www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/File:Mu... Does anyone else remember the old blue "Motorway" direction signs?
sabre-roads.org.uk
SABRE
@sabre-roads.org.uk
From the A1 to the V12, the members of SABRE (the Society for British and Irish Road Enthusiasts) explore the history and future of the British and Irish road networks. Why not join us? https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk
I wasn’t going to write while I was away, but sometimes you find something so completely arresting that you have to share it, if only to see if everyone else feels the same goggle-eyed bewilderment. Join me in a brief trip to Tokyo’s Nihonbashi Bridge. roadsorguk.substack.com/p/a-bridge-u...
A bridge under troubled bridges
A visit to Japan to see a bridge that was ruined by another bridge, and a type of highway planning beyond any of the UK’s worst nightmares.
roadsorguk.substack.com
On this day 60 years ago (1966): Aust services begins trading, as the Severn Bridge opens to traffic. It was the UK's largest service area, but it has since moved to a much smaller building.
Aust services opens to the public
A detailed history of Severn View (Aust) services/Severn View motorway services, including the design, contracting and planning arrangement for Severn View (Aust) services/Severn View, as well as…
motorwayservices.uk
Wobbly wobbly jelly people only. (No, not a manufacturing defect, this is the official design, which a whole committee of people must have looked at and thought, yes, that’s the one.)
Possibly worst screenshots ever but - from a YouTube film that shows a trip on the 'new' A1M & across N London to Heathrow in 1962 & an eclectic mix of traffic signs. Worth a glance. @showmeasign.online @sabre-roads.org.uk @roads.org.uk youtu.be/pQISKUwhP6I?...
On this day 55 years ago (1971): Harthill services opened. Designed as the antidote to the crowded and dreary English service areas, Harthill imagined a busy trade that never materialised, leading to it being demolished twice
Harthill services opens
A detailed history of Heart of Scotland (Harthill) services/Heart of Scotland motorway services, including the design, contracting and planning arrangement for Heart of Scotland (Harthill)…
motorwayservices.uk
This #MapMonday, let's take another look at part of SABRE Maps. Today is one of our favourites - Map Fader. Pick a layer that you want to look at, click the "Map Fader" button, and pick a second layer, and compare the two! It works with any #map layers we have, so you can easily see any changes!
Terence Cuneo & the "heroic age" of motorways - a view from a helicopter of the southern section of the London - Birmingham /Yorkshire motorway on the cover of a publicity book issued by the builder's ,John Laing, in 1959. @roads.org.uk @showmeasign.online @sabre-roads.org.uk ↘️ flic.kr/p/2sw4M43
![The London - Birmingham Motorway : L. T. C. Rolt : John Laing and Son Ltd : [London] : 1959 : cover by : Terence Cuneo : the scene from an oil painting gives an overview of a temporary railway bridge over a newly dug cutting with, in the background, the new 'scar' of the outline of the road in the background cutting across a rural landscape. The title panel in 'motorway' blue, takes the form of a motorway traffic sign and includes the short-lived parallel line symbol proposed to denote motorways.
The cover to a marvellous 'glossy' brochure issued by the construction company John Laing and Son Ltd., the "builders of Britain's first major motorway' on the basis that this section of the M1 completed on 31 October 1959 post-dated that of the Preston By-pass section of the M6 in Lancashire that had opened on 5 December 1958. The booklet issued by Laing alongside the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and the consulting engineers Sir Owen Williams & Partners tells of the remarkable period of construction of the Motorway between Luton, Dunchurch and Crick, where work began on 24 March 1958 in a field at Slip End at 1500hrs and that was completed in nineteen months.
The text, illustrations and photographs considers the surveying, planning, design and construction of the motorway that had been tendered in four contract sections in 1957 and awarded in January 1958. The text, written by noted author R. T. C. Rolt, conveys the sense that this work was to be considered alongside the heroic age of railway construction. The cover is taken from a painting by Terence Cuneo entitled "View from a helicopter, London - Yorkshire Motorway (Southern Section)" and reminds us of the extensive use of helicopter and radio technology to enable construction.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yqh2atawixxlb6ncx2fh73r6/bafkreihl3fhvevxt7r7d6epkmhhv4e2ugfg2hpiopfsgl47n4yghaapery)
On this day 50 years ago (1976): the Staples Corner flyover opened. It was one of two structures which were originally planned for this landmark roundabout that marks what's now the start of the M1.
Ah, our old MSN Group. And since those early days, we've grown hugely with our Forums, the SABRE Wiki and SABRE Maps (@maps.sabre-roads.org.uk) being the highlights, but also our presence elsewhere meaning we're recognised as the place to ask about all things British and Irish roads.
Another part of SABRE Maps that you might not have used or forgotten about is our Sheetfinder - pick your scale, click on the location and the #maps covering that location at that scale appear in the right hand area. Click on the thumbnail, and it takes you to the map. Easy! buff.ly/f7tZpdc
A chat with @municipaldreams.bsky.social about Birmingham's penchant for redevelopment/reconstruction - a key memory for me growing up there in the late '60 - reminded me of this image from G. Dowling's lovely Flickr set. @roads.org.uk @sabre-roads.org.uk @showmeasign.online flic.kr/p/eHexpV
Construction of Bordesley flyover Birmingham
This was the Bordesley temporary flyover under construction on the weekend of 15th October 1961. It was built by J.J.Gallagher's over one weekend and was actually to last 26 years. The onlookers, as n...
flic.kr
It's like watching the slow demise... the god tier gantry structure though - prove me wrong. (1st pic is by Andy Clarke)
New Gort motorway plaza to feature 54 bicycle stands for local residents - if Supermac's row back on their vow to stop negotiating with the Irish planning system
Gort Plaza to feature 54 cycle stands
Guide to Gort Plaza on the M18 at J16: location of The Plaza Group services at Gort, Gort Plaza reviews and more about Gort Plaza services from Motorway Services Online, the motorway service station…
motorwayservices.ie
100 years ago last month, the Portway in Bristol opened. Originally allocated to the A36, it was renumbered as A4 in the 1935 numbering revisions. A century later it is still a major link in and out of the city. What are your experiences of it? #bristol #roadgeeks
Ah - the "Inner Ring Road" - how very 1960s! Footage of Coventry being pulled apart by the City Council - & with some fine 'temporary' signs! @showmeasign.online @roads.org.uk @sabre-roads.org.uk Full film - & others - from Mike Roberts/YouTube youtu.be/F4nFKrfkFFM?...
A 'big blue sign' - part of '60s & 70's UK streetscape announcing a new road project - here the Ministry of Transport & the old West Riding County Council for the M62. Shots of plant crossing A640 with old trolleybus poles & GEC lighting. @roads.org.uk @sabre-roads.org.uk @showmeasign.online
@showmeasign.online The M65 a bit of a weird motorway, isn't it? It seemingly exists for no apparent reason, connecting a number of (in the grand scheme) small towns in the Calder Valley to Preston. There's a lot of major cities that don't get that type of high tier road building.
It's amazing what you find on industrial estates in deepest Northamptonshire. A once common sight on Britain's streets - an installation of 1950/60s Revo Electric 'Dalek' C13723 sodium street lamps on a contemporary steel column & bracket giving off very Wolverhampton vibes! #history #streetscape
I’m away this summer, so please enjoy this piece I wrote for the Friends of Brompton Cemetery Magazine earlier this year, about one of London’s unbuilt motorways, and what it might have been like to try to exist alongside it.
The monster seen from below
What might it have been like to stand in one spot and witness the arrival, and the uncertainty, of plans for an urban motorway in West London?
roadsorguk.substack.com
This #MapMonday we'll leave a reminder of one of the other applications in the SABRE Maps family - the Co-ordinate Finder. Mouse over the map of GB or IRL, and get the location of that point in lots of modern and archaic co-ordinate formats. Perfect for map nerds like us! buff.ly/JraIUl8
m28.ie/ringaskiddy-... ROI just casually reopening the 'strikethroughs on prohibition signs' argument I see. Also, I like the fact they have "Protected Roads".
Ringaskiddy Relief Road Opens to Traffic - M28
m28.ie
However, the article also goes on to say that "the first fully automatic electric traffic lights were at Piccadilly Circus in 1937", which isn't true. The first were in Princes Square, Wolverhampton in 1927, with a second set in Leeds in 1928.
Surprise as Chiltern Chalfont has its rejection overturned, leaving us again with two rival service stations planned for the M25
Rejected Chiltern Chalfont plan returns
Guide to Chiltern Chalfont services on the M25 between J16 and J17: location of Extra services at Chiltern Chalfont, Chiltern Chalfont services reviews and more about Chiltern Chalfont services from…
motorwayservices.uk
And the full story is held on one of our other associated sites: Pathetic Motorways. pathetic.org.uk/features/num...
Pathetic Motorways
Examines and pokes fun at some of the lesser known British motorways. Includes photos and videos
pathetic.org.uk
Motorway signalling is a complex topic, with strict regulations about what can and can't be displayed. Emergency situations like the Pennines being on fire call for unusual - if unfortunately not consistent - messages.
Bryn Buck 🏳️🌈💛🤍💜🖤@showmeasign.online · last mo.Also, I'm really not loving this inconsistency with messaging - can we just have a single legend and stick with it???
Another #MapMonday means more #maps on SABRE Maps! This week we bring 8 Half Inch maps from 1970-72. Our favourite in this batch are the western half of the OSNI Half Inch Second Series from 1970, which includes all of County Donegal as well as the western half of NI. buff.ly/0iOZSxr
