THE A27 LANCING / WORTHING BYPASS PROJECT

THE END

ROAD MARKER , SOUTHWICK , WEST SUSSEX

In the end the road came to nothing.
But the resurrection of future developments remain.

DURRINGTON ROAD , WORTHING

DURRINGTON ROAD , WORTHING

DURRINGTON ROAD , WORTHING

DURRINGTON ROAD , WORTHING

DURRINGTON ROAD , WORTHING

DURRINGTON ROAD , WORTHING

DURRINGTON ROAD , WORTHING

DURRINGTON ROAD , WORTHING

A2031 , WORTHING , WEST SUSSEX

WORTHING CEMETARY , WEST SUSSEX

WORTHING CEMETARY , WEST SUSSEX

I thought this shot was an apt metaphor with
regard to the nearby roundabout......

A24 DURRINGTON ROUNDABOUT , WORTHING , WEST SUSSEX

A24 DURRINGTON ROUNDABOUT , WORTHING , WEST SUSSEX

An alternative to tunnels and bridges fording the shallow
Findon Valley was a bridge or underpass at this roundabout.
This was most likely going to be the chosen solution although
its effect had already been felt. A swathe of houses on the right
hand turn off ( A2031 ) had been blighted by the exercise and
had been emptied as a result - the residents being paid off at the
going rate as estimated by local estate agents. The empty
houses then remained in the possession of the Crown and some were
utilised as social housing which was administered by housing
associations. On the corner of the turn off is a cemetary which would
have entailed some graves being positioned elsewhere. Many houses
were in time demolished to make way for multi modern developments.
So some people benefitted at least....!!

WEST HILL , WEST SUSSEX

VIEW ACROSS FINDON VALLEY TO WEST HILL , WORTHING , WEST SUSSEX

A bridge and two tunnels, one on either side, would
have broken the serenity of the location. This is a
popular spot for those wishing to celebrate the
mid summer solstice. The embankment at the base
of the picture is an original earthwork - not the fence
of course !!

TRIG POINT , CISSBURY RING , WEST SUSSEX

A tiny patch of tree tops are visible on
the horizon. This is Chanctobury Ring - unaffected by
any road proposals. All along the South Downs are dotted
these old prehistoric high ground farmsteads. Dating from five
hundred plus decades ago , the inhabitants mined flint on the rings
and in nearby locales on lower ground. Silicon is now our
utility stone of choice. The Romans used these high points
for their own reasons. Chanctonbury became a Roman Temple.
The trees lining the site are a modern plantation. The benefits
of these high points lie in defence and communication as well as
vicinity to the sea....

BUSH , HIGH BARN FOOTPATH , WORTHING

HIGH BARN FOOTPATH LEADING TO CISSBURY RING , WORTHING , WEST SUSSEX

More official notifications.......

WEST SIDE , CISSBURY RING , WEST SUSSEX

CISSBURY RING OVERLOOKING FINDON , WEST SUSSEX

LONG VIEW TOWARDS CISSBURY RING , WEST SUSSEX

WORTHING FC , WEST SUSSEX

The progress of the road passes behind the ground...
and on towards Cissbury Ring from the picture below.

FOOTPATH TO LYONS PARK SHOPPING ESTATE , WEST SUSSEX

And on............

NEAR SOMPTING , WEST SUSSEX

And on we go across vale and dell towards Cissbury

TOWARDS SOMPTING , WEST SUSSEX

Official Highways notification of proposal to build
a new road.................................................................

NORTH LANCING , WEST SUSSEX

A long view of the proposed route from Lancing
Ring , ( the hill in the distance ) , which would
have skirted by the houses. There are many parts
of the South Downs where housing is encroaching
its territory. The soil is only a few inches in depth
as a result of centuries of farming and industry.
Once this land would have been forest with a rich soil.

FARMLAND , SOMPTING , WEST SUSSEX

The route would have passed from the tunnels
of Lancing Ring across this field and on towards
Cissbury Ring......

CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND , LANCING RING , WEST SUSSEX

The two handlebars were a metaphor for the two
tunnels designated to be built at the base of the
hill behind the playground.

FARMLAND , LANCING , WEST SUSSEX

LONG DISTANCE RUN , LANCING RING , WEST SUSSEX

WATER TANK , FARMLAND , LANCING , WEST SUSSEX

For those with a disposition to co-ordinates the
shots have been taken from the eastern end of
the proposed routes to the western end. On a map
of the South Coast we are heading from the vicinity
of Lancing Ring towards Durrington where the new
segment was due to finish.

FARMLAND, LANCING , WEST SUSSEX

This project started as a response to the government
inquiry which I had been attending during a period
of underemployment. I was new to the area and it seemed
like a good way to get to know the surrounding area. I managed
to acquire a copy of the government blueprint from the inquiry
and that became my map and brief.

All of the images in this series are either directly on , nearby or overlooking
one of the routes. The South Downs has for a long time been under attack
from developers. The pictures are not meant to convey a positive or negative
argument one way or the other since there are advantages and disadvantages
to Good planning. The problem is once something like this has been effected
there is no going back.....Take note Mr Prescott : the present is always
overestimated and the future underestimated.........

A24 DURRINGTON ROUNDABOUT , WORTHING

There were three proposed routes , one of which
encompassed a tunnel being built under Cissbury Ring ,
followed by a bridge across the A24 Findon road below and
another tunnel in West Hill on the opposite side.

All three routes had their controversies and players - a
fact bourne out in the nine month government inquiry
into the building of the new route.

THE A27 LANCING / WORTHING BYPASS PROJECT

BLOOD GASH IN CHALK , SOUTHWICK , WEST SUSSEX

In the early 1990s the government of the day
were pursuing a policy of updating the road
networks - to the chagrin of some and the
neccessity of others. There was a plan to update
the road system along the South Coast from
Folkestone , ie the Channel Tunnel , to the west using
bypasses along the existing A27.

The picture above was taken
at the eastern side of the soon to be built Southwick
Tunnel. This was part of the preceeding bypass
intended to link to the Lancing / Worthing section.

The following sequence of pictures
deal with one part of this plan - from Lancing to
Worthing - which was eventually scrapped after
millions of pounds had been spent on achieving a lot
of upset and little else.

PS - The scene is as I found it - I just had to find the angle
which is why it may look staged. The picture was selected
by William Feaver of the observer and other curators for a
biennial art exhibition at the Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne
in 1994 on the theme of ' Interiors'.

NEAR EDENBRIDGE, KENT

Nature taking its course......................................

FARMLAND NEAR COULSDON, SURREY

I took this image in the mid eighties. I felt that
the significance of the picture lay in the fact that mass
computerisation was on the horizon and the idea of a briefcase,
buried, or in this case, trampled into the soil, was a strong metaphor
for the future. Ashes to ashes, the end of a bygone age.

EYNSHAM FARM, CHIPSTEAD, SURREY

These cows were sheltering from April showers.
The light streaming in from the middle of the picture
was sunlight breaking through - which I had to burn in to
bring out the tree trunks. The pose of the cows reminded me
of those turn of the 20th century formal family shots on
American midwest homestead verandas.

TITSEY HILL , AFTER THE GREAT STORM 1987, NEAR WESTERHAM , KENT

VENICE, ITALY

VENICE, ITALY

VENICE, ITALY

VENICE, ITALY

VENICE, ITALY

VENICE , ITALY

NORMANDY , FRANCE

CHATEAU D'EAU, NORMANDY, FRANCE

CHATEAU D'EAU, NORMANDY, FRANCE

CITROEN, NORMANDY, FRANCE

PURLEY BEECHES, SURREY, PRE THE GREAT STORM OF 1987