Driving for masochists- old roads you don't miss

[Bfivethousand]

I've recently moved near to the former A453 that has been replaced by the A42 and like many other roads mentioned already the massive reduction in traffic volumes has made the old road far less of a bind to drive than in its previous form, despite the likes of Measham, Ashby etc along the route.

My own nominations - the old A5 through Fazeley / Wilnecote and the former A483 from Chirk up to Chester (excluding the Wrexham bypass bit

[quarella]

A470 southbound between Newbridge on Wye and Llanelwedd. Never managed those bends the way I wanted to.

[RichardA626]

A6 north of Carnforth.

It is hard to believe that the main route from London to Glasgow had to pass through Arnison's Narrows in Penrith before the M6 was opened. And of course the lorries had to negotiate Shap Fell as well.

I remember (old) Top Gear having a feature on a classic lorry meet with a drive up Shap. Tony Mason pointed out in one cab was a warning sign not to try coasting downhill!

[A72]

A8000 - good riddance!

This!

Also, the old A74.
My Dad trying to negotiate the B719 Greenhillstairs junction, in October 1988, will be etched in my mind forever. We were travelling north from Manchester, and he managed to miss the A701 for Moffat. Greenhillstairs was at-grade, and we were like sitting-ducks in the central reservation, waiting for a gap. Dad was swearing, Mum was wailing, wheels were spinning when a gap was found, Song Of The Whale pt2 by Tangerine Dream was playing on the cassette player. I will take those 30 seconds to my grave.

[Bfivethousand]

Oh, that post has taken me back to a childhood holiday trip to Seaton in Devon when I must've been around 12 or 13. Due to my mum's aversion to motorway driving (and I think that one must be hereditary), we drove overland through the Cotswolds and the Mendips.

My flashback takes me back to when we reached where the A359 gave way to the pre-bypass A303 at Sparkford. Dad gave way. And waited, and waited. The absolutely incessant flow of coastbound traffic meant we were waiting, without any hint of exaggeration, for around 15 minutes, during which time dad's language got progressively worse, the beads of sweat accumulated on his forehead with alarming regularity and the remaining journey into Devon became more and more fraught.

[SteveA30]

A sample of the A6 in its masochist heyday.
1. The Anglia goes for it down the dip. Where will he slot in? Further up, the AEC lorry loaded with what appear to be bricks, is at a strange angle. Did it overtake all those cars downhill, so as not to lose momentum for the climb? A common problem for lorries held up by cars on hills. Just in front, a Ford and Austin are straight up the middle, just missing a lorry heading down Shap. The Corsair behind looks about to be pushed downhill by the Bedford TK artic. Further up, a cattle lorry tries to keep its speed up by overtaking a coach. Further up, a line cars take the middle lane that isn't there, chasing a coach past a tanker which is probably down to about 5mph. The centre line is offside to allow room for overtaking. Much further up, more slow vehicles lumber towards the top of Shap Fell.

2.Every picture tells a story and, the AEC artic has now been overtaken by all the vehicles behind, back to the caravan in the previous pic. The Anglia baled out after passing the caravan and is only now going past the coach. Did the AEC stall? Or, did the climb knock it down to walking pace? Meanwhile, more cars are going for the overtake downhill. There must have been much sharp braking, as vehicles slowed abruptly from 40-50 to 30, 20, 10 on the upgrade. My only experience in August 69 from the back seat, included a complete halt, as the chain reaction from some lorries rippled back through the queue behind. Clutches must have had a hard time there. I reckon these 2 are from 1964, based on the Corsair and a Morris 1100 lurking in there. Another convoy crawls to the summit in the distance.

3. An earlier shot, from the 50's, before the S3. Scottish coaches returning home are clearly in a hurry. Those in the distance are overtaking en masse, completely blind, just having faith that nothing is coming down. As they are behind a lorry that must be losing speed rapidly, I wonder if they all got past the motorbike combination, no doubt with all the family crammed in the sidecar. Coach passengers must have found these journeys...stimulating, especially the two hanging out of the back of the Central coach. These close shaves must have happened dozens, perhaps a hundred times a day.

[WHBM]

One I remember from the early 1970s was the "A556" (actually through routed A51-A54-A556) from Chester to Altrincham on weekday mornings. The western bit as far as Northwich was as packed as you can imagine. Shotton steelworks, Stanlow refinery, Northwich ICI chemical works, and many others, all produced huge quantities of road freight. West of Northwich was WS2 or S3, less at times, and the eastbound climb of Kelsall hill through the village invariably saw you spending more time stopped than going. The S3 centre lane was pretty unusable with traffic jammed both ways.

[Comstock]

A sample of the A6 in its masochist heyday.

I smell an awayday idea, if it hasn't already been done. No I'm *not* suggesting all of it, although part of me would like to do Derby to Carlisle.

[lefthandedspanner]

Can't imagine the pre-motorway A62 was much fun at all; since it's bad enough these days between Cooper Bridge and Gildersome with (mostly local) traffic, it was probably a hell of a lot worse when it carried all the trans-Pennine through traffic!

[doebag]

A sample of the A6 in its masochist heyday.
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Can anyone pinpoint the first two pictures on the modern road for me please ?

[wrinkly]

Can't imagine the pre-motorway A62 was much fun at all; since it's bad enough these days between Cooper Bridge and Gildersome with (mostly local) traffic, it was probably a hell of a lot worse when it carried all the trans-Pennine through traffic!

Probably shared between several A roads. About five of them cross the ridge of the Pennines within a few miles each side of the M62.

[Burns]

A sample of the A6 in its masochist heyday.
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Can anyone pinpoint the first two pictures on the modern road for me please ?

I was curious myself. It looks to be here. I'm going to have to check this section of road out next time I'm down this way. It looks fun.

[doebag]

A sample of the A6 in its masochist heyday.
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Can anyone pinpoint the first two pictures on the modern road for me please ?

I was curious myself. It looks to be here. I'm going to have to check this section of road out next time I'm down this way. It looks fun.

Good bit of detective work. I have driven that in the past, may have to do it again. If only those houses on the left could talk ! [I know someone who lives in the village of Stilton, and as a boy remembers the A.1 still going through the middle of the village.]

[SteveA30]

Yep, Hucks Brow it's called. There is a Red Cross box by the house in the first 2 photos. I bet it was well used.

[mark3evo]

old A1 from A14 to Doncaster , peppered with roundabouts... PRE 1986

[mark3evo]

A21 before Tonbridge by-pass up to 1970

[Glenn A]

Yep, Hucks Brow it's called. There is a Red Cross box by the house in the first 2 photos. I bet it was well used.

The image now shows only two cars a considerable distance apart, completely different to the A6 in the sixties. Also dangerous overtaking moves then due to drivers becoming impatient were a frequent cause of accidents and the Red Cross box would have been opened probably every week.

[rhyds]

A470 southbound between Newbridge on Wye and Llanelwedd. Never managed those bends the way I wanted to.

And the single lane bridge with traffic lights wasn't much fun either.

[rhyds]

The A487 through Porthmadog on a summer weekend was an awful experience. All of the Midlands to Pwllheli traffic trying to get around a roundabout the size of a dinner plate...

[Trainfan]

A sample of the A6 in its masochist heyday.

One of the best posts I've seen on the Interweb for a long time. Thank you!

So many epoch stirring memories in the pictures and yet these days that stretch of road is regarded as a motorcyclis'ts dream. My 200 BHP ninja sportsbike cruises up (a deserted) there at ...erm ... 60. (Random units)