That lonely house on the M6

[XC70]

So, please forgive my vague description here but it is a while since I drove up that way and I am struggling to remember the exact location.

As you drive north on the M6, just before the M74 starts there is a small 2 up 2 down type house at the top of the bank on the right hand side, right on the edge of the motorway. This was empty and shuttered up for many many years. I always assumed it had been bought as part of the motorway upgrade to be demolished.

Somehow it wasnt demolished but just sat there looking right down over the motorway for years. In the last couple of years I noticed the shutters were down and it would appear it is being lived in again. I guess it is particularly noticable and feels particularly close as all the main front windows face directly over the motorway.

Does anyone know the story about this? How come it wasnt demolished? And who (apart from a SABRE member) would want to live almost on the hard shoulder......?

[XC70]

Hi. Just had a bit of a look on Google Maps and the house is directly opposite the VOSA check point. Just south of the rest area. In fact the GSV from n.b carriageway shows the house all boarded up and from the s.b shows it all opened up again....

[avtur]

I know the property you are talking about, I don't know the history behind it but had also noticed it is now lived in again. As to why anyone might live there could it be that occupancy is connected to surrounding farm land, like the M62's "little house on the prairie" ?

(edit) ... I'm struggling with memory here but was that section always D3? somewhere in the back of my mind I have an idea that that section "may" have been D2 in the past, maybe it was bought to permit widening but later reinstated. Perhaps someone with a better memory can clarify?

[Helvellyn]

I know the property you are talking about, I don't know the history behind it but had also noticed it is now lived in again. As to why anyone might live there could it be that occupancy is connected to surrounding farm land, like the M62's "little house on the prairie" ?

Or it might've just cost peanuts.

[XC70]

I know the property you are talking about, I don't know the history behind it but had also noticed it is now lived in again. As to why anyone might live there could it be that occupancy is connected to surrounding farm land, like the M62's "little house on the prairie" ?

(edit) ... I'm struggling with memory here but was that section always D3? somewhere in the back of my mind I have an idea that that section "may" have been D2 in the past, maybe it was bought to permit widening but later reinstated. Perhaps someone with a better memory can clarify?

Was this not part of the cumberland gap upgrade? So it would have been D2, but the new D3 is maybe not down exactly the same corridor?

[wrinkly]

This house?

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.94840 ... 312!8i6656

Yes, it used to be the D2 AP A74, and the centre line in this area was unchanged by the upgrade that made it M6.

[XC70]

Yes. That's the one.

[ScottB5411]

You could access that property directly off the A74, it also had some land that came right up to the dual carriageway. Was probably cheaper to just buy the whole thing than battle with the owners just for the small section of land.

[Gareth]

I remember seeing a guy on a tractor on that island a few years back. Pretty sure it is (or was until fairly recently) a working farm. There are small tunnels under the carriageways which link it to the wider land.

[tipsynurse]

If you GSV the lane to it it looks like the surrounding land is actively farmed but there is no house name on the entrance to the lane leading to it, just a faded dead end sign.

It almost looks as if it was a token house built when widening looked in the offing so the land would be more valuable. It would be a long game to play but I can't imagine even when it was D2 someone would build a house in that position.

[wrinkly]

The 1957 1:10560 map shows that the house existed then, when the A74 was single carriageway and 13 years before it was dualled.

The 1973-4 1:2500 map shows it named Wood View.

[Chris5156]

I remember seeing a guy on a tractor on that island a few years back. Pretty sure it is (or was until fairly recently) a working farm. There are small tunnels under the carriageways which link it to the wider land.

I think you’re thinking of the M62. The house beside the M6 doesn’t have any tunnels under the motorway.

[tipsynurse]

The 1957 1:10560 map shows that the house existed then, when the A74 was single carriageway and 13 years before it was dualled.

The 1973-4 1:2500 map shows it named Wood View.

Wood View is possibly the least appropriate name ever, unless a timber lorry crashes outside!

I'm not sure if the house looks over 60 years old but hard to tell from GSV. I still think it would have been a weird orientation even in the 1950s when you have pleasant farmland and the approach lane 180degrees around .

[PaulLothian]

The original alignment of the road towards the border was about 150 metres south of the current setup. The cottage would have been fairly quiet in those days! Hope this link may work

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by- ... ht=BingHyb

[wrinkly]

The original alignment of the road towards the border was about 150 metres south of the current setup. The cottage would have been fairly quiet in those days! Hope this link may work

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by- ... ht=BingHyb

I think you're looking at the wrong building. Move your view northwards until you see a spot-height of 42 ft just to the left of the A74 in the 1" map. (The number is to the left of the A74, the spot referred to is on the A74 itself.) The house in question is just to the right of that, to the left of the B of Blackdike.

Edit: this is wrong, see below.

[Pendlemac]

The original alignment of the road towards the border was about 150 metres south of the current setup. The cottage would have been fairly quiet in those days! Hope this link may work

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by- ... ht=BingHyb

I think you're looking at the wrong building. Move your view northwards until you see a spot-height of 42 ft just to the left of the A74 in the 1" map. The house in question is just to the right of that, to the left of the B of Blackdike.

Er, isn't that the rest area?

I think the location is just north of the 65 spot height where the yellow road joins.

( Waits to be corrected )

[wrinkly]

Sorry, you're right, it's the black dot just north of the 65 spot height, and sitting on a grid line.

When I looked at the larger scale maps for my post six up, I had the right house, so it is or was still called Wood View.

[Glenn A]

You could access that property directly off the A74, it also had some land that came right up to the dual carriageway. Was probably cheaper to just buy the whole thing than battle with the owners just for the small section of land.

I remember it, it was almost on the border. Quite a lot of properties, usually linked to agriculture, had at grade access to the A74, making the road dangerous as tractors and Land Rovers could pull out without looking properly. Not forgetting the bus stops, the at grade junctions that crossed the carriageway, and the entrance to a school in Lesmahagow that made this road so interesting.

[tipsynurse]

Presumably the boundary hasn't changed between A74 DC and M6 because (whilst boarded up) it has an old looking brick wall up against the motorway boundary fence.

[Steven]

The original alignment of the road towards the border was about 150 metres south of the current setup. The cottage would have been fairly quiet in those days! Hope this link may work

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by- ... ht=BingHyb

You can get a better view by clicking on the "Maps" link up on the yellow bar at the top of this very page, which takes you to SABRE Maps. You can then click on "OS One Inch", select your year, and then use the "Create Overlay" button to fade in a modern map right over the top. It's better then than the NLS side-by-side view as you can absolutely directly compare the two.

Something like this might also be helpful!


(And ironically, the 1963 One Inch map of that part of the world is being generated right now...)