Old makes way for new as link road built

The ring road was first conceived in the 1920s. The idea was to improve existing roads in the suburbs, and then provide link roads where none existed.

Kingsmead Road was built for this very purpose, which is why provision was made, in the bridges, for a dual carriageway.

Another link road planned, before the war, was one between St Peter’s Place and Wincheap Grove.

In fact, negotiations got as far as land purchase, before it was dropped.

Post-war redevelopment plans included an entire new ring road for Canterbury.

The Wilson Plan, formally adopted in late 1951, also provided for a link between St Peter’s Place and Wincheap Green, as part of the ring road, but on a much grander scale, with roundabouts at each end.

In this more ambitious version, Wincheap Grove would be eliminated entirely.

This proposed new road would be linked to an A2 bypass between Summer Hill and the beginning of the ring road proper, at the top of St. Peter’s Place. Work began in early 1961 and took two years to complete.

The above pictures show roughly the same area, between the River Stour and Wincheap Grove.

The first view is probably from the late 1950s, and shows allotments on the south bank of the river, with the house of Wincheap Grove beyond.

The second picture shows work very much in progress, by the late summer of 1962. Wincheap Grove is now but a memory.

Also note the extensive earthworks needed to even out the road and successfully span the river.

The combined A2 bypass and first stage ring road was named the Rheims Way in June 1963.

Wincheap Grove and allotments in the late 1950s

Work in progress at the same location