The bypass led to immense protests in an attempt to halt the felling of trees (including mature oak, ash, and beech) and the start of building work. A number of protesters were veterans from the Twyford Down protests over the building of the M3 motorway. Others were students, unemployed people, part-time workers and people taking time off from work to protest. In 1994, a local comprehensive school teacher, Helen Anscombe, founded "The Third Battle of Newbury", an umbrella group of organisations against the bypass. The name actually came from a meeting held by local townspeople and was the suggestion of a name by a local historian who cared deeply that the battlefields of the Civil War stayed safe to visitors.