The other day, I was up at Wootton Bassett and happened upon the old Wilts and Berks Canal.   Now ... I'm very familiar with how various modes of transport have followed the same natural contours over the years, but this really brought it home to me more than ever before what a natural flow we have from the Thames Valley, via Swindon, Wootton Bassett, Chippenham and Melksham to the Trowbridge area.

Think about it ... the Wilts and Berks Canal



Then one of Brunel's earliest railways - in fact the first rails to Westbury were the ones from Thingley Junction, to become part of the main line from Paddington to Weymouth



and finally the M4 / A350 corridor, into which so much effort promotion and improvement effort has gone, yet it still jams ...



(Don't you just love the way the houses have been built so close to the trunk road!)

Further pictures - http://www.wellho.net/share/woottonbassett.html