Building a road tunnel for the A303 at Stonehenge. Would it be cheaper to move Stonehenge?

I was pleased to see my letter to the Western Daily Press regarding the proposed road tunnel at Stonehenge was published on August 5.  I reproduce it below.

Why not just move historic Stonehenge?

It appears the government’s plans for a road tunnel in the vicinity of Stonehenge have been ruled unlawful.

Be that as it may, I am not convinced it is worth spending £1.6 billion, in order to cut 15 or 20 minutes off the journey times of those in London and the South East who feel the need to hurtle through Wiltshire and Somerset on their way to and from their holiday destinations in Devonshire and Cornwall.

Furthermore, it does not seem fair to disappoint those travellers on the A303 who wish to catch a glimpse of England's most historic monument.

However, as such eye-watering sums are involved in the tunnel project, I cannot help wondering if it might be less expensive to dig up Stonehenge and move it instead.

S. W. 

Ilminster, Somerset.

Viewing the "Letters" columns. Another opinion on burying the A303 in a tunnel at Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

The various arguments over burying the A303 in a tunnel at Stonehenge usually focus on cost, the effect on the landscape or the design and route of the tunnel.  However, putting the A303 out of sight of Stonehenge will deny travellers a glimpse of one of England's most, if not the most, ancient structures.  Is it right to deprive millions of such an historic view?

My favourite memory of  Stonehenge is of seeing it rising ghostlike above a low mist on an early summer's morning while driving east on the A303.  So, I have great sympathy with the opinions expressed in the letter below which appeared in the The Week on 17th February.


 Don't Hide the Henge.

To The Guardian.
    

One of the childhood experiences that vividly opened my mind to the narratives of British history, culture and geography was the view of Stonehenge from my parents’ traffic-jammed car on the A303.  It has imprinted itself and, in the poetic life of the subconscious, offers myriad insights, emotions and questions.  A tunnel will deny all future generations the opportunity to simply see Stonehenge, to “feel” it in the landscape of childhood and to allow it to seep into their thoughts.  The tunnel will give English Heritage a cash-cow monopoly, and turn history into a consumer product.

Bert Biscoe, Truro, Kernow.

The harbour village of Charlestown in Cornwall. An autumn holiday visit.

My wife and I recently had an autumn break in Cornwall.  We stayed at a cottage tucked away in a tranquil woodland valley between Fowey and Par and, thanks to a series of warm sunny days, were able to visit several of the coastal towns in the area.  One such visit was to the harbour village of Charlestown, a place I had never visited but was familiar to my wife who enjoyed family holidays in the area in the 1960s.

The area is well known for its china clay industry and in his The Companion Guide to Devon and Cornwall, (William Collins, 1976), Darrell Bates writes: “A large part of the industry’s products are exported by sea from Fowey, Par and the toy-like, privately owned quay at Charlestown.  The main road from here south to Mevagissey passes through London Apprentice where there used to be an inn of that name,  so called because of the number of men from London who came to these parts to work in the mines.”  

Our drive through Par and St. Austell did not take much time at all, the road obviously sees much more traffic in the spring and summer months.  Although it was a warm bright Sunday the pay and display car park, only a short stroll from the quayside, was half empty.

As it was approaching November the brig Phoenix, moored alongside Charlestown’s quay, was appropriately bedecked with poppies. She had been chosen as the venue for this year’s Cornwall launch of the British Legion Poppy Appeal.

The brig Phoenix, bedecked with poppies, alongside the quay at Charlestown in Cornwall.  

" . . . we do not use gunpowder or cannon balls!"

We enjoyed a very relaxed early afternoon walk around the harbour and down on to the beach before stopping at a small café near the harbour wall where we both had a very tasty cheese and onion pasty.  The pleasant young lady serving us said those pasties were the last available as the café was closing for the season that very afternoon!