Gorgeous Motorway Images

I am deeply endebted to the lovely people at freefoto.com for allowing me to use and abuse the following images. I will first shamelessly plug their website, as is my custom. They have nice images that span a wide range of subjects, such as cars and boats and of course motorways. The images are free for use on websites etc, provided you include a link to them. You can get there from the SABRE Links page. Consequently, as the images used on this page are from there, please link to them if you use any of them. And then link to SABRE as well. And give me loads of money. And jewels. And treasure. And a new car. And...

The simply wonderful A19/A66 intersection near Middlesborough.

This is a marvellous junction. I mentioned this somewhere else, but so what. Approaching from the south on the A19, the scenery ahead is one of industry. Huge cooling towers and metal pipework with gusts of steam belching out, like a scene from Blade Runner. My wife hates it, but I have always found these kind of places sort of (cringe) romantic. I used to work on an oil refinery and chemical works in Grangemouth, Scotland in 1988 (ooh money!). I did permanent nights, and I would walk down to the site from my office in amazement at all the twinkly lights. Of course, the element of danger made it even better.

The usual trouble on the A1.

Sickening isn't it? And our cars don't have air conditioning as standard, or auto gearboxes. Lanes of frustration.

The Angel of the North sculpture thing (or a crashed plane) as seen from the A1(M).

A scene from the M62, showing a superb bridge.

I once delivered cars and vans for living (more of an existence really - very badly paid) and I loved it. One day I had the dubious pleasure of driving to Liverpool and back 3 times. This bridge always caught my attention. In fact, as the M62 crosses the Pennines, there are some marvellous structures. One day I should try to use the old A roads to get a glimpse of some of the overpasses, such as the one where the M62 crosses the reservoir. I find this section is even better when covered with tons of snow. Actually, the M62 around Manchester was pretty impressive, although it now no longer exists: its place has been taken by the M60. I bet that's caused some problems. Does this mean the M63 is now no longer also?

Another picture of the M62 on the Pennines.

This is the bit where the two carriageways split up for a bit, with the Liverpool bound carriageway slightly higher up than the other. There is a farm right in the middle, I think you can just about see it in the picture. I was once told an interesting story about this, by a person who purported to have worked on the construction of that section. Therefore, I can not vouch for its authenticity, but for those who are interested here it is.

The chap that owned the farm was presented with a compulsory purchase order and told that his farm would be demolished. He said "Bugger that" or words to the effect. He fought and fought and in the end, the plans were amended so that he would be a kind of island in the middle of a motorway. During the construction, he played Beatles music at top volume to drown out the noise of the diggers, and as a show of defiance. The workers loved it.

That is the story, but I have my doubts about it. If anyone can confirm it, or deny it, please be my guest.

Click on the scary self portrait to see a picture of Jcn 6 M6 (also known as Spaghetti Junction)

Clicking on the above scary self-portrait will take you (I promise) to an amazing picture of Spag Junction, from after completion but before opening. It is part of the company website of the groovily-named firm "Corderoy", who built said junction. I have emailed and requested permission to use the image (cos it is a gem!), but as yet have received no reply. To fill the gap, I have included the above link so you can see it (but remember to hit the BACK button to get back here again).