This film is part of Free

Hampton in Arden Traffic

Somewhat awkwardly dubbed the 'heavy lorries Silverstone of the Midlands', Hampton in Arden now needs a bypass.

News 1965 3 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for Media Archive for Central England

Overview

By 1965 the residents of Hampton in Arden had been waiting ten years for a bypass. To jaded modern eyes the traffic might not look too bad but, to be fair, reporter David Lloyd was probably there at a quiet time in the middle of the day and, even so, there are certainly a fair number of lorries struggling through the village. He should have waited a bit longer though as the locals were planning a village blockade and with only a single policeman on duty it could well get a bit heated.

When this was filmed Hampton in Arden was part of Warwickshire. In the 1974 local government changes it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. In recent years the A452 dual carriageway and the M42 have taken heavy lorry traffic away from Hampton in Arden, which was designated a conservation area in 1968.