Sadness as iconic Air Balloon pub demolished at notorious Gloucestershire junction

An iconic Gloucestershire pub^[1] has been flattened to make way for a major road project. The Air Balloon near Birdlip closed almost a year ago, having become a well-known landmark for the community and for commuters along one of the county's busiest junctions.

The historic pub, which is thought to date back two centuries, stood at the roundabout where the A417 and A436 meet. However, the building was in the way of the £460m Missing Link project to create a full dual-carriageway link between the M4 at Swindon and the M5 at Brockworth^[2] in Gloucestershire.

There was widespread shock when the pub confirmed late last year that it would be closing, and many punters visited to say goodbye during its final service on New Year's Eve 2022.^[3] It has now been demolished, with pictures shared this morning (Saturday, December 2) showing a pile of rubble in its place and machinery on site.

Many passers-by took to Facebook to share their sadness, with several describing it as "a shame" and one person saying it was "history torn down". The Missing Link project involves a new three-mile road being built between the Air Balloon roundabout and the Cowley roundabout, with the existing A417 single-carriageway stretch through Birdlip to become a accessible route for walkers, horse riders and cyclists.

Work will be carried out in two phases but the project is not expected to be finished until early 2027, according to the timeline^[6]. National Highways, which is leading the scheme, shared an update just yesterday (December 1) about the progress so far.

The update read: "We’ve been working hard behind the scenes with local authorities and statutory bodies to ensure that planning conditions (requirements), as set out in our Development Consent Order, are met and signed-off (discharged) by the Secretary of State for Transport ahead of main construction. A key milestone for the project, this task has now been completed and means we can start the main build in early 2024.

"As we move towards this next phase you will start to see vegetation clearance along the route, which is being carried out under the watchful eye of a specialist clerk of works." In a separate update dated November, National Highways shared more information about roadworks.

It advised: "We’ve almost completed our work to widen a small section of the A417 between Brockworth and the Air Balloon roundabout. This work will enable us to keep traffic moving during the main construction phase of the project.

"Work is progressing well and we’re on track to finish on time. Our last planned overnight closure of the A417 will take place on Friday 1 December.

"The full weekend closure of the A436, which was postponed in November due to localised flooding, will now take place in January 2024. This closure is needed so that we can start to construct a new site entrance off the A436 near the Air Balloon roundabout.

"This access point has been carefully located to help keep traffic moving and congestion to a minimum during the project. Crickley Hill Country Park and National Star College will be open for business as usual. We will share more information when the new date is confirmed."

There have long-been safety concerns about the notorious junction due to the congestion and number of accidents there. National Highways says the revised layout should "reduce delays, create a free-flowing road network and improve safety".

References

1. ^{^} pub (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
2. ^{^} M4 at Swindon and the M5 at Brockworth (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
3. ^{^} to say goodbye during its final service on New Year's Eve 2022. (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Gloucester pub's new start with good food and DJs (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Meet the mum and daughter running Cotswolds pub at the heart of the community (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
6. ^{^} timeline (s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com)