Quoted from Uncle

funny?...no-one has mentioned the Greyhound Inn.....I cant be that old,surely?

The Greyhound was demolished in the early sixties to make way for the world famous Robin Hood Roundabout. This photograph was taken in 1962

Although the quality of this picture is quite poor, it will give you an idea of the actual position of the Greyhound in relation to the existing road layout. Obviously at this point in time demolition work is well underway to construct the new roundabout.

Over many years, Newbury has suffered from extensive roadworks of one sort or another. Every other town/village on the route of the A34 was given a bypass e.g. Winchester, Whitchurch, Abingdon, East Ilsley.

We have had the Ring Road, the Donnington Link, the Sandleford Link etc. The Highways Authority were always tinkering with various aspects of them. The ultimate answer was the Newbury Bypass opened in 1998.

I often wonder what Newbury would be like today if the By-Pass had been built in the 1960's

Quoted from Administrator

Hi admin, this picture is fascinating. What was the building that has been demolished to the left which appears to have been on an island? Was that a church in the bottom right hand corner.

Which way did the north south traffic go at this junction? Did it turn down the London Road?

Quoted from Administrator

The Greyhound was demolished in the early sixties to make way for the world famous Robin Hood Roundabout.

Don't you mean 'world infamous'?

Quoted from Archie

Hi admin, this picture is fascinating. What was the building that has been demolished to the left which appears to have been on an island? Was that a church in the bottom right hand corner.

I'm not sure there was a building to the left of the Greyhound at that time.  At one time Shaw Road came alongside the pub to meet the London Rd (see the first photo). When Western Avenue was built a new junction was created with the London Rd and Shaw Rd was diverted to meet Western Ave (an east/west bypass taking the A4 around Speenhamland) rather than the London Rd (as appears in this picture).  The building at the bottom left was a church (St Joseph's, RC) for quite a while but was replaced by the current St Josephs. It is still there and is used for meetings etc.

Quoted from Archie

Which way did the north south traffic go at this junction? Did it turn down the London Road?

Northbound traffic from here would go up Western Avenue to the roundabout by Waitrose and then up through Donnington, Chieveley etc to Oxford.
Southbound traffic would go back through town and down Northbook St.  The picture shows the demolition of the pubs (the Robin Hood has already gone) as they created the link down to the south (now the A339 from the Robin Hood to the Burger King roundabouts.  The BK roundabout (Gowrings for those who like nostalgia) came later, following the road construction shown in the photo; the road south went round a corner into St John's Road and thence up Newtown Road. Later they built the Sandleford Link to bypass St John's Rd & Newtown Rd and the link from the Robin Hood to the M4.

All very piecemeal as Admin points out - but he misses the most important bypass, the M4. The A34 bypass didn't make so much sense until the M4 was built, and the village bypasses and dual carriaging of the A34 were done - by which time the main Newbury relief roads had already been built.  

This is the Broadway in Newbury just before the new link was opened. (Now the A339). It was like this virtually every day.

Quoted from brian

This is the Broadway in Newbury just before the new link was opened. (Now the A339). It was like this virtually every day.

Showing another pub that has closed in my lifetime - the George & Dragon, knew I'd forget one (or more).

Quoted from blackdog

All very piecemeal as Admin points out - but he misses the most important bypass, the M4. The A34 bypass didn't make so much sense until the M4 was built, and the village bypasses and dual carriaging of the A34 were done - by which time the main Newbury relief roads had already been built.  

The ultimate answer would have been the M34 to link Southampton to Birmingham. I don't know if it was ever considered.

Quoted from blackdog

I'm not sure there was a building to the left of the Greyhound at that time.  At one time Shaw Road came alongside the pub to meet the London Rd (see the first photo). When Western Avenue was built a new junction was created with the London Rd and Shaw Rd was diverted to meet Western Ave (an east/west bypass taking the A4 around Speenhamland) rather than the London Rd (as appears in this picture).  The building at the bottom left was a church (St Joseph's, RC) for quite a while but was replaced by the current St Josephs. It is still there and is used for meetings etc.

This photograph (taken just before demolition) would appear to dispute your initial statement Blackdog.

It does not show on the photograph below which was taken at the same time. Is the building on the right of this photo, the original Robin Hood?

Quoted from Administrator

It does not show on the photograph below which was taken at the same time. Is the building on the right of this photo, the original Robin Hood?

Yes,this is an earlier picure by Jim Irving which shows the Handy stores in between the Greyhound and the old Robin Hood.

Quoted from Administrator

This photograph (taken just before demolition) would appear to dispute your initial statement Blackdog.

Not at all - my initial statement was that I wasn't sure about the building to the west of the Greyhound - nice to see this picture showing what was there.

The road layout in the picture is that which was in place between the building of Western Avenue and the link down to St John's Rd.  The old Shaw Road can be seen between the Greyhound and the other building - but you will notice that it was cut off and did not join the London Rd.  The previous photo showed the diversion around the back of the building to west of the Greyhound which met Western Avenue a few yards before the junction with the A4/London Rd. I don't see any conflict with my previous statement.

Long ago the Greyhound's landlord was Henry Reynolds - at this time it was also a brewery. As shown by this ad from 1865.

There we go Uncle, you can't say that we haven't mentioned the Greyhound now!

Quoted from blackdog

...............(Gowrings for those who like nostalgia)..............  

Was that not Marchants Garage at the time of the ring road construction...?

Thank you,admin, I have memories of 1957,sitting in our dads Vauxhall 14/6 convertible,at the Shaw rd "cul-de-sac" by the Greyhound,cola and crisps to last a couple of hours[guess babysitters were scarce them days]