Back in the day, when the M1 was referred to as 'the road to nowhere' as it started after it left and ended before it got there, the M45 was actually a quite busy link road. Heavies from the south going to the north-west (and vice-a-versa, of course) had an almost 50-mile gap between the M1 and the M6. Many of them traversed this by going M45/A45/A452 at the Stonebridge roundabout, then joined the A5 at Brownhills and the M6 at what is today Junction 12. The alternative was the longer A5 route from Crick. The M45 was also, of course, the access from Birmingham/Coventry regions to the M1. The A45 was used by BSA testers from the Elmdon Airport Hotel (by todays BHX) and by Triumph testers from Meriden and (particularly south of the Coventry bypass) by the various Coventry car companies. A favourite for us lads on our bikes was across the carriageway from the Blue Boar Cafe (no Armco back then!) to the roundabout at the start of the M45, round the roundabout and back into the Cafe, before the needle lifted off the record in the jukebox... The other favourite was the Straight Mile of the B4453; it was alongside the Cafe. Today, the Cafe's site is occupied by the Texaco service station and McDonalds.
I live in Leamington Spa and used to commute to Northampton along the M45 daily, the fact it was so quiet wasn’t good for fuel economy! Last time I checked it hadn’t had a fatal accident for over 10 years. Also although it’s in Warwickshire it doesn’t connect to any other motorway in Warwickshire’s remit so the Police don’t routinely patrol it. The rail tunnel was built by digging down, building the tunnel and then back filling and this caused repeated subsidence of the M45 that was only finally solved in about 2005.
I'm in NN & this road is superb for getting to Wales, quick route down the A46 which is three lanes between Cov & Warwick then lunch at Strensham before the lovely Heads of the valleys road, after the M50 of course.
One of the best presenters on YT right now. Loads of facts, quality aerial shots, good pacing, and witty delivery. In an earlier era, I'd like to think you might have gotten your own programme on television.
Grew up on one end of the M45. Only road in Britain where you can find the top speed of your car. Used to get the Jaguar concept cars roaring up and down out of the factory up the road.
I know this as the Jaguar test track as in the early 90’s i worked in Northampton but lived in Bristol so would be on this empty road very early on a Monday or late on a Friday…at which times Jaguar would often blast past in a prototype XJ220 at full pelt ! i can remember the wobble of my poor little Rover as it went past me at light speed ! D :0)
The M50 Ross Spur is another "historic" motorway, with features including the hard shoulder disappearing under/over bridges, its original trumpet interchange with the M5 (which once stopped there) being converted into a roundabout when the M5 was widened, and the sheer madness of J3 with its right angle slip roads.
@@AutoShenanigans I have to admit that the 6km out and back run from Strensham roundabout (there's a nice handy layby in the middle) to J1 of the M50 is a good performance and handling check for any remap/suspension tune work.
The M50 junction 3 right angle slip is one of my favourite things on the UK motorway network. It’s the only time I’ve ever managed to cycle on a UK motorway (before heading down the single track lane on the south side just yards from the main carriageway - amazed the health and safety brigade haven’t closed that lane off!). Ok, I was young and there was far less traffic back in the 1980s!
In the early 70s, a friend and I made the mistake of hitch hiking at the start of the M45, at a time when this activity was quite common. We were headed back to our homes in London. It soon became apparent how few cars were using this route and it was several hours of waiting in the hot sun before somebody offered us a lift. Our luck changed then, as the driver was heading for London.
Really great delivery in this video. Love your cadence when you reference Geoff Marshall & again when you say "keeping on the railway theme, despite being a motoring channel, but there we are"
5:23 - thank you for the drone flypast of these ventilation shafts! I always look for them when I am driving up to Coventry, and now you have finally shown me what they really are!
Little bit of naughty history about the M45... It was commonly used by locals for top speed test runs back in the day. They'd either get on the M1 at Crick, off at Watford gap services then slip out the service exit, over the bridge then back on the M1 to take the M45 exit towards dunchurch. Or alternatively, along the A5 then into Watford Gap services through the service road then onto the M1 as before. Once you've taken the exit it sweeps left for a little while before coming to a long right hand bend. After the first big right hander (which would usually be taken at a steady 130mph because of the single unsettling bump 3/4 round the corner) it then opened up onto the big straight (around 1.5 miles) where you could really get your foot in it. At the end of the straight, the road curves gently left for the next few miles giving plenty of room to ease off the throttle slowly and not need to brake dangerously... So they say!
Great video, 2 quick questions, 1) How do you manage not to get fined for using a drone over roads. 2) Ask Geoff to create a series, "Disused ventilation towers", Tim traveller might like that one too, Joking aside, great work on your series. I am amazed how you get your information,. Keep them coming, and thanks again,
We fly a sub 250g drone and keep our distance. Disused ventilation towers... coupled with the tunnels underneath and that could be an interesting video.
The M45 was part of my journey to the Royal Showground at Stoneleigh, when I used to go there a couple of times a month. I loved that road for two reasons: i) It was quiet, after the preceding M25/M1 miles, ii) It meant I was nearly there! I did the journey a few times with a proper train anarak (he now owns a railway museum!) and learnt all about those ventilation tunnels!!
2:47 Look at the bridge base. A deliberate safety feature was built in, the idea that instead of directly hitting the concrete pillars on entry to the tunnel, the shape was made to attempt to scoop cars back onto the lane. Obviously it wasn't completely effective as you can see Armco barriers installed but the consideration in the design of the bridge was there from the start. I do like those old Robert McAlpine bridges. 'Concrete Bob' was a pioneer in reinforced concrete structures for major infrastructure projects back in the day, not just on motorways.
Fun fact is in the early 60s Jaguar test drivers would check the calibration of speedometers by measuring time with a stopwatch between two bridges. They often did this at speeds in excess of 100mph. There is some great Footage of Norman Dewis on the M45 in an early e-type.
@@MikeWooshy I've heard that they used the M1 for testing and I suppose it makes sense to use the M45 whilst you're there. These days it's just the M45 suitable for Vmax runs ;-)
Great video. I liked the Geoff Marshall idea reference. Possibly explains the "Sticking with the railway theme, which is a little odd considering we're a motoring channel" :)
Surprised you didn't mention the way it uniquely crosses jurisdictions of Nhants and Warks, meaning that heading eastbound beyond Dunchurch the road is uniquely unpatrolled as Warks police would need to drive all the way to M1 J16 if they received a call, and if Nhants police received one if they had just come off the M1 they would have to go all the way to Thurlaston to turn around. Officially, this means the motorway is particularly vulnerable to hijacking and the sorts, unofficially it means that you can test the top speed of your car as a young lad. The sheer lack of traffic means that maxing out your car often doesn't result in you passing another car let alone the fuzz. Love this road, right on my doorstep and it carries many of my late teen driving memories.
I live right by this motorway and work on it as recovery driver. It was supposed to go all the way to Birmingham but the planners decided to leave end it at Thurlaston and have the rest as an A road so people who couldn’t use a motorway could have easy access to Birmingham. Of course building the M6 later allowed motorway access to the city. It is should have been pointed out about half way along it goes from being in Warwickshire to being in Northamptonshire so it is not patrolled by the police making it one of the fastest motorways in the country. I have actually driven along it at night and not seen another car on either carriageway.
Back in ye olden days (1989-1991ish) I used to regularly use the M45 on my way from Suffolk to/from Coventry, in a Peugeot 205GTi. I saw the M45 as my last ditch opportunity to make up for lost time on the trip, being able to take advantage of the complete absence of any other traffic and maintaining a steady 70mph* for the entire length of the motorway. *ish.
your channel appeared on my feed a while ago and i have watched several of your videos and enjoyed them, i see the link now as i enjoy Geoff Marshall videos also, sometimes youtube is clever and gets it right.
I look forward to your M27 video.. weird junctions, slip roads to nowhere.. Maybe join it up with the M275, a double feature so to speak. Really good videos these.. short, punchy, gets the job done
2015 I was working on the m45 it was supposed to be getting downgraded to an A road guessing that never happened. The layby or parking area you mentioned is a well known dogging site and the work I was doing had us on call 24/ so me and a mate ended up staying in a caravan in that lay-by for 5 months. Both of us are ex squaddies and thought we were open minded and seen terrible things but nothing could have prepared us for what we saw in that lay-by every night. Continual comings and goings of cars naked people running about a very attractive lady in a long fur coat and nothing else jumping from car to car. It was like another world we met a very nice Polish lorry driver who would park up put on his dress and high heels then try to get in our caravan to keep us "company" we politely declined lol. Was certainly an experience
i assume u mean the current m45 between the roundabout and the only junction. cause if the whole of the m45 were to be downgraded, then imagine being on a non motorway road that only leads to a motorway with no oportunity to leave?
Thanks 'My Name is John'. This has to be one of my favourite episodes so far - short, sweet n witty, architecture and bridges, light traffic (who doesn't like that?), railways, tunnels, a Geoff Marshall mention, the disused grand central railway, nice reservoir and yes I even noticed the tasteful filling - wtf was that pelican thing? 😆 Topped off with a great soundtrack (I've Shazammed for info). I reckon you should to get a "Thank you" tab along the top, I'd happily stick a few quid in for your fuel costs. Or a roadside kebab. Or whatever takes your fancy. Keep up the good work. 👍
I live between Dunchurch and Willoughby and use the M45 to and from work...have done for 18 years. I missed the turn off for Dunchurch one day, and if you do that you have to travel the whole length of the M45, to then get on the M1 to turn back on yourself at J16 M1, to go back up the M1 then onto the M45 right to the Thurlaston end!!! A distance of 35 miles!!! I've only done this once. Another great video, and one of my favourite local motorway. :)
Yes we had to make this trip a couple of times whilst filming... very annoying. Apparently there's a "back door" at watford gap services that saves some time.
@@AutoShenanigans I didn't know this, I just looked on Google maps and there's a little lane that goes off the services to B5385 Cross the bridge and get back off on the other side of the bridge to the services exit road on the opposite side. I wonder if this would be quicker than coming off the M1 at Lutterworth and going through rugby.... Might check it out.
@@AutoShenanigans strange that street view shows no entry signs at each end of those roads. I'm guessing it's for staff access so put signs up to stop public use and sat navs telling people to use them.
As a child I used to ride along the M45 on my Penny Farthing. Breakneck speeds of almost 3.5 miles per hour. Had to stop when the council brought in those new fangled, speed sketch artists. True story. Fun fact.
Great video. The sister motorway to the M45 was the M10 which performed a similar function at the southern end of the then new M1. That road has now become part of the A414 following the remodelling of J7/J8 of the M1.
I used to use the M45 whilst commuting back from Milton Keynes too Birmingham and if there’s one motorway that I found a complete strange anomaly it was the M45. It’s hardly used too the point you’ll see 2/3 other cars on the M45, which I can only conceive it was a kind of failed project whilst building other motorways. However if you want too speed test your car, it’s the motorway too do it. It’s always empty and in the 5 years I drive up and down it, I never once seen. Police car or speed camera😉.
One of the main reasons you hardly ever see a police car on the M45 is because it crosses jurisdictions. If a Warwickshire police car drove down it they’d end up miles into Northamptonshire down the M1 and visa-versa. So unless they are following someone for a good reason they try not to go down it.
A motorway I have known since my childhood in the 1970's. Little used then, and little used now. Indeed, rumour has it that if you want to give your car or high powered bike a blast, this is the road to do it on....not that I ever have. Obviously.
indeed it is as it sits betwixt 2 of our boys in blue county lines so is rarely patrolled. I definitely have not gone a tad over 70mph when i was in the midlands, No Siree.
My dad got a job in London with Rotax in the late fifties. We lived then in Birmingham, where we fully intended to stay. So he got lodgings in Acton, and commuted along the M45/M1 on Friday and Sunday nights. He acquired an Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk III, in which he did the journey at warp factor 9. There were no speed limits in those days. I went with him on a couple of occasions. The Aston was almost devoid of sound insulation, so your ears rang for an hour or so after the trip. Fun, though, to an 11 or 12 year old boy.
A sadly departed and much missed friend was clocked at 145mph on the M45 - he was travelling a bit faster than that (having left The Waterman bike meet on a sunny Wednesday evening to head home to Wellingborough). At some point he attracted the attention of a Police Jaguar X-Type Armed Response Vehicle, which topped out at 145 mph (hence the clocked speed). They had him on camera, but only caught up when he dropped out of warp speed on the M1. And you know what? He got away with it as the police car didn't have calibrated speed measurement instruments on board. Miss you Eddie, one of a kind!
Interesting content, incisive and clever delivery, what’s not to like? Yes, the M45 is close art hand a great for dusting away the cobwebs from my classic car and motorbikes. A motorist’s gem and much better than lots of the usual crap plastered on TH-cam, thanks.
I’ve been watching your most excellent channel for quite a while now but missed this one somehow. Your channel just gets better and better. The lightly sarcastic (and occasionally irreverent political) humour, the surprise video location switching, great drone shots and well researched information all make it very entertaining. The Geoff Marshall comment was inspired, I laughed so hard I spilt my tea.
Hi John, I just stumbled across your channel. Bloody brilliant! I'm more into mass transit, especially trains and trams (and recently canals), as well as Cities Skylines. But I totally enjoyed this video and have subscribed. I'm in Toronto, Canada, spent primary school in New Zealand, and am looking at moving to the north of England. Love the Geoff Marshall reference. He was the first of now many British TH-camrs that I follow; that list now includes you! Cheers, Liz
The last song I was expecting to hear at the end was "the best is yet to come". My eyes were watching car stuff but suddenly my ears were hearing a classic of gaming history and my mind sorta locked up there for a second as two of my passions in life collided for a second. Besides that surprise great vid as always.
Love this. There is a similar experience on the M48. The old Severn view services building is now home to an insurance company but some of the old signage and layout still remain. The current services occupy what used to be the lorry driver area so I've been told. The stretch between junction 21 and Chepstow can be busier but after that it's very quiet. Great motoring and seems a shame to rejoin the M4 at Magor. The junction at Chepstow also provides access to the A48 a lovely old highway.
M45 is a favourite of mine, though I rarely use it these days ever since they upgraded the A38(M)-M6-A14-M11-A120 link. Rapid. Btw the way THAT interchange deserves a video in itself. Catthorpe interchange was absolutely the most cheapest, laziest, nastiest, and officially most DANGEROUS interchange in the whole of the UK. The DoT had the good sense to finally upgrade the area - and they went to town on it!
One week TNT lost three trucks on the island at the end of the M1 slip through rollovers. Add in the countless fender benders as cars tried to outrun trucks at island at the end of the M6 slip, whoever decided merging two lanes into one just at the exit of the island under the M1 needed taking to one side and giving a good slap. Don't ask how I know!
Before the upgrade, didn't you have to use an unclassified road to access the start of the M6 from the A14 or something like that? I remember coming back from going Netherlands in the car from using the ferry at Harwich coming back up to this Junction, and what a shitshow mess it was. See
@@pgmasterson1163 Yes, there was a stupid bone shaped loop, shoved under the M1 that passed for a roundabout, feeding all the roads into each other from what I remember. I stopped using that route because it was annoying, slow, dull and boring. I used to travel A45-M45-M1-M25-A12 instead until all the roadworks and restrictions came along. However, if I was feeling frivolous, sometimes I used the M5-M42-M40-M25-A12, very scenic. A38(M)-M6-A14-M11-A120 ended up being a dream to use after upgrades.
@@pgmasterson1163 As said in another reply just a silly bone shaped loop under the M1, the A14 just ended at the roundabout that only had a left turn, two lanes under the M1 to another roundabout with a straight on (M6) or right turn (M1) option. The exit from the M6 was a two lane slip to the roundabout that suddenly chopped down to one lane under the M1, the 'merge' being on the exit of the island, cars trying to out run trucks were hidden in the blindspot of a trailer headboard and often ended up hooked on the front bumper of a truck.
I grew up in Leamington Spa, before the M40 was built, so the M45 was our default route when leaving home to go to London and beyond (e.g. to France on holiday). I therefore associate it with the excitement of those occasions. The "Motorways merge" signs were always something to look out for, signalling our imminent arrival on to the M1. As an aside, I've always find it curious that the M45 is classified as a "pointless" motorway, given that it serves as the main link between the M1 and Coventry, and the A45 to the west of Thurlaston is dual carriageway all the way to Birmingham and generally quite busy...
I used to live near what was the M10 (before it got downgraded to an A-road) and I thought that stretch was quiet. This afternoon I drove along the M45 from the M1 Jn17 to Thurlaston and I have to say that it was even quieter. The road surface was not up to motorway standards in a few places and, like the M50 which I recently drove along, it didn't really feel like I was travelling along a modern motorway.
Living in South Coventry I have often used the M45 and as a result used it to explore warp speed. Have you thought about doing the Midland Red M1 motorway coaches that were designed to go toe to toe with the diesels on the West Coast Main Line before the 70 mph speed limit was introduced. Tales of the coaches with a favourable gradient and wind walking away from trains on the stretches parallel with the M1. When the M5 was opened the similar Midland Red M5 motorway coaches offered a faster service from Birmingham to Worcester and Birmingham to Bristol than BR.
I lived in north Watford in the 1950s, and before new houses spoiled the view, I used to look across to the Watford bypass, in the direction of Odhams new printing works.. About 3pm, the Midland Red 'bus would pass heading for Birmingham. This was pre-M1 days and I think they were the very attractive AEC ones in black and red.
@@johnjephcote7636 It woukd be a Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company (BMMO) bus, this was Midland Reds own bus manufacturer and very advanced they were to having things like rubber suspension all round and independent front suspension, I think the motorway coaches had dusc brakes from Dunlop aerospace. The powertrain was their own 8.5 litre diesel that was supercharged and if I recall correctly some ran an 8 speed gearbox. This lasted until the early 70s but after years of struggling to get staff as wages in the car industry increased the bus manufacturing was finally killed with Midland Red being nationalised as part of National Express.
Great video. The M45 is very handy when travelling from anywhere south, via the M1, to Coventry. Until I saw your video, I thought this was why it was constructed!
Great video as always. I love learning little bits of trivia about what could be seen as mundane infrastructure. I think you said you would do it, but the M50 would be an excellent choice as a well preserved early motorway, similar to the M45. Another one which would be excellent would be the M31 (a bypass of the M25, or could be unofficially considered as ringway 5) which lives today in a partially built form as the A329(M)
Kilsby railway tunnel took much longer to build than the railway either side of it, (the London to Birmingham Railway). Quick sand was found and lots of water. The contractor went bankrupt, and Rober Stephenson took over in direct command. It is generally considered that working on the tunnel shortened his life so horrible were the below-ground conditions. As far as I know the large castle-like vent shafts were built so the pumps could be installed to remove the constant flow of water. It is still a very wet tunnel.
An interesting presentation video on the M45 motorway in Warwickshire. This motorway features on the 'Pathetic Motorways' website which makes interesting viewing regarding some of our motorways in Britain! It is a motorway as you state stuck in a timewarp when it was first built in 1959 along with the M1 & carrying very little traffic now but a bit more in the day when it was a spur motorway! I like those unique bridges & large ventilation shafts for the railway tunnel. Thank you for uploading.
This was my ‘ah God the M6 is shut’ emergency route to work when I lived in Northampton and worked in Coventry. On one hand it was great because there’s no speed limit, on the other hand it was bad because it still leads to Coventry.
The greatest appreciation of integrity of authenticity & creativity... including sharing of information for how given videos became a reality of awesomeness! Yea! Hahahahaha! O:-)
Love this motorway! It's the last leg of my trip to my home town of Rugby. I can't tell you how smug it feels leaving the M1 chaos to use this dream piece of road 🙌
Great video- I know the road well and you explained it well, though it could be stressed slightly more that the A45/M45 was a very important and very busy route from London to the Midlands and North in the '60's and early '70's. The A45 westwards through Coventry to Birmingham could give you a subject for another episode in its own right as it started life as Telford's Holyhead Road and it has been improved/changed in many places over the years and there are a few short stretches of abandoned/superceded road along the route.
I grew up in a house on the A45 when it was *the* route north and south. I used to fall asleep to the hypnotising light from the headlights circling my bedroom, drifting off only to be disturbed by the distinctive, unpleasant sound of Comma lorries.
When i have used the A45 from M1 to A45 and from A45 on the slip road to M1, i always thought this was well designed and straight forward unlike some modern motorway slip lanes! I always tend to now use the A45 to join the M45 when driving up to Coventry from Milton Keynes. That was a great fun fact to watch!
In all my years behind a wheel I think I've only heard the M45 mentioned by Sally Traffic twice. (They all get called that by me although she is now semi retired and only on the air on a Saturday).
I got a mention on Sally traffic years ago when my truck broke down on the m25 on a Friday afternoon during rush hour and caused chaos now I know how celebrities feel lol. You know you've made it as a truck driver if Sally traffic let's everyone know that you've buggered up the motorway and ruined everyone's travel plans
The M45 is quite a small spur motorway which allows traffic from Coventry to join the M1 South (London). Plus I like how you mentioned Geoff Marshall as well 😂
Used to enjoy taking the M45 instead of the M6 if my journey ended in South Brum. Just got on there and took advantage of the lack of traffic to relax a bit. At 130.
I find it amazing that I sat through an entire video about motorways no less. It was informative and interesting. Not sure how it turned up in my recommended but I'm glad it did.
What you might remember in 1960 were Midland Red Motorway C5 coaches (with the lantern windscreens), going directly from Digbeth B'ham to London Victoria, via A45, M45 and M1, at a time when most family cars could not do much more than 60 mph. The C5 coaches could and did do 85 mph, in serene relative safety in the outside lane, passing most cars on the motorway. Even after the 70 mph limit was introduced in December 1965, and although the timetable was altered, the coaches just kept on going for many years.
Enjoyed that! Being a bit odd, I decided to look for the railway bridge on google maps satellite view and it's amazing how much of the railway route is still discernible. If you follow it south (about 10 miles), you'll get to Catesby Tunnel :D I think you should do another channel - Abandoned Railway Shenanigans ?
As local young lads with new driving licences the M45 was affectionately known as “the Dunchurch saltflats” due to its suitability for finding out just how quickly your 100bhp hatch could go. There was always a rumour that because it was between jurisdictions of the police (Warks/Northamptonshire) the 5-0 never went down there as halfway along they’d be out of their area. No idea of the truth in that.
Spot on mate, if the Warks police received a call just as they passed Dunchurch it would be around 30 miles before they could even be back in the county as they have to turn around at J16 - they could at Watford gap I suppose but getting the barriers up and swapping carriageways is still far too time consuming to justify patrolling any further than Dunchurch. Opposite applies for Nhants police, I bloody love it.
The FIRST motorway I EVER experienced as a child! ...I was born in Rugby before the M6 and upper reaches of the M1 were completed. The M45 went from Dunchurch not too far from home, to the M1 at "Watford Gap" services, and was close to the Northampton turn so my parents could take us to our grandparents in Bedford! We only used it rarely, as the old cars we were travelling in didn't stand up too well to sustained high speeds! The cross country routes were slower and gentler on the old machinery.
I actually work as an technology engineer for the highways and live in Rugby it’s an amazing motorway to work on not too much equipment on there but always a pleasure to work so close to home haha
I actually went and drove this road on saturday (instead of going 2 more junctions straight to the M6), because of this video. Very eery that it was so empty. And I also noticed several other bridges to the design mentioned here on the M1 before I turned off.
Driven past it pretty much every day and never knew what those listed towers are! interesting!.. and I agree it is one of the lowest traffic motorways and feels amazing after coming off congested M1.
A couple of interesting facts about M45: 1) It was widely reported that when Aston Martin had their production at Newport Pagnell they used to use the M45/M69/M1 triangle for high speed testing of new cars and there were competitions between test drivers for the fastest time. 2) The M45 crosses two constabulary boundaries and the lack of full intersections meant that any traffic police from either Northamptonshire or West Mids police had to venture well outside of their districts just to return to their counties. This was frowned upon and AFAIK standing orders prevented going outside of the boundaries without express permission. In either direction the turning around meant either a long journey outside of the County on the motorway or an excessive detour on country roads. Also, there was always the issue of who's collar it was anyway when stopped by a traffic cop on the wrong side of the boundary. There were very, very few police cars ever spotted on M45. The M69 has the same sort of issue but crucially the A5 intersection is virtually on the boundary between Leics and West Mids police authorities.
There's been a few people mention the high speed testing, and I too was under that impression. But i cannot find any "reputable" source that proves it. Is it a myth.... I'll get to work.
@@AutoShenanigans I would expect that the authorities and AM would not like that to be widely known, I think that you will have to find an AM test driver to confirm it. I used to work in Coventry and many of my clients were suppliers in the car industry so that many stories/facts floated around. Good luck with your research.
I moved to Leamington Spa in 1970 and worked for a main BL dealer in Coventry. If we had a particularly recalcitrant car that say, ran hot at high speed, part of my job was to road test it. For really high speed, I used the A45/M45 from Coventry turning at the services on the M1. I have to admit to doing over 160mph in a Jensen Intercepter just for the hell of it, no sorry, to road test the car at high speed……. There were few if any police patrols around in those days, using either Jaguar Mk2’s or Triumph 2000 Pi’s so wouldn’t have caught me anyway. Most of the time, I drove BL cars and actually managed to get a Maxi 1750 up to 100mph on the speedo or whatever the real speed was! Happy days………
![Stroads are Ugly, Expensive, and Dangerous (and they're everywhere) [ST05]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ORzNZUeUHAM/mqdefault.jpg)
Back in the day, when the M1 was referred to as 'the road to nowhere' as it started after it left and ended before it got there, the M45 was actually a quite busy link road. Heavies from the south going to the north-west (and vice-a-versa, of course) had an almost 50-mile gap between the M1 and the M6. Many of them traversed this by going M45/A45/A452 at the Stonebridge roundabout, then joined the A5 at Brownhills and the M6 at what is today Junction 12. The alternative was the longer A5 route from Crick. The M45 was also, of course, the access from Birmingham/Coventry regions to the M1.
The A45 was used by BSA testers from the Elmdon Airport Hotel (by todays BHX) and by Triumph testers from Meriden and (particularly south of the Coventry bypass) by the various Coventry car companies. A favourite for us lads on our bikes was across the carriageway from the Blue Boar Cafe (no Armco back then!) to the roundabout at the start of the M45, round the roundabout and back into the Cafe, before the needle lifted off the record in the jukebox... The other favourite was the Straight Mile of the B4453; it was alongside the Cafe. Today, the Cafe's site is occupied by the Texaco service station and McDonalds.
I don't knw why these videos have started to pop up on my feed, but for whatever reason I'm riveted by these endless motorway videos...
Thanks for watching mate!
I live in Leamington Spa and used to commute to Northampton along the M45 daily, the fact it was so quiet wasn’t good for fuel economy!
Last time I checked it hadn’t had a fatal accident for over 10 years. Also although it’s in Warwickshire it doesn’t connect to any other motorway in Warwickshire’s remit so the Police don’t routinely patrol it.
The rail tunnel was built by digging down, building the tunnel and then back filling and this caused repeated subsidence of the M45 that was only finally solved in about 2005.
I didnt know about the subsidence..most interesting.
I'm in NN & this road is superb for getting to Wales, quick route down the A46 which is three lanes between Cov & Warwick then lunch at Strensham before the lovely Heads of the valleys road, after the M50 of course.
One of the best presenters on YT right now. Loads of facts, quality aerial shots, good pacing, and witty delivery. In an earlier era, I'd like to think you might have gotten your own programme on television.
Kind words mate, thanks a lot.
Excellent stuff. Especially grateful for the 'train in ventilation shaft' shot!
Nice drone shot of a train passing below the tunnel ventilation opening.
There was a fair bit of waiting around for that one :D
@@AutoShenanigans we, your viewers, thank you. :)
Like these 'Secrets of' videos very much. Great geek material 😁. Thank you
It's a lot of fun to make and Im glad you enjoy it.
Grew up on one end of the M45. Only road in Britain where you can find the top speed of your car. Used to get the Jaguar concept cars roaring up and down out of the factory up the road.
I know this as the Jaguar test track as in the early 90’s i worked in Northampton but lived in Bristol so would be on this empty road very early on a Monday or late on a Friday…at which times Jaguar would often blast past in a prototype XJ220 at full pelt ! i can remember the wobble of my poor little Rover as it went past me at light speed ! D :0)
Brilliant production and content.. that overhead drone shot of a train going through the tunnel at 05:44 was perfect!
The M50 Ross Spur is another "historic" motorway, with features including the hard shoulder disappearing under/over bridges, its original trumpet interchange with the M5 (which once stopped there) being converted into a roundabout when the M5 was widened, and the sheer madness of J3 with its right angle slip roads.
I was just literally about to comment this
Yeah it looks like the M50 will make for a great film.
@@AutoShenanigans I have to admit that the 6km out and back run from Strensham roundabout (there's a nice handy layby in the middle) to J1 of the M50 is a good performance and handling check for any remap/suspension tune work.
I like the sound of that.
The M50 junction 3 right angle slip is one of my favourite things on the UK motorway network. It’s the only time I’ve ever managed to cycle on a UK motorway (before heading down the single track lane on the south side just yards from the main carriageway - amazed the health and safety brigade haven’t closed that lane off!). Ok, I was young and there was far less traffic back in the 1980s!
In the early 70s, a friend and I made the mistake of hitch hiking at the start of the M45, at a time when this activity was quite common. We were headed back to our homes in London. It soon became apparent how few cars were using this route and it was several hours of waiting in the hot sun before somebody offered us a lift. Our luck changed then, as the driver was heading for London.
Really great delivery in this video. Love your cadence when you reference Geoff Marshall & again when you say "keeping on the railway theme, despite being a motoring channel, but there we are"
And the "some things never change"
The M45 makes an excellent long and mostly empty straight for high-speed testing of cars. Allegedly.
Rootes competition department at the Coventry end of the M45 used to use it for testing.
@@simonrook5743 Rootes eh? humber 80's and hillman minxs then. No danger of driving too fast I'd say.
I'm from Coventry and used to work at Watford Gap, travelled to work via the M45. That's the only reason I've ever had to use it.
Drove down this on Sunday. Empty. Absolutely flew along at strictly 70mph 😉
I did my fastest 70mph journey along that road in a Vauxhall Astra VXR 😉
I absolutely didn't get the max limited speed out of my girlfriend's porsche on the M45, instead settling for the mandated 70mph......
@@maccatt7274 new cars now have those onboard computers , the sat navs replay your every journey
5:23 - thank you for the drone flypast of these ventilation shafts! I always look for them when I am driving up to Coventry, and now you have finally shown me what they really are!
An abandoned railway bridge a symbol of the triumph of the road lobby.
No idea why I got recommended this video or why I clicked, but the video was well-edited and presented and the content was rather interesting too.
Brilliant, as always. I love the shot a train passing under the ventilation tower.
Yeah! I really appreciated them going to the bother. That was cool.
It's one of those things you can't plan for but as soon as we saw "the shot" we had to wait around :D
I love the M45. Hope they never change it. One of the few peaceful motorways!
Well now you've jinked it. Now Liz Truss is definitly going to turn it, into an autobahn.
@@misterjei Aaaaaagh!
Little bit of naughty history about the M45... It was commonly used by locals for top speed test runs back in the day. They'd either get on the M1 at Crick, off at Watford gap services then slip out the service exit, over the bridge then back on the M1 to take the M45 exit towards dunchurch. Or alternatively, along the A5 then into Watford Gap services through the service road then onto the M1 as before. Once you've taken the exit it sweeps left for a little while before coming to a long right hand bend. After the first big right hander (which would usually be taken at a steady 130mph because of the single unsettling bump 3/4 round the corner) it then opened up onto the big straight (around 1.5 miles) where you could really get your foot in it. At the end of the straight, the road curves gently left for the next few miles giving plenty of room to ease off the throttle slowly and not need to brake dangerously... So they say!
Yes I've heard about such things... I wouldn't know of course.
Still is...;)
Great video, 2 quick questions, 1) How do you manage not to get fined for using a drone over roads. 2) Ask Geoff to create a series, "Disused ventilation towers", Tim traveller might like that one too,
Joking aside, great work on your series. I am amazed how you get your information,. Keep them coming, and thanks again,
We fly a sub 250g drone and keep our distance. Disused ventilation towers... coupled with the tunnels underneath and that could be an interesting video.
The M45 was part of my journey to the Royal Showground at Stoneleigh, when I used to go there a couple of times a month. I loved that road for two reasons: i) It was quiet, after the preceding M25/M1 miles, ii) It meant I was nearly there!
I did the journey a few times with a proper train anarak (he now owns a railway museum!) and learnt all about those ventilation tunnels!!
Nice place is Stoneleigh, been to a few shows there.
Those tunnels were amazing! Never knew about them before 🙂
2:47 Look at the bridge base. A deliberate safety feature was built in, the idea that instead of directly hitting the concrete pillars on entry to the tunnel, the shape was made to attempt to scoop cars back onto the lane. Obviously it wasn't completely effective as you can see Armco barriers installed but the consideration in the design of the bridge was there from the start. I do like those old Robert McAlpine bridges. 'Concrete Bob' was a pioneer in reinforced concrete structures for major infrastructure projects back in the day, not just on motorways.
Fun fact is in the early 60s Jaguar test drivers would check the calibration of speedometers by measuring time with a stopwatch between two bridges. They often did this at speeds in excess of 100mph. There is some great Footage of Norman Dewis on the M45 in an early e-type.
Where can I see said footage mate...
The M45 is one of my favourite motorways. Great for..... My solicitor has told me not to say any more as I may leave myself open to prosecution.
The M50 used to be my favourite for the same reason.
1993, 3am, Sierra Cosworth 😉
Yes I hear it sits across two police force boundaries meaning patrols are unlikely.
@@davyfella The good old days!
@@AutoShenanigans when it was first built (M45) it was rumoured Jaguar used to do Vmax runs along it.
@@MikeWooshy I've heard that they used the M1 for testing and I suppose it makes sense to use the M45 whilst you're there. These days it's just the M45 suitable for Vmax runs ;-)
Great video. I liked the Geoff Marshall idea reference. Possibly explains the "Sticking with the railway theme, which is a little odd considering we're a motoring channel" :)
Surprised you didn't mention the way it uniquely crosses jurisdictions of Nhants and Warks, meaning that heading eastbound beyond Dunchurch the road is uniquely unpatrolled as Warks police would need to drive all the way to M1 J16 if they received a call, and if Nhants police received one if they had just come off the M1 they would have to go all the way to Thurlaston to turn around.
Officially, this means the motorway is particularly vulnerable to hijacking and the sorts, unofficially it means that you can test the top speed of your car as a young lad. The sheer lack of traffic means that maxing out your car often doesn't result in you passing another car let alone the fuzz. Love this road, right on my doorstep and it carries many of my late teen driving memories.
I live right by this motorway and work on it as recovery driver. It was supposed to go all the way to Birmingham but the planners decided to leave end it at Thurlaston and have the rest as an A road so people who couldn’t use a motorway could have easy access to Birmingham. Of course building the M6 later allowed motorway access to the city.
It is should have been pointed out about half way along it goes from being in Warwickshire to being in Northamptonshire so it is not patrolled by the police making it one of the fastest motorways in the country. I have actually driven along it at night and not seen another car on either carriageway.
Back in ye olden days (1989-1991ish) I used to regularly use the M45 on my way from Suffolk to/from Coventry, in a Peugeot 205GTi. I saw the M45 as my last ditch opportunity to make up for lost time on the trip, being able to take advantage of the complete absence of any other traffic and maintaining a steady 70mph* for the entire length of the motorway.
*ish.
Those ventilation tunnels are amazing. Fantastic seeing down that one and the trains going underneath.
They're huge... much larger than I was expecting!
@@AutoShenanigans Thanks for show that in your video. I drove 1 year on M45 and I always asked myself what was that.
your channel appeared on my feed a while ago and i have watched several of your videos and enjoyed them, i see the link now as i enjoy Geoff Marshall videos also, sometimes youtube is clever and gets it right.
I look forward to your M27 video.. weird junctions, slip roads to nowhere..
Maybe join it up with the M275, a double feature so to speak.
Really good videos these.. short, punchy, gets the job done
Yes indeed we do in tend to look at the collection of odd motorways around the M27. Thanks for watching
I am still waiting for them to join the M27 up to the A3(M)
2015 I was working on the m45 it was supposed to be getting downgraded to an A road guessing that never happened. The layby or parking area you mentioned is a well known dogging site and the work I was doing had us on call 24/ so me and a mate ended up staying in a caravan in that lay-by for 5 months. Both of us are ex squaddies and thought we were open minded and seen terrible things but nothing could have prepared us for what we saw in that lay-by every night. Continual comings and goings of cars naked people running about a very attractive lady in a long fur coat and nothing else jumping from car to car. It was like another world we met a very nice Polish lorry driver who would park up put on his dress and high heels then try to get in our caravan to keep us "company" we politely declined lol. Was certainly an experience
Bloody hell. LOL
The joys of civvy street!
i assume u mean the current m45 between the roundabout and the only junction. cause if the whole of the m45 were to be downgraded, then imagine being on a non motorway road that only leads to a motorway with no oportunity to leave?
Why do you think we visited..
@@AutoShenanigans that explains the hat it rolls down in to a balaclava
Thanks 'My Name is John'. This has to be one of my favourite episodes so far - short, sweet n witty, architecture and bridges, light traffic (who doesn't like that?), railways, tunnels, a Geoff Marshall mention, the disused grand central railway, nice reservoir and yes I even noticed the tasteful filling - wtf was that pelican thing? 😆 Topped off with a great soundtrack (I've Shazammed for info).
I reckon you should to get a "Thank you" tab along the top, I'd happily stick a few quid in for your fuel costs. Or a roadside kebab. Or whatever takes your fancy. Keep up the good work. 👍
The Great Central Railway, the original "HS2". A very short sighted closure.
I think a lot of closures were!
I live between Dunchurch and Willoughby and use the M45 to and from work...have done for 18 years.
I missed the turn off for Dunchurch one day, and if you do that you have to travel the whole length of the M45, to then get on the M1 to turn back on yourself at J16 M1, to go back up the M1 then onto the M45 right to the Thurlaston end!!!
A distance of 35 miles!!!
I've only done this once.
Another great video, and one of my favourite local motorway. :)
I've only done this once too! Definitely not a mistake you want to make twice 🤣
Yes we had to make this trip a couple of times whilst filming... very annoying. Apparently there's a "back door" at watford gap services that saves some time.
@@AutoShenanigans I didn't know this, I just looked on Google maps and there's a little lane that goes off the services to B5385 Cross the bridge and get back off on the other side of the bridge to the services exit road on the opposite side. I wonder if this would be quicker than coming off the M1 at Lutterworth and going through rugby.... Might check it out.
@@AutoShenanigans strange that street view shows no entry signs at each end of those roads. I'm guessing it's for staff access so put signs up to stop public use and sat navs telling people to use them.
@@AutoShenanigans Yes, I've always been tempted to use that "backdoor", but have always bottled it the last second, it just feels a bit naughty.
@05:14 OMG nearly flung suds everywhere while doing the washing up; 'Naked Glow', my favourite tune from Ridge Racer Type 4 ❤️
As a child I used to ride along the M45 on my Penny Farthing. Breakneck speeds of almost 3.5 miles per hour. Had to stop when the council brought in those new fangled, speed sketch artists. True story. Fun fact.
Great video. The sister motorway to the M45 was the M10 which performed a similar function at the southern end of the then new M1. That road has now become part of the A414 following the remodelling of J7/J8 of the M1.
It is, I know it well. Sadly it's not quite enough for an entire episode.
I used to use the M45 whilst commuting back from Milton Keynes too Birmingham and if there’s one motorway that I found a complete strange anomaly it was the M45. It’s hardly used too the point you’ll see 2/3 other cars on the M45, which I can only conceive it was a kind of failed project whilst building other motorways. However if you want too speed test your car, it’s the motorway too do it. It’s always empty and in the 5 years I drive up and down it, I never once seen. Police car or speed camera😉.
One of the main reasons you hardly ever see a police car on the M45 is because it crosses jurisdictions. If a Warwickshire police car drove down it they’d end up miles into Northamptonshire down the M1 and visa-versa. So unless they are following someone for a good reason they try not to go down it.
@@stephencooper6766 right I understand. Yes I can see why, now you’ve explained it like that.
I like the M45 living Coventry. It was Midland link to the M1 No traffic jams on it 🥰🧐👍
A motorway I have known since my childhood in the 1970's. Little used then, and little used now. Indeed, rumour has it that if you want to give your car or high powered bike a blast, this is the road to do it on....not that I ever have. Obviously.
I heard similar.
indeed it is as it sits betwixt 2 of our boys in blue county lines so is rarely patrolled. I definitely have not gone a tad over 70mph when i was in the midlands, No Siree.
I've heard that too, although have definitely not done anything like this on my motorbike, ever
My dad got a job in London with Rotax in the late fifties. We lived then in Birmingham, where we fully intended to stay. So he got lodgings in Acton, and commuted along the M45/M1 on Friday and Sunday nights. He acquired an Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk III, in which he did the journey at warp factor 9. There were no speed limits in those days. I went with him on a couple of occasions. The Aston was almost devoid of sound insulation, so your ears rang for an hour or so after the trip. Fun, though, to an 11 or 12 year old boy.
@@smac4749 I concur S Mac. As tempting as it is, I never take my ZZR1400 over the legal limit...
A sadly departed and much missed friend was clocked at 145mph on the M45 - he was travelling a bit faster than that (having left The Waterman bike meet on a sunny Wednesday evening to head home to Wellingborough). At some point he attracted the attention of a Police Jaguar X-Type Armed Response Vehicle, which topped out at 145 mph (hence the clocked speed). They had him on camera, but only caught up when he dropped out of warp speed on the M1. And you know what? He got away with it as the police car didn't have calibrated speed measurement instruments on board. Miss you Eddie, one of a kind!
Interesting content, incisive and clever delivery, what’s not to like? Yes, the M45 is close art hand a great for dusting away the cobwebs from my classic car and motorbikes. A motorist’s gem and much better than lots of the usual crap plastered on TH-cam, thanks.
I’ve been watching your most excellent channel for quite a while now but missed this one somehow. Your channel just gets better and better. The lightly sarcastic (and occasionally irreverent political) humour, the surprise video location switching, great drone shots and well researched information all make it very entertaining. The Geoff Marshall comment was inspired, I laughed so hard I spilt my tea.
Nice one mate!
I'll just keep mashing that like button to improve your algorithm stats.
Good work fella
Nice work, thanks very much indeed
I used to speed test my cars on the M45 when I lived in Rugby.
Love how these videos are only getting better and better, love it.
Very familiar - part of my commute between Coventry and Northampton. Always running clear.
Love this video John - thank you. Especially its original roots visible from the late 1950s. Ill check out your other videos. Cheers.
Nice one, thanks for watching.
I absolutely love your videos. Have enjoyed every single one. Look forward to the next upload.
Nice one, thanks for watching! :)
Hi John, I just stumbled across your channel. Bloody brilliant! I'm more into mass transit, especially trains and trams (and recently canals), as well as Cities Skylines. But I totally enjoyed this video and have subscribed. I'm in Toronto, Canada, spent primary school in New Zealand, and am looking at moving to the north of England.
Love the Geoff Marshall reference. He was the first of now many British TH-camrs that I follow; that list now includes you! Cheers, Liz
The last song I was expecting to hear at the end was "the best is yet to come". My eyes were watching car stuff but suddenly my ears were hearing a classic of gaming history and my mind sorta locked up there for a second as two of my passions in life collided for a second.
Besides that surprise great vid as always.
So glad it got noticed!
Love this. There is a similar experience on the M48. The old Severn view services building is now home to an insurance company but some of the old signage and layout still remain. The current services occupy what used to be the lorry driver area so I've been told. The stretch between junction 21 and Chepstow can be busier but after that it's very quiet. Great motoring and seems a shame to rejoin the M4 at Magor. The junction at Chepstow also provides access to the A48 a lovely old highway.
M45 is a favourite of mine, though I rarely use it these days ever since they upgraded the A38(M)-M6-A14-M11-A120 link. Rapid.
Btw the way THAT interchange deserves a video in itself. Catthorpe interchange was absolutely the most cheapest, laziest, nastiest, and officially most DANGEROUS interchange in the whole of the UK. The DoT had the good sense to finally upgrade the area - and they went to town on it!
One week TNT lost three trucks on the island at the end of the M1 slip through rollovers. Add in the countless fender benders as cars tried to outrun trucks at island at the end of the M6 slip, whoever decided merging two lanes into one just at the exit of the island under the M1 needed taking to one side and giving a good slap. Don't ask how I know!
Before the upgrade, didn't you have to use an unclassified road to access the start of the M6 from the A14 or something like that? I remember coming back from going Netherlands in the car from using the ferry at Harwich coming back up to this Junction, and what a shitshow mess it was.
See
@@pgmasterson1163 Yes, there was a stupid bone shaped loop, shoved under the M1 that passed for a roundabout, feeding all the roads into each other from what I remember. I stopped using that route because it was annoying, slow, dull and boring. I used to travel A45-M45-M1-M25-A12 instead until all the roadworks and restrictions came along. However, if I was feeling frivolous, sometimes I used the M5-M42-M40-M25-A12, very scenic. A38(M)-M6-A14-M11-A120 ended up being a dream to use after upgrades.
@@pgmasterson1163 As said in another reply just a silly bone shaped loop under the M1, the A14 just ended at the roundabout that only had a left turn, two lanes under the M1 to another roundabout with a straight on (M6) or right turn (M1) option. The exit from the M6 was a two lane slip to the roundabout that suddenly chopped down to one lane under the M1, the 'merge' being on the exit of the island, cars trying to out run trucks were hidden in the blindspot of a trailer headboard and often ended up hooked on the front bumper of a truck.
Nice nod to Geoff Marshall there.
I grew up in Leamington Spa, before the M40 was built, so the M45 was our default route when leaving home to go to London and beyond (e.g. to France on holiday). I therefore associate it with the excitement of those occasions. The "Motorways merge" signs were always something to look out for, signalling our imminent arrival on to the M1. As an aside, I've always find it curious that the M45 is classified as a "pointless" motorway, given that it serves as the main link between the M1 and Coventry, and the A45 to the west of Thurlaston is dual carriageway all the way to Birmingham and generally quite busy...
It was not pointless for many Brummies living in SE Birmingham returning from London before the M40 was built. Use to use it all the time
I love using the M45 as you say it's quiet! No traffic and a joy to use. Often you are the only person using it!
I used to live near what was the M10 (before it got downgraded to an A-road) and I thought that stretch was quiet. This afternoon I drove along the M45 from the M1 Jn17 to Thurlaston and I have to say that it was even quieter. The road surface was not up to motorway standards in a few places and, like the M50 which I recently drove along, it didn't really feel like I was travelling along a modern motorway.
So glad I discovered this channel! The M40 and M45 are my local motorways. The Dunchurch M45 Bridge is one of my locals too
Was recommended this, my first video I’ve seen from you.
Subscribed and look forward to watching more.
Great news, thanks for watching!
Work in Cov, love the $5 for the fact its always quiet. You've answers many questions I've had about it, cheers.
It's pleasing to satisfy ones curiousity.
Living in South Coventry I have often used the M45 and as a result used it to explore warp speed.
Have you thought about doing the Midland Red M1 motorway coaches that were designed to go toe to toe with the diesels on the West Coast Main Line before the 70 mph speed limit was introduced. Tales of the coaches with a favourable gradient and wind walking away from trains on the stretches parallel with the M1. When the M5 was opened the similar Midland Red M5 motorway coaches offered a faster service from Birmingham to Worcester and Birmingham to Bristol than BR.
I lived in north Watford in the 1950s, and before new houses spoiled the view, I used to look across to the Watford bypass, in the direction of Odhams new printing works.. About 3pm, the Midland Red 'bus would pass heading for Birmingham. This was pre-M1 days and I think they were the very attractive AEC ones in black and red.
Sure I heard it was the fastest stretch of road in the UK going by average vehicle speed.
@@johnjephcote7636 It woukd be a Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company (BMMO) bus, this was Midland Reds own bus manufacturer and very advanced they were to having things like rubber suspension all round and independent front suspension, I think the motorway coaches had dusc brakes from Dunlop aerospace. The powertrain was their own 8.5 litre diesel that was supercharged and if I recall correctly some ran an 8 speed gearbox. This lasted until the early 70s but after years of struggling to get staff as wages in the car industry increased the bus manufacturing was finally killed with Midland Red being nationalised as part of National Express.
Great video. The M45 is very handy when travelling from anywhere south, via the M1, to Coventry. Until I saw your video, I thought this was why it was constructed!
Great video as always. I love learning little bits of trivia about what could be seen as mundane infrastructure. I think you said you would do it, but the M50 would be an excellent choice as a well preserved early motorway, similar to the M45. Another one which would be excellent would be the M31 (a bypass of the M25, or could be unofficially considered as ringway 5) which lives today in a partially built form as the A329(M)
Yes the M50 is an odd one for sure... we'll get to it in good time :D
Kilsby railway tunnel took much longer to build than the railway either side of it, (the London to Birmingham Railway). Quick sand was found and lots of water. The contractor went bankrupt, and Rober Stephenson took over in direct command. It is generally considered that working on the tunnel shortened his life so horrible were the below-ground conditions. As far as I know the large castle-like vent shafts were built so the pumps could be installed to remove the constant flow of water. It is still a very wet tunnel.
I didn't know that.. very interesting!
During the war my wife's grandad was in the home guard and used to guard the tunnel vents to prevent 5th columnists throwing bombs down them
This randomly just appeared in my feed. I’m not a car person but this (and your presentation style), is very entertaining.
Thanks for watching, hang about, it's all very odd.
I guess with the M45, and your video, I've just passed the introductory course to "geeking out on UK motorways" 😆
Now, if you want a full master degree, I suggest this:
th-cam.com/video/yUEHWhO_HdY/w-d-xo.html
I live by the M54. Love it. Two lanes and many miles of putting your foot down.
An interesting presentation video on the M45 motorway in Warwickshire.
This motorway features on the 'Pathetic Motorways' website which makes interesting viewing regarding some of our motorways in Britain!
It is a motorway as you state stuck in a timewarp when it was first built in 1959 along with the M1 & carrying very little traffic now but a bit more in the day when it was a spur motorway!
I like those unique bridges & large ventilation shafts for the railway tunnel. Thank you for uploading.
It's a very useful site indeed!
This was my ‘ah God the M6 is shut’ emergency route to work when I lived in Northampton and worked in Coventry. On one hand it was great because there’s no speed limit, on the other hand it was bad because it still leads to Coventry.
Well we can't have it all I suppose :D
The greatest appreciation of integrity of authenticity & creativity... including sharing of information for how given videos became a reality of awesomeness! Yea! Hahahahaha! O:-)
Love this motorway! It's the last leg of my trip to my home town of Rugby. I can't tell you how smug it feels leaving the M1 chaos to use this dream piece of road 🙌
Great video- I know the road well and you explained it well, though it could be stressed slightly more that the A45/M45 was a very important and very busy route from London to the Midlands and North in the '60's and early '70's. The A45 westwards through Coventry to Birmingham could give you a subject for another episode in its own right as it started life as Telford's Holyhead Road and it has been improved/changed in many places over the years and there are a few short stretches of abandoned/superceded road along the route.
I grew up in a house on the A45 when it was *the* route north and south. I used to fall asleep to the hypnotising light from the headlights circling my bedroom, drifting off only to be disturbed by the distinctive, unpleasant sound of Comma lorries.
When i have used the A45 from M1 to A45 and from A45 on the slip road to M1, i always thought this was well designed and straight forward unlike some modern motorway slip lanes!
I always tend to now use the A45 to join the M45 when driving up to Coventry from Milton Keynes. That was a great fun fact to watch!
In all my years behind a wheel I think I've only heard the M45 mentioned by Sally Traffic twice. (They all get called that by me although she is now semi retired and only on the air on a Saturday).
I got a mention on Sally traffic years ago when my truck broke down on the m25 on a Friday afternoon during rush hour and caused chaos now I know how celebrities feel lol. You know you've made it as a truck driver if Sally traffic let's everyone know that you've buggered up the motorway and ruined everyone's travel plans
I'd feel a sense of pride....
@@AutoShenanigans I did
Living in rugby I use it all the time, it's a joy to drive on!
A nice "facility" to have if you live near by!
Took longer to watch the video than to drive the length of it! Impressive!
The M45 is quite a small spur motorway which allows traffic from Coventry to join the M1 South (London). Plus I like how you mentioned Geoff Marshall as well 😂
Living near to this motorway i thank you for the fantastic content. Thumbs up…
Used to enjoy taking the M45 instead of the M6 if my journey ended in South Brum. Just got on there and took advantage of the lack of traffic to relax a bit. At 130.
Didn't realise when I was booting down that stretch of road how unique it was... but I did enjoy how empty it was.
Shhh!!
So long. So straight. So empty.
I find it amazing that I sat through an entire video about motorways no less. It was informative and interesting. Not sure how it turned up in my recommended but I'm glad it did.
What you might remember in 1960 were Midland Red Motorway C5 coaches (with the lantern windscreens), going directly from Digbeth B'ham to London Victoria, via A45, M45 and M1, at a time when most family cars could not do much more than 60 mph. The C5 coaches could and did do 85 mph, in serene relative safety in the outside lane, passing most cars on the motorway. Even after the 70 mph limit was introduced in December 1965, and although the timetable was altered, the coaches just kept on going for many years.
The fact that you went out during this heat to bring us this video is incredibly brave, bravo sir 👏
Yup, ice cubes under his hat.
This was the 2nd hottest day out we've had. The M40 was the worst!
@@AutoShenanigans I simply can’t imagine having to drive down the M40 in extreme heats 🤣
Always enjoy a good blatt along the M45
I'm in Australia but I still found this interesting. Thanks.
Enjoyed that! Being a bit odd, I decided to look for the railway bridge on google maps satellite view and it's amazing how much of the railway route is still discernible. If you follow it south (about 10 miles), you'll get to Catesby Tunnel :D I think you should do another channel - Abandoned Railway Shenanigans ?
The tunnel is now a vehicle testing facility.. perfect :)
Keep going south to Hinton and you can see evidence of quite a large railway junction aswell
Parts of the GCR are now operated as heritage lines with work progressing to reinstate the gap between the two heritage lines.
As local young lads with new driving licences the M45 was affectionately known as “the Dunchurch saltflats” due to its suitability for finding out just how quickly your 100bhp hatch could go. There was always a rumour that because it was between jurisdictions of the police (Warks/Northamptonshire) the 5-0 never went down there as halfway along they’d be out of their area. No idea of the truth in that.
Spot on mate, if the Warks police received a call just as they passed Dunchurch it would be around 30 miles before they could even be back in the county as they have to turn around at J16 - they could at Watford gap I suppose but getting the barriers up and swapping carriageways is still far too time consuming to justify patrolling any further than Dunchurch. Opposite applies for Nhants police, I bloody love it.
Wow! A video about motorways.
He says whilst watching until the end.😂👍
The FIRST motorway I EVER experienced as a child! ...I was born in Rugby before the M6 and upper reaches of the M1 were completed. The M45 went from Dunchurch not too far from home, to the M1 at "Watford Gap" services, and was close to the Northampton turn so my parents could take us to our grandparents in Bedford! We only used it rarely, as the old cars we were travelling in didn't stand up too well to sustained high speeds! The cross country routes were slower and gentler on the old machinery.
I actually work as an technology engineer for the highways and live in Rugby it’s an amazing motorway to work on not too much equipment on there but always a pleasure to work so close to home haha
First video I'm watching of yours and I just got total whiplash for the best is yet to come
I actually went and drove this road on saturday (instead of going 2 more junctions straight to the M6), because of this video. Very eery that it was so empty. And I also noticed several other bridges to the design mentioned here on the M1 before I turned off.
Driven past it pretty much every day and never knew what those listed towers are! interesting!.. and I agree it is one of the lowest traffic motorways and feels amazing after coming off congested M1.
A couple of interesting facts about M45:
1) It was widely reported that when Aston Martin had their production at Newport Pagnell they used to use the M45/M69/M1 triangle for high speed testing of new cars and there were competitions between test drivers for the fastest time.
2) The M45 crosses two constabulary boundaries and the lack of full intersections meant that any traffic police from either Northamptonshire or West Mids police had to venture well outside of their districts just to return to their counties. This was frowned upon and AFAIK standing orders prevented going outside of the boundaries without express permission. In either direction the turning around meant either a long journey outside of the County on the motorway or an excessive detour on country roads. Also, there was always the issue of who's collar it was anyway when stopped by a traffic cop on the wrong side of the boundary. There were very, very few police cars ever spotted on M45. The M69 has the same sort of issue but crucially the A5 intersection is virtually on the boundary between Leics and West Mids police authorities.
There's been a few people mention the high speed testing, and I too was under that impression. But i cannot find any "reputable" source that proves it. Is it a myth.... I'll get to work.
@@AutoShenanigans I would expect that the authorities and AM would not like that to be widely known, I think that you will have to find an AM test driver to confirm it. I used to work in Coventry and many of my clients were suppliers in the car industry so that many stories/facts floated around. Good luck with your research.
I moved to Leamington Spa in 1970 and worked for a main BL dealer in Coventry. If we had a particularly recalcitrant car that say, ran hot at high speed, part of my job was to road test it. For really high speed, I used the A45/M45 from Coventry turning at the services on the M1. I have to admit to doing over 160mph in a Jensen Intercepter just for the hell of it, no sorry, to road test the car at high speed…….
There were few if any police patrols around in those days, using either Jaguar Mk2’s or Triumph 2000 Pi’s so wouldn’t have caught me anyway.
Most of the time, I drove BL cars and actually managed to get a Maxi 1750 up to 100mph on the speedo or whatever the real speed was!
Happy days………