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The London Ringways were a series of four ring roads planned in the 1960s to circle London at various distances from the city centre. They were part of a comprehensive scheme developed by the Greater London Council to alleviate traffic congestion on the city's road system by providing high speed motorway-standard roads within the capital linking a series of radial roads taking traffic into and out of the city.
The plan was hugely ambitious and met, almost immediately, with opposition from a number of directions including residents associations, London Borough councils, the Treasury and the Department of Transport. Despite this opposition the GLC continued to develop its plans and began the construction of some of the earlier parts of the scheme. In 1972, in an attempt to placate the plan's vociferous opponents, the GLC dropped parts of the two innermost ringways, but the scheme was cancelled in 1973 at which point only three sections had been constructed – the East Cross Route, part of the West Cross Route and the Westway.
Significant sections of the report's proposals have also been built over the subsequent years including improvements to the North Circular Road and, most importantly, the M25 and M26 motorways which were formed from an amalgamation of parts of the two outermost rings. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
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Frank Pick (23 November 1878 – 7 November 1941) was managing director of the Underground Group (UERL) from 1928 to 1933 and was chief executive officer and vice-chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board from its creation in 1933 until 1940. Pick began his career with the UERL in 1906 as assistant to the managing director Sir George Gibb, by 1908 he had become publicity officer and became commercial manager in 1912. Pick steered the development of the London Underground's corporate identity by commissioning eye-catching commercial art, graphic design and modern architecture, establishing a highly recognisable brand. Elements of the brand commissioned by Pick included the Underground roundel, the Johnston typeface and Charles Holden's iconic stations of the 1920s and 1930s.
Pick was described by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest patron of the arts whom this century has so far produced in England, and indeed the ideal patron of our age." Pick's interest in design extended beyond his own organisation and he was a founding member and later served as President of the Design and Industries Association. He was also the first chairman of the Council for Art and Industry. He is commemorated with a memorial at Piccadilly Circus station, a blue plaque at his home in Highgate and with Frank Pick House, a London Underground engineering facility near Acton Town station. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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- ...that sculptor Henry Moore's first public commission in 1928-29 was a relief sculpture West Wind for the Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway?
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Image 2TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 3London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 4London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 6Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 7London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 8Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 9Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 10Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 13Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 14The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 15Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 18Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 19Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 21Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 22Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 2355 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 24"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 25The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 26The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 28Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 29Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 30Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 31Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 32Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 33Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 34Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 35Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 36The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 38The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 39Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 40The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 41Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 42Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 43Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 45View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 47The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 49A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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