Kingston Road, Tolworth, London

Stony Stratford to Wolverton

The Stony Stratford to Wolverton cycle track was operational by the summer of 1934, the second to open in the UK following the trial track on Western Avenue in London. It was easy to build because works were already due to be carried out on the Wolverton Road but mainly because it involved the resurfacing of an existing roadside track, the short commuter route of a steam-powered tramway, dismantled eight years earlier. Read more

Neville’s Cross, A167, Durham

“A section of 1,063 yards of the Al road in Durham county, near Farewell Hall, is to be reconstructed with twin carriageways and 9ft. cycle paths,” reported The Cyclist in November 1936. Read more

Links Road, Blyth

Blyth Town Council approved plans for the Links Road and its cycle tracks in October 1936. “The Borough Engineer reported ... that the proposed scheme was to widen the Links Road to make provision for road 120 feet wide with a two-way motor and cycle tracks, grass verges and footpaths, which would cost £31,000, from the north end of the Promenade to Gloucester Lodge,” said a report in the Morpeth Herald of that year. Read more

Barton to Whitwell, A64 — & Beyond Malton?

There’s a definite 1930s cycle track on the A64 York to Malton Road. It’s between Barton Hill and Whitwell-on-the-Hill. There’s also a possible period cycle track or footway stretching almost 22 miles (36 kms) from Malton almost to Scarborough. Read more

Rainford Bypass, A570, Lancashire

According to a 14-page brochure celebrating the opening of the Rainford bypass it extended from Four Lane Ends, Bickerstaffe, to Windle Smithies. However, as this structure was on the opposite side of the East Lancs Road it would be more accurate to say the bypass ended at Windle Ashes Farm. The plan for the 2.4 mile central section of the bypass was submitted to the MoT in 1938 and the road was finished by the summer of 1941, with the shorter start and end of the bypass completed in 1950. Read more

Weeley Bypass, Essex

The Weely bypass, opened in July 1939 as part of the A133, was itself bypassed by the new A133 opened in 1995. Read more

North Wheatley Bypass, nr Retford

“A new road by-passing the village North Wheatley on the route from Retford to Gainsborough is to be built by the Nottinghamshire County Council, who have received from Mr. Hore-Belisha, Minister of Transport, a grant towards the cost of the scheme estimated at £20,400,” reported the Nottingham Journal on 8 October 1936. Read more

Totton Bypass, Southampton

“The scheme to by-pass Totton by the construction of a road to the south was also among those schemes postponed in 1931 in order to curtail expenditure after the majority of the property had been acquired and work had begun,” reported the Hampshire Advertiser in 1937. Read more

Tadcaster to York, A64

While there has been some remodelling of the A64 dual carriageway between Tadcaster and York the majority of it remains intact, including its period cycle tracks. Original parts of the dual carriageway — now acting as access roads to remodelled parts of the A64 — remain on the outskirts of Tadcaster and York, and they include remnants of the period cycle tracks. Read more

Heathrow, London

A mid-1950s expansion of Heathrow Airport — then known as London Airport — included a short section of 1930s-style both-sides-of-the-road cycle track and a 630-metre, double-sided “cycle & pedestrian subway” separated with barriers from the carriageways for motor vehicles. Read more

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