Hello, How the devil are you!? The M5... finally... there has been a lot of requests for this one. As the M5 is so bloody massive, there's an almost 100% chance I've missed that thing you know about. Filming took two days for this episode, you might notice the sudden change from late afternoon to early morning 😂 Anyway, thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed the video.
I've never known if it's true or not, but people used to tell a story about the M5 section near Exminster, where the road crosses the old Exeter bypass, and a rail line on bridges. There is a gap between the two carriageways which has a wire mesh slung between them. The story goes that in the early days of the motorway, there was a breakdown phone on one side of the road, but not the other. A man broke down on the opposite carriageway, in the dark, and tried to cross over to use the phone, not realising that there was a gap between the bridges, and fell to his death. Supposedly the mesh was installed shortly afterwards and the phone removed. I have never been able to find anything about this anywhere, but enough people used to tell the story that I'd say there may be some truth in it somewhere.
We were coming back from a holiday in Torquay approx 1970 before the M5 was opened but parts of it had been constructed, and due to very heavy holiday traffic we were put on the M5 somewhere in Devon and sat there for ages so they could clear the back log.
The M5 and M6 are roads that I loathe. I have refused to go on them since 2016. I won’t even come back from France to Roscoff. The ferry terminal at plymouth and the m5 are just a shock to the system when everything on the French side is largely well sorted and with quiet roads. Then there is the huge volume of cars, smart motorway systems and a huge amount of roadworks all the time, both on the the m5 and 6. I can’t do that anymore and thankfully I don’t have to. So sorry for those that do.
As someone who likes driving, maps, abandoned infrastructure, aerial views of Britain, obscure historical trivia and presenters with a self-deprecating sense of humour, your content is now one of the highlights of my week. It looks like it's a full-time activity so I hope you're able to turn it into a profitable business. All the best to you, mate.
Nice. As a regular user and former denizen of Devon, the river Exe is pronounced simply, 'X'. The site of the horrific fire is often shrouded in thick fog, such that I once had to slow to 30mph. The worrying thing is that apparently the majority of people can see clearly in thick fog and continue to drive at 80mph. Also worth a mention and possibly visit is the relatively new Glocester Services, between junction 12 & 11a, that features a farm shop and is relatively unique in not being run by one of the large companies.
Cool to see you mentioned the RAC building. Spent 4 years working there, couple of fun facts for you; 1.) the meeting room is rarely used, it moves a hell of a lot in the wind (even has a wind speed gauge) 2.) lovely, spacious building to work in with lots of natural light, also boiling hot in the summer even with the sun shades down, can be cold in the winter unless the heating was on full blast. Also very noisy, not ideal when trying to talk to a customer. 3.) Glass panels have a tendency to fall out on occasion 😅 Still one of the nicer places I’ve worked in.
Surprised that you didn't mention the split level carriageway between Jct 19 and 20, Always found that a unique part of driving the M5. I have been stuck in standstill traffic before and the difference in elevation is even more pronounced when you get out the car and look over the barrier.
I live pretty close to the wonderful "interchange" you showed at Oldbury, with the Motorway, Railway and BOTH Canals - three centuries of transport history in one place!
*TOP TIP:* JUNCTION 30; If you need fuel and food, don't stop at the Moto services, you WILL be charged extortionate motorway prices. Instead come off the roundabout onto the A379, then turn right into Tesco Extra! Its not even 5 minutes away from the roundabout. Get fuel and get a Clubcard meal deal sandwich!!
I have never been to the UK, I didn't know about a lot of these motorways until watching this series, I have lived in Poland for my entire life, and don't even care that much for motorways, why am I enjoying this so much? I don't know, but it's fun!
I’m not quite sure how I’ve found myself watching secrets of the motorway but that’s the joy of TH-cam I guess. Regardless your videos are brilliant! Really impressed by how informative, concise and entertaining your delivery is, you clearly put in a lot of work. Keep it up!
You missed something between J8 and J6. The bridges over the motorway are extra large with a wide grass strip being obvious. This is a legacy of when that part of the M5 was widened from 2 to 3 lanes in the 1980s. They used a technique called "parallel widening" where, in effect, they built a new carriageway alongside the existing ones, moved all the traffic across whilst they then widened the other carriageway. What was left was abandoned and buried ! You can see this at the secret junction you mentioned between J8 and J7 where the bridge is much wider than expected on the northbound side!
Jon I really do enjoy your videos, however, I realise I'm being a bit pedantic but being a pedant it comes easily!! What you referred to as Exeter SHIPPING canal is in fact the Exeter SHIP canal. What you referred to as the river EXEE is in fact just the river X. I know it's not important but you need to be told!! Keep up the good work
Considering I am a 16 year old who doesn't have any interest in roads and the secrets they may be hiding this video was oddly entertaining from the content to the comedy, definitely subscribing for more
The sliproad between J28-29 was the former access to the "Cullompton Bypass" which was one of the first parts of the M5 to be built. The B3181 is the old A38. And the correct pronunciation of Michaelwood is "Mickelwood," although that's been lost in the sands of time!
just south of the willow man is humphrey the camel, a well known landmark. He was absent for a few years but is now back. But the hedges have grown a bit and he is partially obscured. the whole bridgwater section was infamous for the smell from the nearby cellophane factory, now since closed. north of junction 22 off to the west is the brent knoll hill fort also between clevedon and portishead is the somewhat interesting two-tiered section as the motorway hugs the side of a steep hill
@@jazzhands7771 yep and would have been a motorway down to Weston called the Weston Spur where the A370 runs today and the motorway would have shared the M5 that's also why the J20 roundabout is so big serving a tiny B road
Could have done the split level bit between Avonmouth and Clevedon, also does the part running across the Somerset levels count as the lowest Motorway in the UK.
I have so many memories of this motorway, including those annoying queues in the summer and Bank Holiday. But besides that, the M5 is one of my favourite motorways in the country.
Drove the length of it today on the way back from Cornwall to Birmingham and despite that I still want to watch another 10 minutes of it, such is the lure of this series. Great work as ever!
That Police entrance between J28 and J29 is the remains of the A38 Cullompton bypass, which was built on the line of the M5 and ran from a point near Diggerland, past Cullompton with a junction that is now J28, before ending at that Police entrance.
Love the Asda petrol station tip. Interesting fact, we stumbled across it purely by accident last weekend while coming home from Birmingham. Decided to pull off to go into town to look for cheaper fuel, and there it was! Hey presto. Loving the videos, keep them coming.
The M5 is my favourite motorway...driving on it means I'm travelling down to Cornwall for my holidays!!! Sedgemoor services is my all time favourite service station. Michaelwood and Exeter are dear to my heart too! And oh my godness...The Mike & Angelo theme music!
Thanks! Really been enjoying your work. Well done on 50,000 here's to the next 50,000+ Hit me up for a coffee when you do the M18, M180 or M62 near the junction of the M18.
Thanks mate, that's really kind of you. I've been eyeing up the M180 recently.. I've a couple more "down south" to take care of first but then it's time to start heading North.
I have only started to use the M5 a few years ago since my son and his family moved to Bristol as far as Cribbs causeway or the Portbury intersection. On one trip the traffic was backed up to I junction 13 so joined the A38 the traffic was stationary when I passed under the M5 at 16.
I have no idea why I am following you other than your dry humor and sarcastic entertainment peppered with historical interest. I look forward to it! I am in the USA and will probably never drive these roads in the UK. Love it, crack on!
We have gone over the Avon bridge loads of times. If my husband was in the works van whilst it was empty and going over that bridge there are some strong cross winds there, and he would be fighting to stop it veering into the wrong lane whilst his arse took chunks out of the seat. All very familiar. Not far from the Avonmouth junction, there is another junction where you can turn off into the Cribbs Causeway retail centre. The traffic there gets insane and around Christmas it turns into a giant car park with lots of people sitting there for literally hours trying to get out of the retail park and onto the motorway. Deepest joy!!! This is why On-Line shopping was invented. It's a hellish place.
But... but... you missed Gloucester services! Grassed over roof, awesome farm shop produce, spicy cured sausages such as beer sticks, and a butchers' counter with a window behind through to the cold room! Fab episode. You must check out Gloucester services next time you're over that way, its one of the nicest services around.
Best services ever. I’m a lorry driver and if i pass there and don’t stop i have 2 weeks of bad luck. 😂 Also petrol station have good coffee and delicious sandwiches.
I tend to skip over service stations as I visited them all and made a video last year. Gloucester is in episode 5.. th-cam.com/video/Xp9Hr7GvtPA/w-d-xo.html I also made the "pretentious" observation :D
My only regret is that when I travelled the motorways, I was always heading much further north and I used to see lots of places that I would have liked to stop at and visit, but it wasn't practical. Thank you for bringing us these little pearls about points on the way. I rarely drove through the M5/M6 interchange without delay (even at night), but I remember one bright spark sprayed on the bridge " Congratulations you have reached the M5/ M6 interchange, now get out and ****ing walk because it will be quicker". Thanks and happy motoring!
As a child I remember seeing a lot of the M5 being built and then we used it regularly once it was open. South of Worcester landmarks I used to look out for were the derelict traction engine near the M50 junction, the ruined stone house (long since gone) on the left when driving south somewhere near Gloucester, a small yard of derelict cars on the left when heading north somewhere between J13 and Bristol and the scrapyard near Churchdown. Fr several years there was also a Mk IV Zephyr estate parked (looking somewhat derelict) visible from the southbound carriageway somewhere near there, too. Plus the old airfield, with its control tower, that I can't even see nowadays! More recently the camel and elephant - which seemed to be visible in the eighties.
Absolute belta of an instalment, love the humour and the tangents you go down, I can imagine you have a combination of known facts, quick wiki searches, proper investigations, surprises found while on site and rabbit holes explored when prepping for these videos. I watch with my 8 year old son (we’ve watch all instalments). With this level of quality, facts and humour you will have no issues reaching the 100K subscribers!
This answered a handful of questions I've always had about these local landmarks. Also the fact you must've gone into part of Bridgwater for part of this video is very commendable.
It's so nostalgic! I always wondered what was with all those cars. And my favourite part of the M5 was always trying to spot wicker man, bit sad to see him in a bad state!
Next to J11 at Cheltenham and Gloucester there is a bridge that connects two sides of a farm that the motorway cuts through. Sometimes you can see the cows being herded across!
I used to travel from Birmingham to Taunton to go back and forth from uni regularly back in 2005-2008 and Willow Man was always a good indicator of where I was on the journey! It's sad to see it falling into that state now.
The famous (it is to me) Humphrey the Camel at M5 marker post 191/8, street view dated Sept 2022. On his own and set back in the field. Used to overlook the fence and was a lot easier to see. I remember seeing a banner celebrating his 21st birthday, and I bet that was about 20 years ago.
I used to travel regularly to Cornwall and it was a ritual for my late wife and I to spot the Camel! If we had friends with is, they always thought we had gone mad 😂😂
Would have loved to have learned more about the strange slip road layout southbound at junction 21. Rumour has it that was designed this way to allow a flyover to connect with a planned motorway spur direct into Weston super Mare. I believe this spur was shown on an atlas sometime in the 1970’s but, there is no other information that I can find. Further up the M5 at junction 20 (Clevedon), there was supposed to be another spur motorway connecting to Long Ashton as part of a planned ring road type system like that what was planned for London. Apparently, the unusually large central reservation between junction 20 and 21 Southbound was to allow for 4 lanes to take into account this spur to Long Ashton that was never built.
I love your videos and humour John. The one thing I like about the bridge over the Avon is you can walk or cycle across it and the views are magnificent .
Fun M5 fact: The game Dear Esther describes a crash on the M5, and at some point you are walking along the carriageway approaching junction 19 (and the Welcome Break services).
I remember seeing the Willow Man in his prime when he was installed in the field. Back in the early 2000's the houses weren't there and all that surrounded the sculpture was fields, cows and a local farm. A bit further down from the willow man another sculpture once featured which was a camel looking over the hedge. This disappeared when the housing estate engulfed the farm and surrounding land.
Skipping Gloucester services?? 😱 And the odd Junction 11A? And the upgrades planned on Junction 10? And the project to rebuild the Stroudwater canal under the motorway near Junction 13?
02:00 The secret entrance there was once part of a junction/roundabout, which was the old southern entrance to the then Cullompton bypass. The bypass was built in the 60s but future proofed so it could be converted into the motorway in the 70s. What was the bypass is now the stretch between that old junction and a bridge north of the next junction to the north which in the bypass days was the site of the northern entrance.
well done John, another masterpiece. You are keeping me sane with your very enjoyable brand of "slow TV" with interesting bits. I get bombarded with endless political stuff, biden stuff and NWO stuff... I come here to decompress and very valuable your space is. Cheers (btw, look at the well-high tide-mark on that well-old bridge - eek!). Here have a coffee (or two depending on which service station provides it)
Thanks buddy, thats really nice of you. Thats great to hear... its all a bit too serious most of the time isn't it, hopefully these videos provide 10 mins of entertainment where we can ignore all the BS in the world and listen to mine instead and hopefully have a laugh :D
Great vid as always Jon. If you carried down the Exeter ship canal to where it goes into the river you will find a hotel, another lock and the cup of tea you were after
J21 has a really weird slip road on the southbound. Originally it should have been a extended motorway run to centre of Weston. You can find it on some earlier maps. Avonmouth bridge used to be 3 lanes either side but also had walkways on both sides + chunky central reservation. To make four lanes they lost the northbound side walkway (which was for pedestrians, the other was for mopeds/invacars and bikes). You can still see the walkway up to it. Also one of the worst accidents around there was on the bridge in 1999 I think, the motorway / bridge was closed for about 48 hours.. the congestion was on another level
What happened to the Wellington Memorial then? I know it is a little further off into the distance, but you can't really miss it on top of that hill. When I lived near Plymouth I used to drive up and down the M5 (and M4 or A303) almost weekly, so it is one of my favourite motorways, and the memorial always acted as a beacon telling me that I was just over an hour from home. Anyway the video was an entertaining watch as always - so good luck with the push for 100,000.
Your referring to the cider monument, put up by a local MP in the 1890s to celebrate not raising tax on cider. A few months after it was completed they raised the tax on cider. As for the green fields of Somerset and Devon sadly they are quietly disappearing under housing.
@@nickbannister775 Ah thank you, that is a bit of detail that I didnt know. I must have driven past it thousands of times in the past. Sadly no longer because I am now at the other end of the country (quite literally) over 440 miles away.
Although I myself now live 300 miles away my relations live on top of the M5 at Sampford Peverell . The M5 sadly is now as bad as the M62 for traffic and accidents from here to Exeter mainly due to tired holiday makers.
The little-used access point that you found is what's left of the temporary terminal roundabout of the Cullompton by-pass, built in 1969, and incorporated into M5 in 1974. Cullompton was a notorious bottleneck on A38 for holiday traffic so it got its by-pass a bit early.
@@AutoShenanigans no problem. The other temporary terminal was where B3181 crosses M5 near Willand, but there's nothing to see there, they did a thorough job removing it.
You mention the cheaper fuel near jct 2. At one time the major supermarkets published booklets with the locations of their stores. You could find many of them within half a mile or so of a m/way jct and they make for a much cheaper food and fuel option. The booklets have long gone but I still check for suitably positioned stores before making long journeys and of course you can pre programme you sat nav to highlight thenm. One case to point out a Tesco just on the town side of M6 jct 43 which is nicely positioned between Southwaite Services and Gretna services.
I'm making it my mission to be more aware of these, I live near a services on my stretch of the M4 but never go of course because I know of many stations within a mile of the junction that are 'normal' price. There must be thousands of fuel stations near motorway junctions that are unmarked and we could be using, cheaper snacks too. I wonder if there's an app for that which is a bit more accessible than aa maps search
When I was at Uni in the late 70's, I read an article about the Avonmouth Bridge. Someone worked out that the amount of paper produced by the computers in its design, was enough to wallpaper the bridge completely...road surface and all!
At 06:07 into the video on the right of river is the ancient maritime village of Pill… the village where john Cabot’s Matthew left in 1497 and where the founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley visited and wrote “a place famous for generations to generations, even as kingswood itself, for stupid, brutal abounded wickedness” Also the Wurzels second home which they loved so much they wrote a song about it… it’s called Pill Pill I love thee still.
I was really looking forward to the M5 one being that I grew up in Exeter, but also because my father was involved with surveying the split level section south west of Bristol. It’s an absolute nightmare for traffic in holiday season these days but it’s still got a lot to offer if you know where to look. Thanks as always for a great video.
Thanks for this one. Have been looking forward to an M5 video as this is the motorway we use the most as we live near Exeter. Never knew about that led tower near Weston Super Mare and thanks for the tip about the ASDA near J2. A great presentation with nice touches of humour. 😀
I don't know how you could not mention the Wynhol Viaducts at Gordano, where the road splits in 2 and you can get under it. Also along the Avonmouth Bridge there is also a footpath along the M5 you can walk along, next to one of the entrances to the footpaths on the Somerset side there's some sculptures of a hammer and spanner, they were put there to commemorate the bridge widening in 2000. There used to be a footpath on both sides, one was removed for the widening. Part of the old walk way to the footpath on the other side can still be walked along on the Somerset side. I think it would also have been worth talking about Junction 11a, for being such a mess.
Another fascinating film … the M5 is a Motorway I haven’t used as frequently as the others you’ve covered (except for the M4 junction - I’d regularly used all three of these of junctions in days gone by!) and it was educational … plenty of new stuff covered I wasn’t even remotely aware of! Thanks very much!
Just thought I'd add Junction 11A which is (I believe) the only junction of its type on the M5. It connects the M5 directly to the A417 which is a corridor that cuts through the Cotswolds and eventually turns into the A419 which meets the M4 at Swindon. This means it's a busy link for those going from the Midlands and north west down to the south coast. Junction 11A is a weird one as it features one slip road being like those used in cloverleaf junctions, whilst the others feed around it to their relevant destinations. It's designed to bias traffic coming from the M5 Southbound onto the A417 East while biasing traffic coming the other way from the A417 east onto the M5 northbound. Traffic can't go from the M5 Southbound to the A417 west, those drivers must use junction 11 for the A40 or continue going east on the A417 before looping back at the junction before Birdlip.
You forgot two points of the M5. First being the construction of Wynol Viaduct the split level section high above the Gordano valley. Also junction 20 clevedon originally built to be a motorway regulation junction only where the southern tip of the Bristol ring road should of met it.
The B3181 junction is an emergency off slip in case of an RTC between junction 28 and 29, there is another on the opposite carriageway but it’s less obvious. The southbound one was often used if the traffic units needed to go east or north again in a hurry.
The E is silent on the end of the river Exe, so pronounced Ex! Also the road was changed at clyst st mary to make up part of the exeter bypass in the 1960s
You missed one of the more hilarious design aspects of the M5 from its earlier days where, having travelled on a three lane carriageway through the Gloucestershire and Worcestershire countryside, on approaching Birmingham, our second largest city, it narrowed to two lanes. This was not finally resolved until the mid 90s. There are still bits where there are no hard shoulders thanks to this. Also, if you are going to look at significant sites within sight of the motorway, Glastonbury Tor was surely worth a mention.
Yeah, I think the two lanes is down to the the fact that it's an elevated section over very busy local roads, so there is only so much that can be done. Even so, the planners should have realised that it would need at least three open lanes from the start.
Hello, How the devil are you!? The M5... finally... there has been a lot of requests for this one. As the M5 is so bloody massive, there's an almost 100% chance I've missed that thing you know about. Filming took two days for this episode, you might notice the sudden change from late afternoon to early morning 😂 Anyway, thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed the video.
I've never known if it's true or not, but people used to tell a story about the M5 section near Exminster, where the road crosses the old Exeter bypass, and a rail line on bridges. There is a gap between the two carriageways which has a wire mesh slung between them. The story goes that in the early days of the motorway, there was a breakdown phone on one side of the road, but not the other. A man broke down on the opposite carriageway, in the dark, and tried to cross over to use the phone, not realising that there was a gap between the bridges, and fell to his death. Supposedly the mesh was installed shortly afterwards and the phone removed. I have never been able to find anything about this anywhere, but enough people used to tell the story that I'd say there may be some truth in it somewhere.
Im waiting for the day you throw everyone off by saying "hello how the god are you" or something like that
this is my closest motorway
its beautiful cinematography
Was that you flying a drone over portbury docks a few days ago.
The M5 is a convenient place to store holidaymakers from the Midlands during the summer.
We were coming back from a holiday in Torquay approx 1970 before the M5 was opened but parts of it had been constructed, and due to very heavy holiday traffic we were put on the M5 somewhere in Devon and sat there for ages so they could clear the back log.
store them for a couple of days then send them off at the next junction heading north again 🙂
That’s funny!
The M5 and M6 are roads that I loathe. I have refused to go on them since 2016. I won’t even come back from France to Roscoff. The ferry terminal at plymouth and the m5 are just a shock to the system when everything on the French side is largely well sorted and with quiet roads. Then there is the huge volume of cars, smart motorway systems and a huge amount of roadworks all the time, both on the the m5 and 6. I can’t do that anymore and thankfully I don’t have to. So sorry for those that do.
I drove down the M5 to Cornwall and then Devon on 2 occasions this summer. It was a breeze, one of the nicest long journeys I've had.
As someone who likes driving, maps, abandoned infrastructure, aerial views of Britain, obscure historical trivia and presenters with a self-deprecating sense of humour, your content is now one of the highlights of my week. It looks like it's a full-time activity so I hope you're able to turn it into a profitable business. All the best to you, mate.
Thanks Ralph, that's really kind of you. It is certainly turning into a full time thing and your support helps massively.
Nice. As a regular user and former denizen of Devon, the river Exe is pronounced simply, 'X'.
The site of the horrific fire is often shrouded in thick fog, such that I once had to slow to 30mph. The worrying thing is that apparently the majority of people can see clearly in thick fog and continue to drive at 80mph.
Also worth a mention and possibly visit is the relatively new Glocester Services, between junction 12 & 11a, that features a farm shop and is relatively unique in not being run by one of the large companies.
I was wondering about the River Exe pronunciation - thanks for clarifying! john has no doubt grown up with computers and saw it as River.exe!!
80mph? Why are you in the outside lane, get over you slowcoach and let us Audi drivers through
Gloucester services is brilliant 😊
Cool to see you mentioned the RAC building. Spent 4 years working there, couple of fun facts for you;
1.) the meeting room is rarely used, it moves a hell of a lot in the wind (even has a wind speed gauge)
2.) lovely, spacious building to work in with lots of natural light, also boiling hot in the summer even with the sun shades down, can be cold in the winter unless the heating was on full blast. Also very noisy, not ideal when trying to talk to a customer.
3.) Glass panels have a tendency to fall out on occasion 😅
Still one of the nicer places I’ve worked in.
Surprised that you didn't mention the split level carriageway between Jct 19 and 20, Always found that a unique part of driving the M5.
I have been stuck in standstill traffic before and the difference in elevation is even more pronounced when you get out the car and look over the barrier.
"How old? Well old." - that's how I feel at times! 😄 Thank you for another fab video, sending sunny greetings from South Africa! 👋🇿🇦
Hi there! Welcome along :)
I could listen to this guy talk about absolutely anything all day. Love it
I love the sense of humour 😄
The split level bit from the start of the video is one of my favourite motorway views in the country,
Yes! Nothing else quite like going northbound on there :)
Road over canal over another canal - chef's kiss.
I live pretty close to the wonderful "interchange" you showed at Oldbury, with the Motorway, Railway and BOTH Canals - three centuries of transport history in one place!
The start of ‘How the devil are you? Have you had a good week?’ are the most comforting words now known to me.
Cheers John!
Thanks mate, very kind indeed it's much appreciated. That's got to be at least one burger king kids meal at a service station these days, surely.
*TOP TIP:* JUNCTION 30; If you need fuel and food, don't stop at the Moto services, you WILL be charged extortionate motorway prices. Instead come off the roundabout onto the A379, then turn right into Tesco Extra! Its not even 5 minutes away from the roundabout. Get fuel and get a Clubcard meal deal sandwich!!
I have never been to the UK, I didn't know about a lot of these motorways until watching this series, I have lived in Poland for my entire life, and don't even care that much for motorways, why am I enjoying this so much? I don't know, but it's fun!
Great to have you along!
Whoops! Being a local, the river Exe is pronounced Ex, as in the letter X, not Exey. Excellent prezentation as always and very interesting.
Not mention of the split high/low part?
I’m not quite sure how I’ve found myself watching secrets of the motorway but that’s the joy of TH-cam I guess.
Regardless your videos are brilliant! Really impressed by how informative, concise and entertaining your delivery is, you clearly put in a lot of work.
Keep it up!
You missed the funky stretch just before the bridge at Bristol where the carriageway splits onto two levels.
I thought this too. He managed to show a bit of it in the intro, then never mentioned it!
Another interesting video once again!
This series really is entertaining yet factual.
Thanks for making them.
Thanks for watching!
You missed something between J8 and J6. The bridges over the motorway are extra large with a wide grass strip being obvious. This is a legacy of when that part of the M5 was widened from 2 to 3 lanes in the 1980s. They used a technique called "parallel widening" where, in effect, they built a new carriageway alongside the existing ones, moved all the traffic across whilst they then widened the other carriageway. What was left was abandoned and buried ! You can see this at the secret junction you mentioned between J8 and J7 where the bridge is much wider than expected on the northbound side!
Jon I really do enjoy your videos, however, I realise I'm being a bit pedantic but being a pedant it comes easily!! What you referred to as Exeter SHIPPING canal is in fact the Exeter SHIP canal. What you referred to as the river EXEE is in fact just the river X. I know it's not important but you need to be told!! Keep up the good work
Considering I am a 16 year old who doesn't have any interest in roads and the secrets they may be hiding this video was oddly entertaining from the content to the comedy, definitely subscribing for more
Awesome, welcome along!
That's how it starts bud!
The sliproad between J28-29 was the former access to the "Cullompton Bypass" which was one of the first parts of the M5 to be built. The B3181 is the old A38. And the correct pronunciation of Michaelwood is "Mickelwood," although that's been lost in the sands of time!
just south of the willow man is humphrey the camel, a well known landmark. He was absent for a few years but is now back. But the hedges have grown a bit and he is partially obscured.
the whole bridgwater section was infamous for the smell from the nearby cellophane factory, now since closed.
north of junction 22 off to the west is the brent knoll hill fort
also between clevedon and portishead is the somewhat interesting two-tiered section as the motorway hugs the side of a steep hill
Do you know that the Weston super mare junction was built unusually wide because it was planned to have a southern version of the M32
What's that, a southern motorway approach to Bristol? That would've been very useful indeed.
@@jazzhands7771 yep and would have been a motorway down to Weston called the Weston Spur where the A370 runs today and the motorway would have shared the M5 that's also why the J20 roundabout is so big serving a tiny B road
Could have done the split level bit between Avonmouth and Clevedon, also does the part running across the Somerset levels count as the lowest Motorway in the UK.
I have so many memories of this motorway, including those annoying queues in the summer and Bank Holiday. But besides that, the M5 is one of my favourite motorways in the country.
I can't say I'm the biggest fan of the M5 but it is the gateway to summer holidays for a lot!
Drove the length of it today on the way back from Cornwall to Birmingham and despite that I still want to watch another 10 minutes of it, such is the lure of this series. Great work as ever!
That Police entrance between J28 and J29 is the remains of the A38 Cullompton bypass, which was built on the line of the M5 and ran from a point near Diggerland, past Cullompton with a junction that is now J28, before ending at that Police entrance.
Love the Asda petrol station tip. Interesting fact, we stumbled across it purely by accident last weekend while coming home from Birmingham. Decided to pull off to go into town to look for cheaper fuel, and there it was! Hey presto.
Loving the videos, keep them coming.
nice.. it's strange how it's right there next to the motorway.
The point about how much the moat helps the maintenance of that willow man nearly made me spit out my coffee.
Thanks mate, that's really kind appreciate it! :)
The M5 is my favourite motorway...driving on it means I'm travelling down to Cornwall for my holidays!!!
Sedgemoor services is my all time favourite service station. Michaelwood and Exeter are dear to my heart too!
And oh my godness...The Mike & Angelo theme music!
Or driving home AFTER your holiday :(
I love that motorway bridge above the railway bridge above the canal bridge above the canal!
Thanks!
Really been enjoying your work. Well done on 50,000 here's to the next 50,000+
Hit me up for a coffee when you do the M18, M180 or M62 near the junction of the M18.
Thanks mate, that's really kind of you. I've been eyeing up the M180 recently.. I've a couple more "down south" to take care of first but then it's time to start heading North.
I have only started to use the M5 a few years ago since my son and his family moved to Bristol as far as Cribbs causeway or the Portbury intersection. On one trip the traffic was backed up to I junction 13 so joined the A38 the traffic was stationary when I passed under the M5 at 16.
I have no idea why I am following you other than your dry humor and sarcastic entertainment peppered with historical interest. I look forward to it! I am in the USA and will probably never drive these roads in the UK. Love it, crack on!
That's great to hear. Its a huge compliment hearing we appeal to non UK residents Thanks for watching!
Thank you, John / Jon. It is enjoyable to see the modern roadways and their precursors.
We have gone over the Avon bridge loads of times. If my husband was in the works van whilst it was empty and going over that bridge there are some strong cross winds there, and he would be fighting to stop it veering into the wrong lane whilst his arse took chunks out of the seat.
All very familiar. Not far from the Avonmouth junction, there is another junction where you can turn off into the Cribbs Causeway retail centre. The traffic there gets insane and around Christmas it turns into a giant car park with lots of people sitting there for literally hours trying to get out of the retail park and onto the motorway. Deepest joy!!! This is why On-Line shopping was invented. It's a hellish place.
But... but... you missed Gloucester services! Grassed over roof, awesome farm shop produce, spicy cured sausages such as beer sticks, and a butchers' counter with a window behind through to the cold room!
Fab episode. You must check out Gloucester services next time you're over that way, its one of the nicest services around.
Best services ever. I’m a lorry driver and if i pass there and don’t stop i have 2 weeks of bad luck. 😂 Also petrol station have good coffee and delicious sandwiches.
It's a bit pretentious as service stations go. 🤣
I tend to skip over service stations as I visited them all and made a video last year. Gloucester is in episode 5.. th-cam.com/video/Xp9Hr7GvtPA/w-d-xo.html I also made the "pretentious" observation :D
Great content as always!
Thanks a lot, thats really nice of you. You are the warming water in my brew. Or something.
Love it when you say.."Not my job mate" known the world over as. One man one job a real 90's expression.
It sums it up rather nicely I think! :D
Not a single mention of the Hi-Lo (Wynhol Viaduct) between 20 and 19. Probably the most iconic section of the M5.😢
It has its own video.
@@danielcoombs4887 it does now, but there wasn't one when this video was released, or when this comment was posted
My only regret is that when I travelled the motorways, I was always heading much further north and I used to see lots of places that I would have liked to stop at and visit, but it wasn't practical. Thank you for bringing us these little pearls about points on the way.
I rarely drove through the M5/M6 interchange without delay (even at night), but I remember one bright spark sprayed on the bridge " Congratulations you have reached the M5/ M6 interchange, now get out and ****ing walk because it will be quicker".
Thanks and happy motoring!
You missed the camels at Bridgwater, gutted.
Yes - Humphrey and Boo are an M5 institution!
As a child I remember seeing a lot of the M5 being built and then we used it regularly once it was open. South of Worcester landmarks I used to look out for were the derelict traction engine near the M50 junction, the ruined stone house (long since gone) on the left when driving south somewhere near Gloucester, a small yard of derelict cars on the left when heading north somewhere between J13 and Bristol and the scrapyard near Churchdown. Fr several years there was also a Mk IV Zephyr estate parked (looking somewhat derelict) visible from the southbound carriageway somewhere near there, too. Plus the old airfield, with its control tower, that I can't even see nowadays! More recently the camel and elephant - which seemed to be visible in the eighties.
Loved the choice of Mike and Angelo music!
Good stuff
I like the way it starts off with 12th cent bridges over beautiful villages and the other end its birmingham ..... just birmingham
Absolute belta of an instalment, love the humour and the tangents you go down, I can imagine you have a combination of known facts, quick wiki searches, proper investigations, surprises found while on site and rabbit holes explored when prepping for these videos. I watch with my 8 year old son (we’ve watch all instalments). With this level of quality, facts and humour you will have no issues reaching the 100K subscribers!
Thanks a lot!
John top drawer every vlog
Yeah, I’m sorry that it seems to be being so stubborn.
This answered a handful of questions I've always had about these local landmarks.
Also the fact you must've gone into part of Bridgwater for part of this video is very commendable.
Still fantastic, thank you 👍
It's so nostalgic! I always wondered what was with all those cars. And my favourite part of the M5 was always trying to spot wicker man, bit sad to see him in a bad state!
S.O.T.M. is the highlight of my Sunday!
(I don't get out much)
Perfect videos to watch whilst not getting out :D
John, another cracking video, I really like your delivery and dry humour !
I live about half a mile from the M5. I can hear the traffic on it in the evening and at night time. Was waiting for this one!
Next to J11 at Cheltenham and Gloucester there is a bridge that connects two sides of a farm that the motorway cuts through. Sometimes you can see the cows being herded across!
I used to travel from Birmingham to Taunton to go back and forth from uni regularly back in 2005-2008 and Willow Man was always a good indicator of where I was on the journey! It's sad to see it falling into that state now.
The famous (it is to me) Humphrey the Camel at M5 marker post 191/8, street view dated Sept 2022. On his own and set back in the field. Used to overlook the fence and was a lot easier to see. I remember seeing a banner celebrating his 21st birthday, and I bet that was about 20 years ago.
I used to travel regularly to Cornwall and it was a ritual for my late wife and I to spot the Camel!
If we had friends with is, they always thought we had gone mad 😂😂
@@IM-yv1er A nice little daft thing that helps keep us sane in this mad world.
The J2 Asda! Been my favourite ‘services’ for 15 years! Love this channel.
Wicked, Sweet, Awesome - yet again!
You thoroughly deserve the 100K - I hope you get there soon 👍
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Lovely bit of prose as you closed the section on the light tower Jon.
thanks mate!
Would have loved to have learned more about the strange slip road layout southbound at junction 21. Rumour has it that was designed this way to allow a flyover to connect with a planned motorway spur direct into Weston super Mare. I believe this spur was shown on an atlas sometime in the 1970’s but, there is no other information that I can find. Further up the M5 at junction 20 (Clevedon), there was supposed to be another spur motorway connecting to Long Ashton as part of a planned ring road type system like that what was planned for London. Apparently, the unusually large central reservation between junction 20 and 21 Southbound was to allow for 4 lanes to take into account this spur to Long Ashton that was never built.
Junction 31 of the M5 is the closest part of the motorway network to me and that’s still 45mins away. Nice to see a local place on your channel.
The river Exee!
I love your videos and humour John. The one thing I like about the bridge over the Avon is you can walk or cycle across it and the views are magnificent .
River Exxy!? Ummmm...bad start!
Had to watch that twice. Being from Exeter that made me chuckle. Never heard anyone call it river exxy before.
Fun M5 fact: The game Dear Esther describes a crash on the M5, and at some point you are walking along the carriageway approaching junction 19 (and the Welcome Break services).
Love that game.. for an old bugger its not so frantic for my old reactions..
I remember seeing the Willow Man in his prime when he was installed in the field. Back in the early 2000's the houses weren't there and all that surrounded the sculpture was fields, cows and a local farm. A bit further down from the willow man another sculpture once featured which was a camel looking over the hedge. This disappeared when the housing estate engulfed the farm and surrounding land.
It was still pretty much complete a few years ago, its demise must be fairly recent.
I didn't travel the M5 very often, but always looked out for the camel.
The camel is still there. Also has a baby camel. Looks like they get refurbished often
Thanks for making my Sunday John.
So true 👍 brilliant vlog 👏
Nice one, thanks for watching.
Skipping Gloucester services?? 😱
And the odd Junction 11A?
And the upgrades planned on Junction 10?
And the project to rebuild the Stroudwater canal under the motorway near Junction 13?
Yes it seems so. Although I intentionally skip service stations, Ive a whole series about those :D
02:00 The secret entrance there was once part of a junction/roundabout, which was the old southern entrance to the then Cullompton bypass. The bypass was built in the 60s but future proofed so it could be converted into the motorway in the 70s. What was the bypass is now the stretch between that old junction and a bridge north of the next junction to the north which in the bypass days was the site of the northern entrance.
well done John, another masterpiece. You are keeping me sane with your very enjoyable brand of "slow TV" with interesting bits. I get bombarded with endless political stuff, biden stuff and NWO stuff... I come here to decompress and very valuable your space is. Cheers (btw, look at the well-high tide-mark on that well-old bridge - eek!). Here have a coffee (or two depending on which service station provides it)
Thanks buddy, thats really nice of you. Thats great to hear... its all a bit too serious most of the time isn't it, hopefully these videos provide 10 mins of entertainment where we can ignore all the BS in the world and listen to mine instead and hopefully have a laugh :D
Great vid as always Jon. If you carried down the Exeter ship canal to where it goes into the river you will find a hotel, another lock and the cup of tea you were after
I know for next time. Thanks for watching!
Spot on vlog John so interesting keep coming 👍 John
J21 has a really weird slip road on the southbound. Originally it should have been a extended motorway run to centre of Weston. You can find it on some earlier maps. Avonmouth bridge used to be 3 lanes either side but also had walkways on both sides + chunky central reservation. To make four lanes they lost the northbound side walkway (which was for pedestrians, the other was for mopeds/invacars and bikes). You can still see the walkway up to it. Also one of the worst accidents around there was on the bridge in 1999 I think, the motorway / bridge was closed for about 48 hours.. the congestion was on another level
You missed the camel(s), near the Willow man. Always used to be my reference before the Willow man came along.
Yes the camel , it's approx marker post 192/4 North bound
What happened to the Wellington Memorial then? I know it is a little further off into the distance, but you can't really miss it on top of that hill. When I lived near Plymouth I used to drive up and down the M5 (and M4 or A303) almost weekly, so it is one of my favourite motorways, and the memorial always acted as a beacon telling me that I was just over an hour from home. Anyway the video was an entertaining watch as always - so good luck with the push for 100,000.
You can't miss it for sure... sadly there wasn't enough time.
@@AutoShenanigans 2 parts would have solved that matey ;) "As the M5 is so bloody massive"
Your referring to the cider monument, put up by a local MP in the 1890s to celebrate not raising tax on cider. A few months after it was completed they raised the tax on cider. As for the green fields of Somerset and Devon sadly they are quietly disappearing under housing.
@@nickbannister775 Ah thank you, that is a bit of detail that I didnt know. I must have driven past it thousands of times in the past. Sadly no longer because I am now at the other end of the country (quite literally) over 440 miles away.
Although I myself now live 300 miles away my relations live on top of the M5 at Sampford Peverell . The M5 sadly is now as bad as the M62 for traffic and accidents from here to Exeter mainly due to tired holiday makers.
The other part of the emergancy access point on the 29-28 stretch is about a mile south of that point.
Well... missed that! I can see why, you barely notice it!
The little-used access point that you found is what's left of the temporary terminal roundabout of the Cullompton by-pass, built in 1969, and incorporated into M5 in 1974. Cullompton was a notorious bottleneck on A38 for holiday traffic so it got its by-pass a bit early.
I should just ask you guys to write the episodes shouldn't I... :D That's great info that I completely missed!
@@AutoShenanigans no problem. The other temporary terminal was where B3181 crosses M5 near Willand, but there's nothing to see there, they did a thorough job removing it.
@@AutoShenanigans if you did they wouldn’t be as funny or informative
You mention the cheaper fuel near jct 2. At one time the major supermarkets published booklets with the locations of their stores. You could find many of them within half a mile or so of a m/way jct and they make for a much cheaper food and fuel option. The booklets have long gone but I still check for suitably positioned stores before making long journeys and of course you can pre programme you sat nav to highlight thenm.
One case to point out a Tesco just on the town side of M6 jct 43 which is nicely positioned between Southwaite Services and Gretna services.
I'm making it my mission to be more aware of these, I live near a services on my stretch of the M4 but never go of course because I know of many stations within a mile of the junction that are 'normal' price. There must be thousands of fuel stations near motorway junctions that are unmarked and we could be using, cheaper snacks too. I wonder if there's an app for that which is a bit more accessible than aa maps search
And Sainsbury's very close to J25 for fuel
When I was at Uni in the late 70's, I read an article about the Avonmouth Bridge. Someone worked out that the amount of paper produced by the computers in its design, was enough to wallpaper the bridge completely...road surface and all!
At 06:07 into the video on the right of river is the ancient maritime village of Pill… the village where john Cabot’s Matthew left in 1497 and where the founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley visited and wrote “a place famous for generations to generations, even as kingswood itself, for stupid, brutal abounded wickedness” Also the Wurzels second home which they loved so much they wrote a song about it… it’s called Pill Pill I love thee still.
Good episode John, have a look at the two chaps who did a 2.5k crack climb under the m5
Brilliant been waiting for this one too as I live in Exeter 😀😀😀😀😀
I was really looking forward to the M5 one being that I grew up in Exeter, but also because my father was involved with surveying the split level section south west of Bristol.
It’s an absolute nightmare for traffic in holiday season these days but it’s still got a lot to offer if you know where to look.
Thanks as always for a great video.
Loved this, next time I am on the m5 stuck in a never ending jam I will be sure to look out for these
Don't forget Humphrey the M5 camel near Bridgwater, just south of the Wickerman on the northbound side!
Though it has to be said, we don't really do paganism down here.
Yay, nearly new bridge time 🎉
Thanks for this one. Have been looking forward to an M5 video as this is the motorway we use the most as we live near Exeter. Never knew about that led tower near Weston Super Mare and thanks for the tip about the ASDA near J2. A great presentation with nice touches of humour. 😀
I don't know how you could not mention the Wynhol Viaducts at Gordano, where the road splits in 2 and you can get under it.
Also along the Avonmouth Bridge there is also a footpath along the M5 you can walk along, next to one of the entrances to the footpaths on the Somerset side there's some sculptures of a hammer and spanner, they were put there to commemorate the bridge widening in 2000.
There used to be a footpath on both sides, one was removed for the widening. Part of the old walk way to the footpath on the other side can still be walked along on the Somerset side.
I think it would also have been worth talking about Junction 11a, for being such a mess.
Another fascinating film … the M5 is a Motorway I haven’t used as frequently as the others you’ve covered (except for the M4 junction - I’d regularly used all three of these of junctions in days gone by!) and it was educational … plenty of new stuff covered I wasn’t even remotely aware of! Thanks very much!
Oops - not ‘of’ junctions, but 4-stack junctions … 🤷🏽
Just thought I'd add Junction 11A which is (I believe) the only junction of its type on the M5. It connects the M5 directly to the A417 which is a corridor that cuts through the Cotswolds and eventually turns into the A419 which meets the M4 at Swindon. This means it's a busy link for those going from the Midlands and north west down to the south coast.
Junction 11A is a weird one as it features one slip road being like those used in cloverleaf junctions, whilst the others feed around it to their relevant destinations. It's designed to bias traffic coming from the M5 Southbound onto the A417 East while biasing traffic coming the other way from the A417 east onto the M5 northbound. Traffic can't go from the M5 Southbound to the A417 west, those drivers must use junction 11 for the A40 or continue going east on the A417 before looping back at the junction before Birdlip.
I'm only commenting that I enjoy the name 'Birdlip'.
@@mrc7478 There is an amazing viewpoint at Birdlip just off the A417, I cannot pass there without stopping.
Excellent 👌🏼
I’ll be on the M5 on Monday on my way down to Exeter area. I’ll keep my eyes open for these objects you’ve kindly showed us
You forgot two points of the M5. First being the construction of Wynol Viaduct the split level section high above the Gordano valley.
Also junction 20 clevedon originally built to be a motorway regulation junction only where the southern tip of the Bristol ring road should of met it.
Thanks
no.. thank YOU!! appreciate that mate.
The river Exe is pronounced “X” and Clyst St. Mary is pronounced “Clist” - hope this helps…. Great to see you in the South West!
The B3181 junction is an emergency off slip in case of an RTC between junction 28 and 29, there is another on the opposite carriageway but it’s less obvious. The southbound one was often used if the traffic units needed to go east or north again in a hurry.
The E is silent on the end of the river Exe, so pronounced Ex!
Also the road was changed at clyst st mary to make up part of the exeter bypass in the 1960s
Thank you for your amazing videos, they're a highlight for me every Sunday 😊
Thanks a lot, that's really awesome. hope youre enjoying your day!
You missed one of the more hilarious design aspects of the M5 from its earlier days where, having travelled on a three lane carriageway through the Gloucestershire and Worcestershire countryside, on approaching Birmingham, our second largest city, it narrowed to two lanes. This was not finally resolved until the mid 90s. There are still bits where there are no hard shoulders thanks to this.
Also, if you are going to look at significant sites within sight of the motorway, Glastonbury Tor was surely worth a mention.
Yeah, I think the two lanes is down to the the fact that it's an elevated section over very busy local roads, so there is only so much that can be done. Even so, the planners should have realised that it would need at least three open lanes from the start.
Thanks!
Thanks mate, you're the best! Really appreciate that