Air Balloon (pub)

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The pub in 2007

The Air Balloon is a public house and road junction at Birdlip, Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the A417 and is a significant traffic bottleneck. The pub is under threat of closure as part of traffic improvements.

Location[]

The pub is situated next to a roundabout junction with the A417, a major road between Swindon and Gloucester via Cirencester.[1] The A436 meets the A417 at this point; the two roads together form a de facto bypass of Cheltenham between Oxford and Gloucester.[2]

History[]

View of the pub from the A417

The pub opened in 1784 and is probably named after one of the first British balloon flights: the launching of a small hydrogen balloon by Edward Jenner on 2 September 1784, which flew from Berkeley Castle to Kingscote and then on to a field near Birdlip,[3][4] the year after the pioneering flights of the Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon and Jacques Charles's hydrogen balloon in Paris.[1] It was known as the Balloon by 1796 and renamed the Air Balloon in 1802.[5] By 1856, the landlord was brewing beer on-site.[1] The premises were part of the Cowley Manor Estate until some time early in the twentieth century. The pub was bought by Greene King in 2004.[6] As of 2020, the menu includes burgers, steaks, vegetarian food, "pub classics" and a lunchtime carvery.[7]

Future[]

The pub has been under threat of demolition as it sits alongside a short section of single-carriageway road which is otherwise a high-quality route between the M4 and M5 motorways.[8][9] The junction is a notorious accident blackspot; from 1999 to 2014 there were an estimated 340 casualties.[10]

In March 2019, Highways England proposed improvements that would include demolition of the pub.[11][12] Highways England has ruled out a junction at the Air Balloon as the local geography and steep hills nearby would make it impossible to build a high-quality road meeting modern safety standards.[13] The road could not be routed anywhere else as it would cut through Barrow Wake, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.[14] Highways England stated that it would talk to landowners and assess the social impact of the pub's demolition in a further design stage.[15] As of June 2021, the pub is open, but is still expected to be demolished.[16]

References[]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Sandles 2012, p. 14.
  2. ^ "A40". Hansard. 18 April 1996. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Edward Jenner in Kingscote – Kingscote Online".
  4. ^ "Air Balloon Heritage". 17 February 2019.
  5. ^ Norris, Phil (30 March 2019). "Pub earmarked to be flattened says 'we're not going anywhere yet'". Gloucestershire Live. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  6. ^ "The Air Balloon Pub, Birdlip". Visit Gloucestershire. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Our review of the Air Balloon pub that's due to be demolished for A417 'missing link' project". Gloucestershire Live. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  8. ^ Hughes, Janet (15 February 2018). "Landmark pub to be bulldozed for controversial new superhighway". Gloucestershire Live. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  9. ^ "A417 missing link". Improvements and major road projects. Highways England. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  10. ^ "Route chosen for accident blackspot road". BBC News. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  11. ^ Ross, Alex (14 March 2019). "Decided: This is the final plan to end the Air Balloon traffic nightmare in Gloucestershire". Gloucestershire Live. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Have your say on final details for the A417 Missing Link scheme". Highway England. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  13. ^ A417 Missing Link 2019, p. 35.
  14. ^ A417 Missing Link 2019, p. 36.
  15. ^ A417 Missing Link 2019, p. 56.
  16. ^ "Major milestone passed for A417 missing link road plans at Air Balloon roundabout". Glouchestershire Live. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.

Sources

External links[]

Coordinates: 51°50′36″N 02°05′48″W / 51.84333°N 2.09667°W / 51.84333; -2.09667

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