A very quiet and peaceful visit to New Zealand Bridge situated on the East Coast Mainline on the evening of Thursday 5th July 2018. Due to Overhead Line Damage between Grantham and Newark North Gate various trains were cancelled or heavily delayed, this was why it was more quiter then a usual weekday evening.
Sandy info:
Sandy is a small market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It lies 8 miles (13 km) to the east of Bedford, 18 miles (29 km) to the south west of Cambridge and 43 miles (69 km) north of Central London. The town has a population of around 13,400 based on 2015 estimates.
The A1 road bypasses the town to the west, with the East Coast Main Line running to the east. The area surrounding the town is dominated by a range of low hills known as the Sand Hills with the River Ivel running through the town.
The headquarters of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is on the outskirts of the town, having moved to The Lodge in 1961. The Shuttleworth Collection is also nearby, around 2 miles (3 km) south west of Sandy.
History:
An archaeological dig in May 2006 revealed that the area may have been settled earlier than 250 BC. However Sandy was a Roman settlement and was probably an important trading centre and staging post in the Roman era. An ancient hill fort, now heavily wooded and traditionally known as Caesar's Camp, although more commonly called "the sand hills" or "the lookout", still overlooks the town.
Sandy is referred to in the Domesday Book, as Sandeia, a derivation from the Old English Sandieg, meaning a sand-island. In 1086 Sandy was listed in the Domesday Book as being held by Eudo Fitzhubert, who is likely to have been the tenant. He was probably also known as Eudo Dapifer, who was a high steward for William the Conqueror, and based in Colchester Castle.
In addition there were also two mills listed, and both of these would have been water-powered. There are still references to one of them in the road name Mill Lane which runs along the River Ivel. However the mill has since been replaced by housing. Further down the river from the site where the mill once stood is Sandye Place Academy where it is believed there was a Danish camp which was built to protect the Danelaw in 886. Evidence at the Riddy, a local nature reserve just south of Sandy, shows that mill-building has taken place on this site since at least the time of the Norman era, though the last mill was built here in 1857.
The town expanded rapidly in the 1970s with the development of London overspill housing between Sunderland Road and St Neots Road. This expansion continued into the 1990s with new housing developments at Fallow Field and Ivel Park.
Government:
Sandy is governed by two tiers of local government: the town council, and the Unitary Authority of Central Bedfordshire. It is within the Parliamentary constituency of North East Bedfordshire.
Geography:
Sandy is 43 miles (69 km) north of Central London with the county town of Bedford 8 miles (13 km) to the west. St Neots, the largest town in Cambridgeshire, lies 7 miles (11 km) to the north with Biggleswade lying 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south.
The River Ivel, a tributary of the River Great Ouse, runs through the town. Parts of the town and adjoining land are designated as a Flood Warning Area. The Greensand Ridge, an escarpment which runs through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Cambridgeshire, runs to the south of the town.
The Sandy Heath transmitting station, a 244 metre tall television broadcast mast, is located to the east of the town.
Transport:
Sandy is situated on the A1 which hugs the western edge of the town. The A603 leads west towards Bedford; the B1042 leads east towards Potton and Cambridge. There are a number of bus routes, principally the 73 from Biggleswade to Bedford.
The A1 bypass was one of the earlier 1950s improvements on the Great North Road. The bypass required a new bridge over the River Ivel, built by Dorman Long. The roundabout (former traffic lights before the late 1970s) is with the A603 for Bedford, to the west and the B1042 into Sandy itself and on to Potton and Cambridge. The former A603, to the east is now the B1042. The former north-south route through the town was over Girtford Bridge, to the west of the current route, and now the A603. There were three separate bypass schemes - the Improvement from Sandy to the junction with A428 (Tempsford and Tempsford Bridge Diversions, began December 1957, finished around 1960), Provision of second carriageway (widening) through Girtford (began 2 January 1961, finished around October 1962), and Biggleswade by-pass to Girtford (Girtford Diversion, which opened on 6 August 1961 which included pulverised fuel ash as an embankment infill material). The Girtford Underpass was built in the early 1990s by Kimbell Construction, at the former Varsity Line railway bridge.