids the two towns that generate almost the entirety of the traffic that the road is intended to relieve. But when the letter’s from a presumably well-connected old Squadron Leader, the council have to humour him and pretend they’re seriously considering the option…
Obviously the gentleman’s opposition to the council’s then preferred Brown Route has nothing to do with the fact that Nightingale Drive backs onto the fields where the dual carriageway would have been built (and where the cycle track accompanying the actually built Orange Route now runs).
Portland never did develop into the nation’s new major port. Entirely due to the lack of roads, no doubt.