This is the episode I have been waiting for. I spent 15 years of my life in nearby Newcastle under Lyme. Between J15 and J16 at Keele there are a number of interesting things to point out: Keele Services once came top of a poll (or bottom depending on your perspective) of rubbish service stations, one for your service station series. It's truly is awful; but if you need fried chicken at 4am it is a godsend. The stately Keele Hall is visible from the motorway. It is a university these days, but its past includes being requisitioned by the army, as an iron works (as opposed to pottery like the rest of the region), and was the Sneyd ancestral home with a Knights Templar church. Crossing the motorway is a disused railway line (Stoke to Market Drayton) which also served the nearby Silverdale Colliery with some rather interesting tunnels. All the track and equipment connecting it to the nearby WCML are still in place and if it weren't for a solitary red light an inquisitive inebriated student might easily wander out onto the quadruple track. Right next to the motorway is the site that was once Keele racecourse; it used to have a special stopping service on race days. About a mile north of the services you'll find Pepper Street and Hollywood Lane. A new housing estate is being built on it, but underneath are large coal seams that are currently on fire! You can see all the charred tress on the surface and signage warning you to keep out (at least before Seddon got hold of it). The builders reckon they can put the fire out, the fire service are of a different mind I wonder who knows more about these things hmmm.
I used to prefer Keele to Sandbach or Knutsford but the ramping up of fuel prices and the steady decline in the food offerings has killed it for me. Nice to know about J16 and the Shell garage there. Will come in handy if I ever am running low.
Junction 19 was actually a game changer, the connection to the new bypass that avoids Mere makes the whole thing flow soooo much better than it used to.
I live literally four or so miles away from it and didn't even know about the mystery bridge. It's just a bit of motorway that I never really need to use, living between the junctions. So it's been an emotional rollercoaster finding out about the mystery and having it solved moments later, but a worthy one.
Keele Services used to be the unofficial Jn15A used by Keele University students (including me), but I since I stopped slipping out for some all-night KFC at 2AM they put gates on the local access. It was some decades ago. Rumour has it you can still gain a PIN for the gates at the student's union for a couple of pints, but it changes on a regular basis.
Extra facts, Stafford Castle is well known for the special mushrooms that grow in the surrounding fields that make you feel great. Also i can't believe he didn't show the rave cave that is next to the bridge after the abandoned ones
Ah, the wonderful M6 Lymm to Stoke-on-Trent. I've spent an awful lot of time on that section. Not tootling along at 70mph, but at a standstill, for hours, because people tend to play bumper-cars on it quite often. I honestly don't know why this is, it's fairly flat and benign but seems to have twined itself with Fury Road, of Mad Max fame.
As I have lived at Crewe for 28 years now, (was in rail industry, and last job was in Rail House before I retired), I am well used to the M6 and its regular state of chaos. The revised Jn 19 must be the biggest and most expensive spatchcock (quick fix), on the motorway network. Having said that, it is a definite improvement over what was there before. The effect of the changes is to reduce the number of traffic light stages from three to two for those going north on the M6 to Manchester via A556 and M56. Going the other way it is the same as it was before and is free-flow, albeit with a very sharp 'S' bend ! We tested Jn 19 in April last year when my wife was under treatment at the Christie Hospital. We never got held up here. The pity is that there seems to now be no money at all for a serious revision of Jn17 (Sandbach and Congleton A534). This junction is an absolute joke with its single bridge. Latest proposal is to make all M6 southbound to Sandbach turn left to a new and very small roundabout, and then make a 360 degree turn to go over the bridge, thus having a dumbell traffic arrangement. I pity the poor highways engineer who will have to maintain the road surface with all those HGVs scrubbing the tarmac away !. I would think relaying every 12 months or so should do it !
3:09 Most of those 'tracks' are strips that have been excavated prior to HS2 arriving (if ever!) so that archaeologists can have a good nose around first!
A shame John didn't mention the incomplete nature of the M6/M56 interchange at J20. That is the whole reason for the improvement needed at J19 and the new A556 dual carriageway. It's not motorway speed limits but a vast improvement on the old A556 with it's traffic lights and junctions.
Its a vast improvement when using the a556 but doesn’t seem to have solved the traffic coming off the m6 northbound. This often backs up to the services .
@@DavidWeinbergUK Also the farmer who would move a herd of cows between fields by marching them up the A556 causing utter chaos, usually during either the morning or afternoon rush hour for extra hilarity.
Fun fact at J17 for Nantwich, Sandbach and Congleton there is a Coop fuel station just off the motorway with a Gregg's. Cheaper than motorway services and it has toilets. It's cheaper too. It is accessible from both directions too.
Flipping heck. That bridge is Trentham?! Flipping live there and didn't even realise that's the location of the bridge. Thanks for fascinating insight as always!!
Did my initial army training at Swynnerton. Seem to remember at the time all the roads were setup to drive on the right-hand side, with a lot of signage similar to the german road network, to prepapre soldiers for deployment to germany from the latter days of the BAOR.
The gate half way across was put up during mad cow disease I seem to recall. I think there was a farm on one side where the farmer wanted to protect his herd from walkers. I seem to recall a large spray painted Keep Out sign on the bridge at the time as well!
@@simonkirkman The keep out sign has rung a bell for me! I think I remember that too. I was a child so I always thought the bridge was access to a military site because of that
Thanks SO much for explaining about that bridge with the gate in the middle. I use the M6 a lot and always wondered why it was like that. I'm sure I saw some cows being walked over the bridge once so assumed it was something that only farmers had access to. I've learned something tonight now. Cheers. A very interesting episode 👍🏻🙂
Wickedsweetawesome as usual. You were there when the lights went out. Abandoned accommodation bridges are a feature of our motorways, the circular ones for cattle to the straight ones for cars and carts and occasional quirky zigzags all add to the haphazard nature of our motorway program, it seems that even when given the chance we still managed to copy the poet GKChesterton's observation of our way of meandering into things and, perplexed, meander out. "To straighten out the crooked road an English drunkard made, Where you and I went down the lane with ale-mugs in our hands, The night we went to Glastonbury by way of Goodwin Sands." Another must watch.
The Thelwall viaduct started out as one bridge with 6 lanes on it but it was made from cheap materials and started to fall down due to the huge amount of traffic that goes over it on a daily basis. As a result a second bridge was constructed and once completed, each crossing was made in to a 4-lane highway. Even though the bridge isn't high up, the area suffers from very high winds so on the rare occasions the bridge has had to close. John, what you missed out was a toll road, not that far away from the Thelwall Viadauct, which is another crossing over the ship canal. Although not a motorway, it would've been worth a mention as it's around 12p to cross it!!
5m22s. It is the Inovyn Hulme Hall site. As the with other site now used for gas storage, this is current brine extraction and piped to plants in Runcorn for the manufacture of plastics and soap among other things. And your 'few years', it's been going on for 80 years. The caverns were not created to store gas, but once the salt/brine was removed, they found another use for them in gas storage.
The bridge to the Trentham estate leads to a quarry which used to host off road events in the 90's and early 2000's. Footage can be seen on TH-cam, of an Alvis Stalwart driving around the site. I myself was driven around the quarry in a Suzuki Lj in 2001.
Brilliant commentary , thankyou .. enjoyed that .. where you were stood at Parkside you were virtually right next to the Parkside Monument which honour the first ever rail fatality ( an MP called Huskinson , who got out of his stationary carriage to go and chat with The DUKE OF WELLINGTON ..... he was struck by a train coming the other way rumoured to be Stevenson rocket )
I was unaware that there had been plans to improve J15 that had never come to fruition. As wonderfully shown at 4:14, coming from the A500 to go north on the M6, it feels counterintuitive to go over the motorway and then momentarily go south and then have to creep round the downward tight 180-degree bend to join the motorway, where the traffic already on the motorway is doing 70mph and vehicles joining it are doing considerably less.
I've been to ROF Sywnnerton twice as a cadet, as usual military bases are a haven for wildlife, it's rather wonderful spotting deer, wrens and whatnot while crawling prone through wet forrest trying to avoid the staff tasked with hunting us down, good times!
I don't use J19 frequently, but it's much better than it used to be. The main benefit is if you want to go from the M6 over to Manchester, as you no longer have to go down the narrow and busy Chester Road (B5569) through Over Tabley and Bucklow Hill. The A556 is much quicker, though the low speed limit is annoying.
The road you call the A556 is the new dual carriageway and the B road that goes through Tabley was the A556 which ran from the M56 J8 to the M6 J19 . The A556 continues on to Chester ( becoming the A54 and then the A51) .
Well that answered the question I’ve wondered about for decades, but couldn’t be arsed to find out about myself, regarding the motorway bridge blocked off with barbed wire over the M6! Thank you sir ❤
Junction 19 is class for a quick link through to the M56 when coming Northbound. Great improvement with the priority lanes missing the roundabout, and there are some nice filter lanes to skip traffic before getting on to the A556
The new J19 is definitely an improvement if youre heading northbound and off to Manchester up the A556. If only they could iron out the dip/hump as you cross the roundabout to go over the new bridge, then it would be perfect!
My local stretch on motorway that, the salt industry was huge around this area, towns around here with wich at the end are associated with salt and a lot of road salt for winter gritting still comes from the huge salt mine at Winsford . Keep up the good work with these cool videos 👍🏻
Another solid edition. The pacing was spot on. Love the included out-takes and the ad-libs. As always, the sites either side of the motorway are very interesting.
Hi John, the changes to junction 19 have actually made a real beneficial difference 👍 much quicker when coming off the southbound side for Northwich or heading north for the A556 to Manchester.
LMAO with you pronunciation of Doxey. The castle and the area near the services were my playground in the sixties when the motorway was being built. The video brought back a lot of memories as we left the area for Australia in 66.
@@brianthompson5613 Oh wow, my family were in Adelaide as well - Elizabeth to be precise. Mum came back in 77 but then we went back in 92 and lived in Morphett Vale, and my Dad still lives in Henley Beach.
They almost always leave the equipment down a mine, it needs to be disassembled to be brought to the surface and the market in the UK for used mining equipment is limited. So as with Daw Mill near Coventry the faces will sit with their cutting equipment at them until the corrosion and geology overcome them.
With ref to the disused bridge over the M6 at J15, within the Trentham Estate. On the other side of the bridge from where John is Standing (at 00:03:50) there is a property called Gravel Pit Lodge, a Grade II listed building built in 1859, which fronts onto the A519. It was one of the former entrances to the Trentham Estate at the end of a carriage drive, lined with elm and lime trees leading to Trentham Hall. The Lodge gained its name due to the nearby gravel pits on the west side of the Trentham Estate. The pit supplied gravel used during the laying out of Trentham Gardens and for various other estate purposes. Quarrying ceased in 1948, however around 1960 the quarry was reopened to provide gravel in 1962-63 for the construction of the M6 which runs through the west side of the park and through the centre of the former quarry. Gravel Pit Lodge became separated from the park and the bridge was built over the M6 to keep a connection with the park and the A519. The bridge was closed after the sale of Gravel Pit Lodge in the early 1980s. 🙂
@@AutoShenanigans I got this info just yesterday from a local history facebook group… there’s a lot of history in Trentham… particularly re wartime and the use of the estate as a POW camp and field hospital… I run around the quarry and through those woods a lot 😊 the bridge would be VERY handy!
It's not that long ago since Jon had fewer than 2k subscribers. The channel has exploded over the last few months, and I suspect it will continue to grow.
Swinnerton Camp is (or was) used by the army for BFG* driver training, once through the inner gates from the accommodation area all vehicles drive on the right. The site is also used for other training, which is what I was there for on two occasions. And as if by coincidence I took my LGV driving test at the VOSA test centre built on MOD land and now closed, or so I'm told. I also spent a weekend at the Yarnfield BT training centre just down the road.
I have seen the bridge in use at Trentham, back in the mid eighties, it was the route out of the RAC rally stage for the rally cars, not a lot of people know that .
J19 is a very strange example of a motorway plan that actually went well. There’s something satisfying about coming off at J19 towards Northwich and having the lights clear for you as you’re coming up the slip in quiet times!
One thing that amazes me is when you go over the Manchester ship canal viaduct at night . The lights stop .its pitch black till you get to stoke .something to do with Cheshire and light pollution x
I used to see cows using the abandoned bridge regularly a few years ago. I also used to use the shell garage a lot as that's the junction I went off for Oulton park circuit which I used to go to regularly.
I used to drive from Brum to Bolton from 1998 to 2002, J19 was rubbish it led to the A556 to connect to the M56. I would stay on the M6 up to the M62 junction. And, as I went over the Thelwall viaduct I would look out for ships on the Manchester Ship Canal. I saw a few !
I always remember “Houghton Green Pool” being a dry field when I was younger. My understanding was that when Parkside Coillery closed and stopped being de-watered the ground water level rose and the field began to flood creating what is there today. I’m not sure if this is correct but it makes sense.
Since the vast majority of the traffic using the Tabley Interchange is heading into or from Manchester on the A556+M56, the junction rebuild (along with the new fully grade separated alignment of the A556) has been a massive improvement. Traffic used to snarl up really badly on what is the main access to Manchester from the south, both on this roundabout and on the original A556. I'm sure the residents of Over Tabley, Mere and Bucklow Hill are also relieved to have some peace and quiet after decades of traffic.
Was in Swynnerton camp twice in the 1990s, while I was in the Army. It was where you did training for the "Former Yugoslavia" UN first-then later with NATO. On camp, you had to drive on the wrong side of the road, and all the traffic signs were Yugoslavian. I wonder if there is any signs left?
Keele services might be expensive but there are some great staff there, and some good looking ones too! Also Junction 19 with that new bridge is a tad confusing. I go Crewe-Manchester on the way back home in the East quite a lot and most don't know what lane they need to be in!
Been to old yarnfield many a time for odd training courses Jon, as a former RAF base turned prison camp turned refugee centre turned GPO Which itself turned post office turned BT turned Openreach training centre, i tested all the poles there and made sure they were all safe for new recruits to climb, sadly the GPO turned Post Office turned BT turned Openreach training centre has closed though they still opperate classroom led training at the yarnfield conferenve centre.
I use the M6 from 15 to 18 twice daily, and this proved interesting. One thing for people to be aware of that aren't local is that although the fuel station on the j16 roundabout is a bit cheaper than the motorway services, it isn't that much cheaper. Today, ( August 2023) it is £1.70 for both petrol and diesel, if you travel down the a500 into stoke it's around £1. 44, it's a bit more if you go into Crewe instead. If non locals are passing either way between 15 and 16, and need fuel, it's worth heading off along the a500 instead and filling up, the journey between 15 and 16 is actually shorter down the a500 by a couple of miles, if not faster due to part of it having a rigorously enforced 50 limit for about a third of its run, but the extra couple of minutes will save you at least a tenner on a full tank. It's a continuous dual carriageway from 15 to 16, and vice versa of course
Keel is definately my favourite services, probably because I remember it as a kid when it had a row of differnt branded petrol stations along where the lorries park now. I guess thats why its such a massive car park.
Abandoned bridge. Back in the '70s car parking for an orienteering race (Potteries Orienteering Club) was on the West side of the motorway and the bridge was used for pedestrian access to the Trentham estate woodlands.
I went twice to Swynnerton or "Swinnie" as we called it for infantry training, including riot training and grenade practice, when I was in the armed forces. A truly bizarre and rather dystopian looking place back in the 80s. Very creepy at night, and all the old notices and abandoned buildings, some that looked like they'd only been evacuated the night before, and others you'd wonder what their original purpose was for 😮
Agreed. For once they got it right and it wasnt horrific whilst under construction! If only they could hurry up with the central reservation works northbound!
you drove past junction 15 and didnt mention the worse 50mph average carriageway called the A500 (locals call it the D road as it joins junction 16) it also joine the A50 towards derby and the M1.. stoke could almost be the perfect location for all motorway access.... except... its full ok stokies, port vale and oatcakes....
Regarding the equipment left underground "darn-t-pit", this is very likely as the cost of bringing it back out is more than the potential sale value of what ever equipment there may be underground. Even scrap value.
That said when I was working in Australia I met a guy who had made a really good income out of buying up the old NCB equipment and exporting it to Aus. He said that no one wanted it in Europe so it 'got it for a song'.
M6 J19. Great improvement. Also it was built to get around the fact that M6 North to J19 exit was too close to the Services, so that when J19 exit was busy it blocked the "on" ramp from the services, chaos ensued.
Seems the archaeologists have had a look at the field where you were talking about HS2. The tracks were probably from diggers digging the trial trenches you can see in the ariel shot.
I wish i knew you were in stafford I live within walking distance from stafford Castle. Below the Castle there is four underpass within a short distance from each other. Love your work 👍
Keep on going John! Once again another well put together and well presented video that makes a 'boring' topic interesting. I do hope some documentary/production type company thing find you. You'll nail it!
RE: Stafford, the new Pets at Home National distribution centre has opened just above Stafford, it will be interesting to see the traffic increase on that section of the m6
For your 100K special you should drive from Lands End to John O’ Groats without using a motorway
Would be cool with other cars
With time lapse photography. At a viewed 700mph. That would be wicked, smart, cool!
Nice idea but expensive and extremely time consuming!
Yes!😂
Impossible
This is the episode I have been waiting for. I spent 15 years of my life in nearby Newcastle under Lyme. Between J15 and J16 at Keele there are a number of interesting things to point out:
Keele Services once came top of a poll (or bottom depending on your perspective) of rubbish service stations, one for your service station series. It's truly is awful; but if you need fried chicken at 4am it is a godsend.
The stately Keele Hall is visible from the motorway. It is a university these days, but its past includes being requisitioned by the army, as an iron works (as opposed to pottery like the rest of the region), and was the Sneyd ancestral home with a Knights Templar church.
Crossing the motorway is a disused railway line (Stoke to Market Drayton) which also served the nearby Silverdale Colliery with some rather interesting tunnels. All the track and equipment connecting it to the nearby WCML are still in place and if it weren't for a solitary red light an inquisitive inebriated student might easily wander out onto the quadruple track. Right next to the motorway is the site that was once Keele racecourse; it used to have a special stopping service on race days.
About a mile north of the services you'll find Pepper Street and Hollywood Lane. A new housing estate is being built on it, but underneath are large coal seams that are currently on fire! You can see all the charred tress on the surface and signage warning you to keep out (at least before Seddon got hold of it). The builders reckon they can put the fire out, the fire service are of a different mind I wonder who knows more about these things hmmm.
I used to prefer Keele to Sandbach or Knutsford but the ramping up of fuel prices and the steady decline in the food offerings has killed it for me. Nice to know about J16 and the Shell garage there. Will come in handy if I ever am running low.
Junction 19 was actually a game changer, the connection to the new bypass that avoids Mere makes the whole thing flow soooo much better than it used to.
All the decades I've driven up and down the M6 and finally, the Trentham Bridge mystery is resolved for me. Thanks John.
I live literally four or so miles away from it and didn't even know about the mystery bridge. It's just a bit of motorway that I never really need to use, living between the junctions. So it's been an emotional rollercoaster finding out about the mystery and having it solved moments later, but a worthy one.
Keele Services used to be the unofficial Jn15A used by Keele University students (including me), but I since I stopped slipping out for some all-night KFC at 2AM they put gates on the local access.
It was some decades ago.
Rumour has it you can still gain a PIN for the gates at the student's union for a couple of pints, but it changes on a regular basis.
My ex went to Keele in the mid 00s - I have fond memories of wandering down to the services in the middle of the night to get some munchies!
Extra facts, Stafford Castle is well known for the special mushrooms that grow in the surrounding fields that make you feel great. Also i can't believe he didn't show the rave cave that is next to the bridge after the abandoned ones
Excellent HS2 forecasting.
Ah, the wonderful M6 Lymm to Stoke-on-Trent. I've spent an awful lot of time on that section. Not tootling along at 70mph, but at a standstill, for hours, because people tend to play bumper-cars on it quite often. I honestly don't know why this is, it's fairly flat and benign but seems to have twined itself with Fury Road, of Mad Max fame.
totally agree. The last 3 times weve been along there theres been a massive queue.
I thing its driver fatigue hot spot
Proximity to Stoke does tend to make one feel self-destructive.
@@rowgli My Daughter went to Uni there. I thought parts of Blackpool were bad. Stoke added a whole new level to the circle of hell.
As I have lived at Crewe for 28 years now, (was in rail industry, and last job was in Rail House before I retired), I am well used to the M6 and its regular state of chaos. The revised Jn 19 must be the biggest and most expensive spatchcock (quick fix), on the motorway network. Having said that, it is a definite improvement over what was there before. The effect of the changes is to reduce the number of traffic light stages from three to two for those going north on the M6 to Manchester via A556 and M56. Going the other way it is the same as it was before and is free-flow, albeit with a very sharp 'S' bend !
We tested Jn 19 in April last year when my wife was under treatment at the Christie Hospital. We never got held up here.
The pity is that there seems to now be no money at all for a serious revision of Jn17 (Sandbach and Congleton A534). This junction is an absolute joke with its single bridge. Latest proposal is to make all M6 southbound to Sandbach turn left to a new and very small roundabout, and then make a 360 degree turn to go over the bridge, thus having a dumbell traffic arrangement. I pity the poor highways engineer who will have to maintain the road surface with all those HGVs scrubbing the tarmac away !. I would think relaying every 12 months or so should do it !
3:09 Most of those 'tracks' are strips that have been excavated prior to HS2 arriving (if ever!) so that archaeologists can have a good nose around first!
I am confident that this part of the country won't see HS2:)
@@johnskelton1117 :(
@@johnskelton1117:)
J19 was a great improvement , especially after the new a556 was built. It was a very sharp curve coming off the roundabout onto the new road.
coming off at 19 - north and south it's weird as you are on the "wrong side" of the road for a bit.
I agree. I get on the M6 at Knutsford and travel to Preston and its much better, especially getting off on the southbound side to come home.
A shame John didn't mention the incomplete nature of the M6/M56 interchange at J20. That is the whole reason for the improvement needed at J19 and the new A556 dual carriageway. It's not motorway speed limits but a vast improvement on the old A556 with it's traffic lights and junctions.
Its a vast improvement when using the a556 but doesn’t seem to have solved the traffic coming off the m6 northbound. This often backs up to the services .
@@DavidWeinbergUK Also the farmer who would move a herd of cows between fields by marching them up the A556 causing utter chaos, usually during either the morning or afternoon rush hour for extra hilarity.
Fun fact at J17 for Nantwich, Sandbach and Congleton there is a Coop fuel station just off the motorway with a Gregg's. Cheaper than motorway services and it has toilets. It's cheaper too. It is accessible from both directions too.
And a horrible mini-roundabout at the top of the NB exit. Then you have a set of TL at the top SB exit. Both are pointless!
The new junction 19 is brilliant. It really speeds journeys up
So they've done a couple of at-grade links through the roundabout? Shame it's not separated, but I guess it's better than nothing.
Flipping heck. That bridge is Trentham?! Flipping live there and didn't even realise that's the location of the bridge. Thanks for fascinating insight as always!!
It's the very rear end of Trentham Park, the other side is just after the turning for Hanchurch woods
For all those people who thought motorways were boring & couldn't possibly learn anything from them, you make it so educational & funny.
The mighty M6 rocks. A big part of my life since 1970!!❤
Did my initial army training at Swynnerton. Seem to remember at the time all the roads were setup to drive on the right-hand side, with a lot of signage similar to the german road network, to prepapre soldiers for deployment to germany from the latter days of the BAOR.
Glad you visited the bridge with the locked gate on it. Passed that several times on my travels, and always wondered what it was for.
I recall seeing cattle crossing it, about 15 years ago.
The gate half way across was put up during mad cow disease I seem to recall. I think there was a farm on one side where the farmer wanted to protect his herd from walkers. I seem to recall a large spray painted Keep Out sign on the bridge at the time as well!
@@simonkirkman The keep out sign has rung a bell for me! I think I remember that too. I was a child so I always thought the bridge was access to a military site because of that
Fair play for the correct pronunciation of Lymm.
Thanks SO much for explaining about that bridge with the gate in the middle. I use the M6 a lot and always wondered why it was like that. I'm sure I saw some cows being walked over the bridge once so assumed it was something that only farmers had access to. I've learned something tonight now. Cheers.
A very interesting episode 👍🏻🙂
@Simon Pugh Well I'm glad somebody else saw them as I thought I might be going mad! 😁. (Highly likely anyway with or without the cows)!! 😂
Jon I thank you for spending so much time of this episode talking about Staffordshire, we are often brisked over.
Yes, J19 is much better than it used to be, often there would be queues on the slip roads to get off the M6 going northbound.
Back in the 90s I used to use that junction a lot (from the M56 to the M6) and it was always bad. It is so much better now.
Wickedsweetawesome as usual. You were there when the lights went out. Abandoned accommodation bridges are a feature of our motorways, the circular ones for cattle to the straight ones for cars and carts and occasional quirky zigzags all add to the haphazard nature of our motorway program, it seems that even when given the chance we still managed to copy the poet GKChesterton's observation of our way of meandering into things and, perplexed, meander out.
"To straighten out the crooked road an English drunkard made,
Where you and I went down the lane with ale-mugs in our hands,
The night we went to Glastonbury by way of Goodwin Sands."
Another must watch.
The Thelwall viaduct started out as one bridge with 6 lanes on it but it was made from cheap materials and started to fall down due to the huge amount of traffic that goes over it on a daily basis.
As a result a second bridge was constructed and once completed, each crossing was made in to a 4-lane highway.
Even though the bridge isn't high up, the area suffers from very high winds so on the rare occasions the bridge has had to close.
John, what you missed out was a toll road, not that far away from the Thelwall Viadauct, which is another crossing over the ship canal. Although not a motorway, it would've been worth a mention as it's around 12p to cross it!!
Went over that for the first time a couple of months back on my way to Dunham Massey. I couldn't believe it was serious!
5m22s. It is the Inovyn Hulme Hall site. As the with other site now used for gas storage, this is current brine extraction and piped to plants in Runcorn for the manufacture of plastics and soap among other things.
And your 'few years', it's been going on for 80 years. The caverns were not created to store gas, but once the salt/brine was removed, they found another use for them in gas storage.
The bridge to the Trentham estate leads to a quarry which used to host off road events in the 90's and early 2000's. Footage can be seen on TH-cam, of an Alvis Stalwart driving around the site. I myself was driven around the quarry in a Suzuki Lj in 2001.
Brilliant commentary , thankyou .. enjoyed that .. where you were stood at Parkside you were virtually right next to the Parkside Monument which honour the first ever rail fatality ( an MP called Huskinson , who got out of his stationary carriage to go and chat with The DUKE OF WELLINGTON ..... he was struck by a train coming the other way rumoured to be Stevenson rocket )
I was unaware that there had been plans to improve J15 that had never come to fruition. As wonderfully shown at 4:14, coming from the A500 to go north on the M6, it feels counterintuitive to go over the motorway and then momentarily go south and then have to creep round the downward tight 180-degree bend to join the motorway, where the traffic already on the motorway is doing 70mph and vehicles joining it are doing considerably less.
I've been to ROF Sywnnerton twice as a cadet, as usual military bases are a haven for wildlife, it's rather wonderful spotting deer, wrens and whatnot while crawling prone through wet forrest trying to avoid the staff tasked with hunting us down, good times!
I don't use J19 frequently, but it's much better than it used to be. The main benefit is if you want to go from the M6 over to Manchester, as you no longer have to go down the narrow and busy Chester Road (B5569) through Over Tabley and Bucklow Hill. The A556 is much quicker, though the low speed limit is annoying.
From my experience, it's more of a speed "advisory"...
@@goombacraft i echo that sentiment
The road you call the A556 is the new dual carriageway and the B road that goes through Tabley was the A556 which ran from the M56 J8 to the M6 J19 . The A556 continues on to Chester ( becoming the A54 and then the A51) .
@@goombacraftthe slip road joining from the A50 is really short and tightly curved so exceeding the limit is likely to risk conflicts.
Well that answered the question I’ve wondered about for decades, but couldn’t be arsed to find out about myself, regarding the motorway bridge blocked off with barbed wire over the M6!
Thank you sir ❤
Junction 19 is class for a quick link through to the M56 when coming Northbound. Great improvement with the priority lanes missing the roundabout, and there are some nice filter lanes to skip traffic before getting on to the A556
The new J19 is definitely an improvement if youre heading northbound and off to Manchester up the A556. If only they could iron out the dip/hump as you cross the roundabout to go over the new bridge, then it would be perfect!
Fun House!
Melanie and Martina ❤️
More than 90 K subscribers John, almost at your stated goal of 100,000! And well deserved too mate.
That sax solo in the Fun House theme gave me a huge Pavlovian burst of joy, cheers
100k anyday🔥
My neck of the woods!
These videos really are a fantastic work. Thanks for all you do.
E - I've been over that bridge at 4:00 myself!
My local stretch on motorway that, the salt industry was huge around this area, towns around here with wich at the end are associated with salt and a lot of road salt for winter gritting still comes from the huge salt mine at Winsford . Keep up the good work with these cool videos 👍🏻
most of the road grid comes from northern Ireland
Another solid edition. The pacing was spot on. Love the included out-takes and the ad-libs. As always, the sites either side of the motorway are very interesting.
Hi John, the changes to junction 19 have actually made a real beneficial difference 👍 much quicker when coming off the southbound side for Northwich or heading north for the A556 to Manchester.
LMAO with you pronunciation of Doxey. The castle and the area near the services were my playground in the sixties when the motorway was being built. The video brought back a lot of memories as we left the area for Australia in 66.
My family left Stafford for Australia in 69, but came back in 77! Where did you end up?
@Joe Stafford We planned to return but cancelled in 72. Initially, Sydney, but now in Adelaide.
@@brianthompson5613 Oh wow, my family were in Adelaide as well - Elizabeth to be precise. Mum came back in 77 but then we went back in 92 and lived in Morphett Vale, and my Dad still lives in Henley Beach.
Well, I never expected the Magic Lake to appear on SotM. Nice aerial shots, too. Cheers Jon.
They almost always leave the equipment down a mine, it needs to be disassembled to be brought to the surface and the market in the UK for used mining equipment is limited. So as with Daw Mill near Coventry the faces will sit with their cutting equipment at them until the corrosion and geology overcome them.
With ref to the disused bridge over the M6 at J15, within the Trentham Estate. On the other side of the bridge from where John is Standing (at 00:03:50) there is a property called Gravel Pit Lodge, a Grade II listed building built in 1859, which fronts onto the A519. It was one of the former entrances to the Trentham Estate at the end of a carriage drive, lined with elm and lime trees leading to Trentham Hall. The Lodge gained its name due to the nearby gravel pits on the west side of the Trentham Estate. The pit supplied gravel used during the laying out of Trentham Gardens and for various other estate purposes. Quarrying ceased in 1948, however around 1960 the quarry was reopened to provide gravel in 1962-63 for the construction of the M6 which runs through the west side of the park and through the centre of the former quarry. Gravel Pit Lodge became separated from the park and the bridge was built over the M6 to keep a connection with the park and the A519. The bridge was closed after the sale of Gravel Pit Lodge in the early 1980s. 🙂
ah, this is the info I was looking for but never found. I ended up cutting part out due to inaccuracies.
@@AutoShenanigans I got this info just yesterday from a local history facebook group… there’s a lot of history in Trentham… particularly re wartime and the use of the estate as a POW camp and field hospital… I run around the quarry and through those woods a lot 😊 the bridge would be VERY handy!
So much work goes into these you should have way more subscribers 😮
Thanks a lot, it's growing steadily :) The sub count... nothing else.
It's not that long ago since Jon had fewer than 2k subscribers. The channel has exploded over the last few months, and I suspect it will continue to grow.
Swinnerton Camp is (or was) used by the army for BFG* driver training, once through the inner gates from the accommodation area all vehicles drive on the right.
The site is also used for other training, which is what I was there for on two occasions.
And as if by coincidence I took my LGV driving test at the VOSA test centre built on MOD land and now closed, or so I'm told.
I also spent a weekend at the Yarnfield BT training centre just down the road.
Ah, I've just seen your comment after posting mine. At least it confirms I'm not going mad!
I have seen the bridge in use at Trentham, back in the mid eighties, it was the route out of the RAC rally stage for the rally cars, not a lot of people know that .
J19 is a very strange example of a motorway plan that actually went well. There’s something satisfying about coming off at J19 towards Northwich and having the lights clear for you as you’re coming up the slip in quiet times!
Drove this stretch today ironically. Happy Sunday John
One thing that amazes me is when you go over the Manchester ship canal viaduct at night . The lights stop .its pitch black till you get to stoke .something to do with Cheshire and light pollution x
i have no idea why but i bloody love this channel! youve recently been showing a lot of my past and current haunts as a train and lorry driver.
lol well you were right about HS2 getting canceled.
I was semi joking but yep...here we are!
Yarnfield Lane rings a bell with me. Because I did a British Telecom training course there in the early 90s, at Yarrnfield Hall.
"We're going to take a bit of a break from the M6" - Jokes on you Jon, as I'm binge watching these in August 2024, and can watch Part 3 now!
I used to see cows using the abandoned bridge regularly a few years ago. I also used to use the shell garage a lot as that's the junction I went off for Oulton park circuit which I used to go to regularly.
Thanks!
Your chosen locations and framing have got even better.
I'm not quite sure how this was even possible.
Am I the only one that gets excited when Jon goes to your town?
No - seeing Stafford Castle and Doxey on here is brilliant 😃
@@iamjoestafford Yeah. He makes Stafford look better than it actually is. Lol, being from Stafford myself. It’s why I made the comment.
So many facts put over in a very interesting way, well done John.
So glad you visited Stafford Castle :D
Enjoyed seeing you around my home town John. You could have popped in for a coffee.
I have always wondered about that bridge! Great vid as always, intro with the guitar is gold.
I walk my dog at stafford castle almost every day, how the heck did we not cross paths? (also, Doxey is pronounced as Poxy Doxy)
Thanks
Thanks a lot mate
Great video as ever John - getting nearer to Preston!
Thank you for posting
Is he going to go through charnock Richard way or Chorley
I used to drive from Brum to Bolton from 1998 to 2002, J19 was rubbish it led to the A556 to connect to the M56. I would stay on the M6 up to the M62 junction. And, as I went over the Thelwall viaduct I would look out for ships on the Manchester Ship Canal. I saw a few !
Awesome video ! I’ve told others about your channel, at first they laughed , now they’re subscribing!
I always remember “Houghton Green Pool” being a dry field when I was younger. My understanding was that when Parkside Coillery closed and stopped being de-watered the ground water level rose and the field began to flood creating what is there today. I’m not sure if this is correct but it makes sense.
Since the vast majority of the traffic using the Tabley Interchange is heading into or from Manchester on the A556+M56, the junction rebuild (along with the new fully grade separated alignment of the A556) has been a massive improvement. Traffic used to snarl up really badly on what is the main access to Manchester from the south, both on this roundabout and on the original A556. I'm sure the residents of Over Tabley, Mere and Bucklow Hill are also relieved to have some peace and quiet after decades of traffic.
Was in Swynnerton camp twice in the 1990s, while I was in the Army. It was where you did training for the "Former Yugoslavia" UN first-then later with NATO. On camp, you had to drive on the wrong side of the road, and all the traffic signs were Yugoslavian. I wonder if there is any signs left?
The Thelwall viaduct is a regular on the Radio 2 travel news. Also - ‘Fun House’?! LOVING your work, sir!
Keele services might be expensive but there are some great staff there, and some good looking ones too! Also Junction 19 with that new bridge is a tad confusing. I go Crewe-Manchester on the way back home in the East quite a lot and most don't know what lane they need to be in!
Been to old yarnfield many a time for odd training courses Jon, as a former RAF base turned prison camp turned refugee centre turned GPO Which itself turned post office turned BT turned Openreach training centre, i tested all the poles there and made sure they were all safe for new recruits to climb, sadly the GPO turned Post Office turned BT turned Openreach training centre has closed though they still opperate classroom led training at the yarnfield conferenve centre.
I use the M6 from 15 to 18 twice daily, and this proved interesting.
One thing for people to be aware of that aren't local is that although the fuel station on the j16 roundabout is a bit cheaper than the motorway services, it isn't that much cheaper.
Today, ( August 2023) it is £1.70 for both petrol and diesel, if you travel down the a500 into stoke it's around £1. 44, it's a bit more if you go into Crewe instead.
If non locals are passing either way between 15 and 16, and need fuel, it's worth heading off along the a500 instead and filling up, the journey between 15 and 16 is actually shorter down the a500 by a couple of miles, if not faster due to part of it having a rigorously enforced 50 limit for about a third of its run, but the extra couple of minutes will save you at least a tenner on a full tank. It's a continuous dual carriageway from 15 to 16, and vice versa of course
this part is fun i recognise it all been living in stafford my entire life
Keel is definately my favourite services, probably because I remember it as a kid when it had a row of differnt branded petrol stations along where the lorries park now. I guess thats why its such a massive car park.
Abandoned bridge. Back in the '70s car parking for an orienteering race (Potteries Orienteering Club) was on the West side of the motorway and the bridge was used for pedestrian access to the Trentham estate woodlands.
I've got a video on Crewe services coming on my channel next week if you want to learn more about. I'll be uploading it on Sunday
I went twice to Swynnerton or "Swinnie" as we called it for infantry training, including riot training and grenade practice, when I was in the armed forces. A truly bizarre and rather dystopian looking place back in the 80s. Very creepy at night, and all the old notices and abandoned buildings, some that looked like they'd only been evacuated the night before, and others you'd wonder what their original purpose was for 😮
Jcn 19 to the M56 (& in return) is my favourite section of m'way in the uk. There - I've said it ! Great vid.
Nothing like the weekend video of the motorway, That is for sure.
Such fun watching these videos. Love the nostalgia from the end credits music :)
J19 (Tabley) is a massive improvement on the previous design
Agreed. For once they got it right and it wasnt horrific whilst under construction! If only they could hurry up with the central reservation works northbound!
first and best!
I like your closing credits from the old pits at Haydock. You were practically waving at my house.
which old pit? going to rewatch to see if I can see my mum and dad's :)
Another great and informative video as always mate, having recently just driven that section of the M6 recently i found this video interesting.
Love the added local interest.
When you run out of motorways, you can do The Secrets Of The Castles, which will keep you busy for a while 🙂
Partically in Wales
you drove past junction 15 and didnt mention the worse 50mph average carriageway called the A500 (locals call it the D road as it joins junction 16) it also joine the A50 towards derby and the M1.. stoke could almost be the perfect location for all motorway access.... except... its full ok stokies, port vale and oatcakes....
some interesting infrastructure and historic features john some very tight curves on that motorway.
I know Yarnfield lane so well, going up to the BT training centre in Yarnfield over many years.
Have you had a good week John and team
Regarding the equipment left underground "darn-t-pit", this is very likely as the cost of bringing it back out is more than the potential sale value of what ever equipment there may be underground. Even scrap value.
That said when I was working in Australia I met a guy who had made a really good income out of buying up the old NCB equipment and exporting it to Aus. He said that no one wanted it in Europe so it 'got it for a song'.
M6 J19. Great improvement. Also it was built to get around the fact that M6 North to J19 exit was too close to the Services, so that when J19 exit was busy it blocked the "on" ramp from the services, chaos ensued.
Seems the archaeologists have had a look at the field where you were talking about HS2. The tracks were probably from diggers digging the trial trenches you can see in the ariel shot.
I wish i knew you were in stafford I live within walking distance from stafford Castle. Below the Castle there is four underpass within a short distance from each other. Love your work 👍
6:18 - If Jon has that effect on subway lighting, woe betide anyone inviting him to their house for tea!! 😂
Keep on going John! Once again another well put together and well presented video that makes a 'boring' topic interesting. I do hope some documentary/production type company thing find you. You'll nail it!
Some most excellent artwork on the rock at the end there :)
A true master-piece.
RE: Stafford, the new Pets at Home National distribution centre has opened just above Stafford, it will be interesting to see the traffic increase on that section of the m6
Pets On The Road?
Thank you John I’m getting to know about motorways from you 👍