London to Portsmouth
The A3 is the historic route south-west from London to Portsmouth, connecting the capital with the home of the navy, and thanks to a steady programme of upgrades since the early part of the 20th Century, it still is, and today it's virtually a motorway from the city to the coast.
What might it have been like to stand in one spot and witness the arrival, and the uncertainty, of plans for an urban motorway in West London?
It was the UK's only single-carriageway motorway, and twenty years ago it ceased to exist. This is the story of the strange fascination it held, and of my place in history.
Today you can catch a train to France. You can even put your car on it, and be there in less than an hour. But in the 1980s, Euro Tunnel had competition - including plans to build a motorway across the English Channel.
