M32/The Parkway, Bristol. Under construction. Part 2

Construction of the M32/Parkway motorway filmed in colour between 1968-1971 by the Stoke Park Institute. Footage includes The Dower House set in it`s grounds before the motorway was built, the emptying of the original Duchess`s lake, the demolition of the thirteen arches in Eastville and the opening of this stretch of the motorway in 1971. Plus incredible footage of this whole stretch of motorway from Dower House to Junction 2 in Eastville before construction started. Watch and weep....

[@DavidSandilands]

Fascinating, and sad at the same time.

[@mervynhinam4792]

Davids, Sandilands

[@stephielulu9096]

This is amazing to see, but also incredibly sad too

[@dolmanf]

Indeed

[@strawberryfields1149]

So many beautiful Elms.

[@TheSuperHarrygeorge]

I worked at Stoke Park as a student nurse whilst this work was going on.

[@Oakleaf700]

Absolutely heartbreaking. It is an ugly beast of a road, like so many that ruined comminities. Very sad.

[@JonathanPolkest]

As a relatively fresh faced ex Art Student I came to Bristol, St Werburgs and got a job nearby for Freeman Fox in the Pennywell Road and Mina Road end of M32 Parkway development, This footage is so very haunting even the rather genteel music floats around like the demolition dusty smoke and muddy trenches being cut by the diesel guzzling plant. The River Froome was diverted requiring a lot of concrete shuttering and a culvert was made to carry the river subterrainiously beneath the junctions, it was pretty grim down there , the Pike gasping in the empty river bed, all the amazing spoils that had been left hidden in the river, Victoriana and old bicycles. A very astute, articulate man, quite mature, Welsh, lived in a detached house near the Pennywell Road Junction, he avoided the compulsory purchase of his house on its own "island" by attending every planning meeting and defying the local council, I hope his house still stands but he of course will have moved on, although Ive been back to Bristol since leaving in 85 I haven't knowingly returned to that extraordinary place. Well done to you for finding and posting.

[@dufushead]

True testimony. In 200 years it will be the same.

[@tedfowler1142]

Wow! Great footage. Mind you the music doesn't quite go with the advance of modern society ideology behind the motorway era!

[@TheSimonhammond]

Loving this, but sad, progress is harsh! The music is quite poignant.

[@chrisnicholls750]

Hi Tom, Would it be possible for us to use this footage at the Bristol Post please?

[@kellyfrance1137]

Hello. Great piece of footage. I work for a theatre company and we're currently putting together a short film about Bristol in the 1960s for online circulation, particularly around the bus boycott. If you know of any potential sources it would be worth us checking or people to contact, please do let me know! Thanks Kelly

[@stevenparkes3127]

I do indeed tom, but how do I send you an image.

[@tomandrews8331]

My email address is [e-mail] Thanks.

[@tomandrews4695]

Yes, you can use the footage.

[@ZeldaFitz]

This road is twice as wide now.

[@judyfarrow5342]

More motorways,more roads, more tarmac....covering our countryside....going..going..gone!

[@stevenparkes3127]

Hi tom I used to dig old bottles at the eastville park roundabout. I can not believe you have footage showing part of the victorian tip being removed. In fact the film is excellent, but where did you source it. Thanks for posting it as it has made my day, being a local historian.

[@tomandrews8331]

Hi Steven. I obtained it a few years back from the Glenside Hospital Museum. Breathtaking, isn't it? Any pictures you may have of the area, are most welcome my friend.

[@dandun30]

any idea where those 2 houses and bridge were situated? its got us all baffled

[@simonuden8450]

Don't knock it. It was, along with the Long Ashton By-pass and the Portway, the only decent bits of road that Bristol got in the 20th Century. I lived there for 40-odd years and the traffic has always been horrendous. At least the M32 provided a quick way to get out to the North and East suburbs during the rush hour. The section shown here was also built with relatively little impact on the environment or existing dwellings, which is more than could be said for the Newfoundland Road conversion when it eventually happened. The trouble is, you give traffic from the M4 and M5 easy routes into the city, but the infrastructure when they get there is woefully inadequate, and all they've done in recent years is to slow down the already slow moving traffic in town by crippling a huge area of the city with a 20 mph zone, to protect the idiots looking at their mobile phones rather than actually being aware of their surroundings before stepping off the pavement.

[@colliecandle]

Many thanks for this valuable video. i was a kid , i used to regularly walk around Duchesses pond etc, and the old gun emplacements (where the com tower is ) well before 'progress' ruined it all. i was born and grew up in the area, so this is very nostalgic for me.

[@ZeldaFitz]

You can’t beat a good old motorway to enhance an area

[@lucius4556]

I knew people in heyford Avenue and Stapleton rd, (the bit by Eastville park). They were told by the builders it would stay rural and said they used to watch the farmer walking the cows past..then they built more housing and the M32.

[@SuperChapple]

Fantastic Tom, many thanks for putting these online

[@tomandrews8331]

All a bit upsetting really though, isn`t it? Especially when you see the old floodlights at the Rovers ground 1.05 seconds in. The old ground will be weeping with what happened yesterday.