you could argue the toss for quite a while -
the preston by-pass section of the M6 was opened as a motorway on 5/dec/1958, the M1 declared open on 2/11/1959, but perhaps bits of it were open before that. It was certainly 'completely' open before the M6 was (looks like they never finished the Thelwall Viaduct...)
anyway, to the point. If you want to win a copy of the latest 'Off the motorways' guide and think M6 is the right answer, do the 'off the motorways' competition on the BBC Shropshire web site, 'cos it will tell thats the right answer
If you think M1 is the right answer, try the same quiz on the BBC Birmingam website, 'cos that will tell you M6 is wrong and M1 is right
and if like me youre bored on a friday afternoon and you want some value for your licence money, email both sites telling them they're wrong. It's like poking an ants nest with a big stick !
when you've got tired of driving ...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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"It's like poking an ants nest with a big stick !"
At the risk of a sharp moderated smack over the knuckles of my gear changing hand, (vague motoring link) any Backroomers have any sure fire remedies for getting rid of ants?
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any Backroomers have any sure fire remedies for getting rid of ants?
Lay a trail of sugar from ants nest to your car (motoring link) encourage into car and drive them out of town :o)
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Get yourself a pet anteater - also good for termites and other small creepy crawlies.
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It is true to say the Preston bypass was the first stretch of motorway having travelled on it onits open day in my fathers Austin 16.But the MI from north London to leeds was finished before the M6 reached Carlise.Having said that the latest section of the M1 to the north circular is not all that old making the M6 the oldest out of the two .But then comes the question what about the Doncaster bypass A1M,the M8
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M1 from London to Leeds? It only went as far as Leicester the first time we got on it the other side of Harrow. The concept was so new that people drove from miles around just to drive on it - and have picnics and play games on the verges. Halcyon days, must have been around '57 ish, dating by (my father's) various cars and (my)schools.
BB
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Invite Toad for the weekend?
DVD
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At the risk of a sharp moderated smack over the knuckles of my gear changing hand, (vague motoring link) any Backroomers have any sure fire remedies for getting rid of ants?
having come home a few weeks ago, got out of the car (motoring link !) and found a large part of the lawn and path crawling with ants, especially those big winged b*ggers, common or garden B&Q ant powder did the job very effectivly when applied quite copiously. Having had the problem before, I recommend keeping an eye on the problem area and reapplying the powder every couple of days for a week or two after
HTH
when you've got tired of driving ...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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I'll go for the M6. I used to have some very grainy 8mm cine film of the speedo on my mate's 1948 Morris series E using this motorway, showing 62 mph and only 3 other cars. This was shot on Boxing Day 1958. I am extremely clear about this event because it took place at the same time as another rite of passage in my teenage years, mention of which has no place in these columns. I also seem to recall that the M6 (not the M1) was hailed at the time as the beginning of a new era in motoring.
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Is there any truth that the Euston Arch was crumbled to hardcore, for use in the M1, by Syd Bishop demolition?
Or is it urban myth?
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I seem to remember that at least some of the arch was found at the bottom of one of London's docks not too long ago.
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The M6 around Preston is deffo the oldest motorway. I don't see what being the first to complete has to do with it.
The plaque at the Tickled Trout junction of the M6 proves it so how can anyone dispute it?
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What is in a name.
The A4. Britain's first dual carriageway when it was opened in 1925 by King George V
The A4 Great West Road ( Chiswick to Hounslow West ) must rate very highly as a motorway with three lanes in both directions plus cycle tracks plus pavements and grass verges.
IMO Much more wow factor than the Preston Bypass.
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The A4 Great West Road ( Chiswick to Hounslow West ) must rate very highly as a motorway with three lanes in both directions plus cycle tracks plus pavements and grass verges.
A4 cannot win - admits to having cycle tracks - no bikes on motorways...... sorry Henry K
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Ah the A4 great west road
what a glorious road that used to be with all its art deco scenery. Its a crime crime scene now.
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I heard that A4 claim before (and the Kingston By-pass) but long sections of the Eastern Avenue-A127 London to Southend were already open by then.
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John96 wrote: Who won the prize then??
Yes, come on borasport20, you've left us hanging on for more than six years now.
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By many criteria it would have to be Watling street (from Dover to London, thence Chester)
built by the Romans. Although not made for the internal combustion engine, its design & functional attributes must tick the motorway boxes I would have thought. With 'fast' , unrestricted travel between major cities, uniform construction, frequent stopping places/recuperation halts, using the straightest vector between two (or more) locations etc etc.
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It's still the M6 - the North West as always kicks the soft South's sorry backside. First motorways, first trains, first trams, first England Captain to get arrested for assault.....it's all going on here you know.
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err excuse me
The east end of London provided the nation with the first England captain arrested for theft.
Much celebrated in my birthplace. Good old bobby got dun as a tea leaf for nicking some tom.
Following on from my great road names thread, Everywhere else has "London Road" to provide the locals with an aspirational route.
so naff orf
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>>arrested for theft.<<
My point exactly, a girly "light fingered" sort of way to get your collar felt...
I think London's the only place where they have named part of it World's End.
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go feed your whippet out of your cloth cap
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Everywhere else has "London Road" to provide the locals with an aspirational route.
In my village 'London Road' becomes Buxton Road, reflecting the more important destination. One must get to the opera, mstn't one?
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Days when roads had names. .
Great North Road
Great dover Street
The Portsmouth Road
The Great West Road
Eastern Avenue.
The Southend Arterial Road.
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East Lancs Road... when was that opened then? Can remember going down the M6 from Preston (first motorway, btw! ;) ) and across the East Lancs to get to Manchester before the M61/2 was built!
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the first motorway was indeed the m6 , but it was first called the preston bypass ,
www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/news/press_release...0
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>>...but long sections of the Eastern Avenue-A127 London to Southend
>>
but thats a cul de sac.:-)
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>>Days when roads had names
I happened across the 'crooked billet' roundabout the other day. It brought back memories of journies long ago. IIRC every trip to the south coast involved it.
I went wrong on it, and had to have two more goes before I got it right. I'll have to call it up on mapping to sus it.
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the 'crooked billet' roundabout
Hateful thing! Fine once you know it (Well mostly) but I remember using it not long after passing my test...an 'interesting' couple of minutes.
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>> the 'crooked billet' roundabout Hateful thing! Fine once you know it (Well mostly) but I remember using it not long after passing my test...an 'interesting' couple of minutes.
Pah - sorts the men out from the boys. I bet you were the one mimsing around trying to get in a gap at the woking 6 crossroads roundabout.
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According to this tinyurl.com/7nfmxt the A1M Doncaster Bypass wasn't opened until July 1961.
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As I am an aging sad lonley old man in his mid 20's I watched a program on BBC4 about Motorways. On it showed the MOT's press video introducing Britians first motorway, the M6 in Preston. I am pretty sure without a doubt it is the UKs first motorway and back then motorways must have been fun. Doing 50mph in a Morris Monor with a weedy A series and listening to the sound of those crankshaft bearings being stressed and watching the out the back of all that blue smoke caused by the amount of oil its burning, plus you couldn't stop or slow down because it would probably take you 10 minutes to get back up to speed again.
My dad had a Lada so of course I have those memories for real, he always had to stay in the left lane as the car weighed about 1300kg but had a weedy 50bhp engine and 0-60 took about 28 seconds and stopping to 0 at 60 took about 3 and a half miles...
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the 'crooked billet' roundabout
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>>Pah - sorts the men out from the boys
>>
Assuming this is the Staines version.
Recently I had and example of "be prepared for any strange action by your fellow motorists"
I was waiting at the start line to cross from Heathrow to Sunbury.
Suddenly I saw a *** travelling on the A30 East bound about to cross across my bows when he swerved, aiming at my bonnet. He did a smart tight right turn and finished up at the front of the queue in front of me. Lights changed and he took off.
A stupid act, I assume not for the first time, to avoid traffic lights.
Treat them all as idiots!!! Good luck Rattle, join the mad house.
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Here you are:
tinyurl.com/a5z4yq
Edited by bathtub tom on 30/12/2008 at 17:15
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Here you are: tinyurl.com/a5z4yq
thats hinchley wood - where they nearly had a mcdonalds
Edited by Altea Ego on 30/12/2008 at 17:18
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I bet you were the one mimsing
My bike just creates gaps for me, never washing it plus the battered rusty crash bars seems to do the trick.
Is the pub of the same name still shut?
Edited by mss1tw on 30/12/2008 at 17:25
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>>Is the pub of the same name still shut?The Crooked Billet was torched and boarded up for ages but has recently been flattened.
>>thats hinchley wood - where they nearly had a mcdonalds
>>
I hope to add - where they nearly had yellow lines ! :-)))
As a member of RAM ( Residents agains McDonalds), we occupied the site 24 hours a day for 500 days ( a world record)
tinyurl.com/84zdsp
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Why - are you big KFC fans?
AE - just remembered another NW motoring first - the first Drive Through McDonalds in the Uk was in Manchester - it's wall to wall class here you know.
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I assume that must be the one on Wilmslow Road in Fallowfield?
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Go to the top of the class young Rattle.
Another motoring first for the North West was the first drive through bank, in Toxteth, which opened not long afte the riots (I am not making this up, it was a Nat West I think). You stuck your revolver through first window and they give you a big brown paper bag of fivers at the second window. (That bit may be apocryphal)
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As a member of RAM ( Residents agains McDonalds) we occupied the site 24 hours a day >> for 500 days
Good man!
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And instead you got, an old folks home.
Looking to all our futures. ;>)
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And instead you got an old folks home.
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Sort of. Looking to all our futures. ;>)
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They still have some for sale so hurry :-0
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where im from we used to have a petrol station that also sold shotguns ,ammo, and hunting gear...in the inner city of leicester....grants on green lane road, you wouldnt get that combo these days now would you?
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It fits the demographics of Hinchley Wood perfectly, in fact it lowered the average age.
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>>It fits the demographics of Hinchley Wood perfectly, in fact it lowered the average age.
Perhaps thats why the bike shop moved over the river :-(
OOOOh! perhaps I helped save McDonalds profits as it was the wrong customer catchment area ?
Back to motoring- at least it is on the Old Kingston Bypass -almost a motorway ?
Speeds are frequently over the NSL by a big margin.
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