West
Vale Branch |
|
|
Bourton Wharf was drastically affected by the building of the Shrivenham by-pass in the 1980's. Orginally the Oxford to Swindon road ran through Shrivenham and then ran along next to the north side of the canal towards the outskirts of Swindon. Bourton Wharf was at the junction of the Oxford to Swindon road and the road from Bourton which is half a mile away. The Bourton road crossed the canal immediately before the T-junction over a bridge that has long since been removed. The main change to the canal as a result of the by-pass was that the road from Shrivenham was altered to cross the canal and then loop round to join the new Oxford to Swindon at the same T-junction as the Bourton Road.
The pictures on this page were taken in January 2002 and show how the wharf has changed. The wharf buildings still stand. The canal runs tight alongside the building that is now used as garage
The road from Bourton was realigned to meet the new road loop just before it then meets the end of the new by-pass. The remains of the old end of the road to Bourton and another wharf building are shown in the pictures below.
The junction with the new by-pass is shown below, with the wharf to the left. [If this speed camera is for "road safety", why is it after the junction and not before it?]
|
|
