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After more than two years of roadworks, a new stretch of dual carriageway on the A30 at Temple was officially opened in the summer of 2017.

It was the latest in a history of major improvements to the main route into Cornwall that have been ongoing since the seventies in a bid to ease congestion.

At Temple, the existing A30 was widened to create a dual carriageway , but previous improvements have seen completely new sections and bypasses built, consigning parts of the old A30 route to history.

Although most of the old A30 route that was replaced still exists as single carriageway roads that can be driven on, there are a few abandoned sections that became redundant overnight.

Slowly, over the last few decades, these roads to nowhere have quietly started to be reclaimed by nature.

Heading west on the A30 into Cornwall, one of the first examples of these roads is a short section in clear view, running parallel to the dual carriageway just before the Jamaica Inn at Bolventor.

The A30 ran past the front door of this famous pub until the dual carriageway was built in the early nineties.

Although the slipway from the dual carriageway exits onto the old A30 to take you past the Jamaica Inn, it does so midway along the road it is bypassing, leaving the stretch to the east superfluous.

(Image: Greg Martin)

Though it only leads to a gated track and a field now, it is still possible to drive down this road and see how the edge is beginning to crumble into a ditch.

Ten years ago, on 11 July 2007, a new section of A30 from Bodmin to Indian Queens was officially opened replacing the notorious seven-mile stretch that crossed the Goss Moor National Nature Reserve.

A year later, this once-congested road was reopened as a multi-use trail for cyclists, runners and walkers to enjoy the surrounding nature away from the traffic.

(Image: Greg Martin)

One of the oldest abandoned sections of A30 is hidden from sight in the middle of the St Erth roundabout. Situated at the western end of the Hayle bypass, this short piece of road became unnecessary when the roundabout was opened with the bypass in 1985. However, as the road runs across a bridge over the St Erth to St Ives railway line, it could not be built on or put to another use.

(Image: Greg Martin)

With moss growing through the old tarmac and trees hanging over each end of this lost highway, nature is slowly reclaiming this space as its own.

(Image: Greg Martin)

However, it still has some way to go to catch up with a short stretch of abandoned A30 in Penzance that is barely recognisable as road any more.

When the A30 was moved several metres to align with the Mount Misery roundabout and newly built Penzance bypass in the early nineties, this section of road that led out of Alverton in Penzance and down towards Trereife House was left deserted.

(Image: Greg Martin)

Covered by trees and with foliage spreading across the ground, it is easy to miss the white lines that still run through this path used mainly by people walking their dogs these days.

(Image: Greg Martin)

As it narrows, coming into line with the newer road on the other side of the hedge, it becomes unrecognisable as the main route to Land’s End that it once was. At this point, nature really has won back its land.