The first view so many visitors had of Victoria. Remember, there was no "out Douglas". At this time, there were still the remains of the stables and field where the horses and the milk wagons they had hauled to serve Victoria were kept. There were empty fields in places "out Douglas" so this is where Victoria began for those approaching by road. Real Victorians called this the "Fountain Circle" and in these photographs one can still see the fountain retained. The fountain had had its origin in the days of horse drawn vehicles. This intersection was at the top of the hills from the directions of Victoria, Douglas and the Gorge. This was a place to breath the horses, therefore, after the pull up these hills and the city had installed a fountain here to allow watering the horses. When cars came along in sufficient number to cause problems here, the original traffic circle was installed and, in tradition bound Victoria, the fountain was retained in its middle. The same thing was done with the "modern" solution we see here.
The Roundabout should have been called that not because of the traffic circle here but because of the endless discussions, planning and backtracking in city hall about what was to be done about the terrible intersection here. This roundabout that we see here is the new, modern roundabout that was going to be the permanent fix. Well, it wasn't and plans were under way yet again for yet another revision of this intersection.
Here's a catch of vehicles. A genuine hard top convertible, a 1949 Ford and a car carrier loaded with brand new Ford vehicles!
Here we see what had occasioned this series of photographs. While coming past on the Honda motorcycle, these engineers had been espied standing about with drawings. It looked as if something really was going to be done and so it would be a good idea to record what the third generation traffic circle had looked like before it was supplanted by the fourth generation solution. (The engineers and technologists of the time could always be identified by brush cuts, white shirts and a breast pocket occupied by a suite of pens, pencils and a miniature slide rule.)
