Today Queen Victoria Road is dominated by traffic making its way towards Amersham on the busy A404.

To cross the road pedestrians can make use of the traffic light controlled crossing at the junction close to the Hight Street however if you are not at that end of the road the only option is to risk your life crossing between the steady flow of juggernauts and other vehicles.

However it wasn't always like this.

Queen Victoria Road is one of the newer roads in High Wycombe indeed it only came in to being a little over a hundred years ago.

In the late 1890's Wycombe was expanding and it was thought that it would be a grand idea to create a new town centre to the eastern end of Wycombe High Street.

Back then at the end of our High Street was the Rupert Gate which served as the entrance to Loakes House or, as we call it today, Wycombe Abbey.

The land for Queen Victoria Road and the bridge crossing the Wye (by the current police station) was presented to the town by Charles Robert first Earl Carrington in 1901.

To make way for the construction of Queen Victoria Road the Rupert Gate was taken down in 1901 and moved to its current location on the Marlow Hill.

The task of moving the structure was carried out by the well known firm of Wycombe builders associated with Hull, Loosley and Pearce.

The new town centre was developed to comprise the administrative buildings of High Wycombe.

After thirty years of development it comprised the police station, council offices, town hall, council chamber (which was originally located in the Oak Room before moving to the council offices we know today), the library and post office.

The architectural style of these buildings are typical of most 1930's buildings in Wycombe.

All the original buildings are still standing today and in the case of the police station, post office and council offices still fulfilling their original function.

Close to the High Street, on the land where the Rupert Gate once stood, are the magnificent Library Gardens.

They are one of the few remaining areas of formal garden left in Wycombe and bring a ray of light into our lives. Year upon year magnificent flower displays are put on in these gardens for passers by the enjoy.

Of course time has marched on and in recent years the town centre has shifted to the west leaving Queen Victoria Road somewhat high and dry.

The library building has remained unused since the library moved and sadly its slowly falling into decay which is a terrible shame when it could be put to good use for the benefit of the local community.

The town hall and oak room no longer classed as a public building and is now operated by a theatre company.

You could say that Queen Victoria Road charts the rise of Wycombe as a town and now the empty library building is reflecting the towns slow fall into the abyss of stagnation and dilapidation.

How many towns would let magnificent buildings like the old library lay empty for so many years?

What do you think?

*Maybe you would like to suggest other suitable topics for letters of the alphabet? If you have any ideas on what you think the letter 'R' should stand for just leave a comment and let me know.