60 years of motorways 05 December 2018
Today marks the sixtieth birthday of the motorway network, and of one entirely forgotten bridge in Lancashire.
Routes
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Preston Bypass
Opening booklets
In days gone by, new roads were often celebrated with a grand opening ceremony and the issue of a commemorative booklet heralding the exciting new highway. You'll find some of them here, complete with a glimpse of all that empty tarmac and a healthy dose of modernist optimism.
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Histories
Preston Bypass
The very first motorway was eight miles of relief for the Lancashire town of Preston. It goes without saying that there's an interesting story to be told about it.
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Histories
Sir James Drake
County Surveyor and Bridgemaster for Lancashire in the 1950s and 60s, Drake was instrumental in the motorway revolution.
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Biographies
What's new
South London's lost motorways
Completing the story of London's epic Ringways, we've just published the Southern Radials, five more motorways that never saw the light of day.
To the north east!
Two new additions to our collection of Opening Booklets take us to Darlington and Middlesbrough.
The ghost junction
The only UK motorway that didn’t connect to ordinary roads finally got its own interchange in 2019. But it's not open, because it still doesn’t touch any ordinary roads.
Have you seen...
Aust to Beachley
Today two motorways cross the Severn near Chepstow. But as recently as 1965, the only crossing was a ferry that carried six cars at a time, from Aust to Beachley.