The SABRE Road Index


We shall divide this into existing roads and "missing" roads. The "missing" roads will take up everything that is no longer here, which includes "projected" roads and motorways, like the M16 and M41 for example - oh yes, they ARE marked on the 1975 AA Handbook, but where are they now? What became of them? As the list is ever growing, it has become necessary to add anchors, so you can click the headings below to jump to the desired section. The Atlas Use Key explains the codes used in the studies of the particular roads.

Existing Roads

Missing Roads

New Road Planning and Developments

Atlas Use Key

 

Existing Roads

M1 - The UKs first Official Motorway.

M25 - The Big Round London Headache.

M4 - The main artery connecting the heart of Wales to London.

M53 - Bizarre Birkenhead Motorway.

M60 - The New Manchester Orbital Motorway (Finished!!)

M67 - Ah this is nice... What do you mean End of Motorway 1 Mile?

M602 - Salford Expressway (prime example of an Urban Motorway).

A6144(M) - The UK's only single carriageway motorway. Be impressed.

M74 - The great western road to Scotland and the scene of my near death experience.

A38 - The long long South Westerly Road.

A466 - The Lovely Drive through the forest.

A1146 - The ultimate "Take my picture, it's the 60s" road.

 

Missing or Projected Roads

M16 - The missing motorway, now part of the M25.

M41 - The Tale of the London Box and The Tring Bypass.

M63 - Sadly missed west-south Manchester mway, now part of the M60.

A18(M) - A very uncomfortable bit of motorway from the seventies.

A42 - Well, it was missing for a long time.

 

Atlas Use Key

To make SABRE a reality, mixed up with my own (scant possibly!) knowledge of the road network, is the use of a few different road atlases, from varying years; from the undated but post war News Chronicle to the 1996 AA Atlas. Here are the atlases and their respective key:

NCPW - The post war News Chronicle "Motorists Touring Maps and Gazetteer". This is the best map (despite falling to bits) to see what the network looked like before motorways (even pre-Preston Bypass).

AA63 - The AA Members Handbook 1963. Also dropping to bits, but shows Preston Bypass and bits of M6, M1 up to M45, tiny bit of M62 round Manchester etc.

BA72 - The 1972 Bartholomew Road Atlas of Britain. This is great. Shows the A38 where the A5127 is now etc.

LR75 - The Letts Roadbook of Britain 1975. This is great for showing loads of motorways that never actually appeared, such as the M16 and M41. Also great renumbered roads like the M531.

AA00 - The NEW AA Large Scale Atlas 2000, which as superseded the AA96. This was bought for me by my wife Lisa, who displayed excellent taste as this is by far the best atlas going. It is A3 size and ring bound, with a huge 2.4 miles to 1 inch scale. Many hitherto hidden roads can now be identified. Ace.

Please note: I am unsure as to the copyright position here, being an ordinary poverty strapped kind of guy. If any of the companies mentioned above are mightily peeved about my use (and free unpaid advertising) of their products, I apologise in advance and agree to anything bar paying anyone sums of money which I don't have. However, it must be asserted that I am using these products in a very positive way, and I love them all, so I hope no-one is upset and I can remain free to quote from them and go on about them endlessly. Cheers everyone.


 

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