The Secret History of the Motorway

Futher Reading

Researching the article's not exactly been the work of a moment, and the following publications have been invaluable:

  • Motorways by Drake, Yeadon and Evans (Faber and Faber, 1969)
  • A History of British Motorways by George Charlesworth (Thomas Telford, 1984)
  • A Road Plan for Lancashire by Sir James Drake (Lancashire County Council, 1949)
  • The Motorway Achievement Volume 1 edited by Sir Peter Baldwin and Robert Baldwin (Thomas Telford, 2004)
  • The Motorway Achievement - Building the Network: The North West of England by Harry Yeadon (Phillimore & Co, 2005)
  • The Motorway Achievement - Building the Network in Southern and Eastern England by Sir Peter Baldwin, Robert Baldwin & D I Evans (Phillimore & Co, 2007)
  • Roads for the Future - Department of Transport, 1969
  • Roads for Prosperity - Department for Transport, 1989
  • Roads in England annual reports - Department for Transport and predecessors
  • Roads in Scotland annual reports - Scottish Office

The following websites were also invaluable:

And items from the National Archives at Kew, West London and the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh were also invaluable, as well as various County and City archives up and down the country.

The Secret History of the Motorway

Sections:

Introduction

Early Struggles

Indifference to Acceptance

The Tide Turns

The Special Roads Act

The Preston Bypass

The M1, M10 and M45

The Motorway Age

Plans, Big Plans

Low Priority

Last Hurrah

Much Ado About Nothing Much

What of the Future?

 

Timeline

 

Maps and Plans

 

Further Reading

 

See Also:

50 years of Motorways