Twyford Down

Set in an historical and political framework, the book records the machinations and intrigue which led to one of England’s most heavily protected landscapes, less than a mile from the heart of England’s ancient capital, being destroyed for the construction of the M3 Motorway. The heritage and ecological importance of the site is fully explained, providing a comprehensive and informative record. The text is well illustrated with photographs and sketches before, during and after the final destruction, with plans and other material vividly illustrating the history and archaeology of Twyford Down and the extensive and highly profiled and reported campaign to save the Down. The corruption of the process of motorway planning is examined from the time of the Government’s decision to abandon the logical corridor to the west of the City to the eccentric decision to route the motorway to the east through Twyford Down. Twyford Down chronicles the gradual transition of a three-man campaign in 1985 to the birth of national environmental campaigning, culminating in the Government’s subsequent abandonment of similar proposals in Oxleas Wood and the Devil’s Punchbowl.