'The project will cost £317 million pounds, and when it's finished, it will make no difference at all' 😂😂 ' The Roman artefacts are lovingly positioned next to the toilets' 😂😂 Keep on keepin' on Jon

I think Jon is a secret 'Rail Enthusiast' who is not yet out, considering the number of times we take a diversion away from his road analyses... Any / all transport interests me as well as industrial history - so all such 'diversions' are greatly appreciated! Cheers Jon, looking forward to many more great videos in 2024.

As a French guy, "should the merde hit the ventilateur" was such a lovely touch 👌

Quick, build some more motorways! We can’t let this series end!

That’s the quickest I’ve ever travelled from Dartford to junction 10 in my life! 😂

"you'll find the former RAF winsley airfield, it was built during the small disagreement between 1939-44" absolute killer line

I can remember them slowly building the bits of the M25 and then the final joining together. It’s fascinating to see how years of traffic misery culminated in years of traffic misery.

In the (sort of) words of the late and wonderful Sir Terry Pratchett, the M25 being circular manages to make tail backs so bad they become tail forwards.

Finishing the 'secrets of the motorways' project with the highway to hell!

I think...regardless of how they got there...most people who end up in Tunbridge Wells would wonder 'what's gone wrong' 😂

I love the ending where you pause for cars passing :)

Junction 9 was built in the fashion it was so as to support the Leatherhead by-pass which runs parallel to the M25 and was built by Surrey CC at the same time as the motorway. The land had been reserved as it was originally going to be used to complete the extension of the Chessingto South railway branch to Leatherhead.

Another belter of a video. I can remember navigating the parts of the London Orbital that had been built in my Dad's lorry during 1982 / 83. It involved driving on completed sections, then leaving and driving through towns to rejoin further on!

Hi Jon. Another great video as always. Once you've finished Secrets of the Motorways you can continue the series as there are still the motorways of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as numerous A roads(e.g. the A14, the A55, the A38 Devon Expressway).

7:00 I saw the VC10 over Wisley on its maiden flight (was living in Horsley at the time). My mum didn't believe 9y/o me until she read about it in the paper the next day

It seems so de regeur now that it’s almost impossible to imagine what it was like without the M25 being there, but I can certainly recall how difficult it was to get to places before, especially around Dartford Tunnel where a lot of the A13 was still single carriageway 🤯 I really liked the Jay Foreman video from years ago about the orbital projects and where weird bits of Road exist with wildly elaborate junctions considering the small volume of traffic that they see, so this served as a great refresher! That bit where you go down hill to the A21 junction has been the scene of a few interesting occurrences that I have witnessed where people have only realised which lane they need at the last moment and almost caused a complete catastrophe 😮 Thankfully I’ve yet to see one that succumbed to an actual accident! 🤞 Excellent content as ever. You even managed to include Roman relics, an abandoned airfield and an abandoned and demolished railway station, so it ticked loads of boxes for me 😎🍀🍻👍

Well done Jon for taking on the behemoth that is the M25...this is going to be a multi-multi-parter....

A282 sounds remarkably like an owl call 🤙

Clackers Lane was also picked for the service area because that part of the motorway was notorious for thick fog whenever anybody looked at it sideways resulting in hundreds of crashes over the years up to the infamous 1984 one, the theory was if they put buildings on the area that continuously produced heat, it would reduce the amount of fog that hung about in the air, it worked as there hadn’t been any major accidents due to fog on that stretch of the motorway since. Talking of thick fog, there also a memorial about hundred yards west of the fort on Reigate hill where a USAF B17 bomber crashed into the hill in thick fog during that little disagreement in the early 1940’s although one of the more obscure conspiracies I’ve heard is it was shot down by friendly fire.

This video is remarkable: it is remarkable because the traffic on the M25 is actually moving, which is quite a rare sight.

Who remembers Richard Stilgoe and piano on the J3 bridge, which was built as part of the A20 upgrade long before M25 completion, singing about "the bridge that goes nowhere"?

This brought back memories from 1981-83, when I worked in Sevenoaks. The Group HR director seemed to spend more time trying to stop the M25 going through the Darenth Valley between the A20/M20 and the western end of the M26 (8 miles) than he spent on his day job. He thought it quite reasonable to go south-east from Swanley on the M20 and then westwards on the M26 (17 miles). Anyway, they did build the Darenth Valley stretch and I was so impressed by this use of senior management time that I left after less than two years.

The M25 is what got me to watch this channel in the first place. Jon tried to drive 1000 miles on the M25 to commemorate 1000 subscribers.

Supermarket sweep 🎶😂😂 Ahhh the M25, Britains largest car park. I do like the Dartford crossing though, you can see for miles. That’s about the only highlight really. Cheers Jon 👍🏼

as this wraps up, i’d love to see more coverage of infrastructures in general. whatever you end up putting out, i’ll be watching. cheers!

You said that if you’re not paying attention at Junction 5 you end up at Tunbridge Wells…. When actually you end up in Maidstone on the M20. You have to turn off the M26 and take a ridiculously tight turn to get onto the A21!!!!

The one we've all been waiting for!

love how jon obviously likes cars, driving and transport infrastructure but realises that more lanes! more roads! isn't the answer to transport problems nowadays. cracking video!

I remember the controversy of the route of the motorway at Leatherhead, there was a great deal of nimbyism going on. The Reigate hill slip road was a lot steeper than now as you say, it's bloody long now. And the road works at J10 are affecting not just the local area but a great deal more, the town where I live has increased traffic detoured from there and we must be almost 15 miles away.

3:26 I live in Kent and have always wondered why this junction is like this and why it feels like when you’re going along the M26 you just end up on the M25 all of a sudden... thanks Jon.

Hope the outro saying "see you next time for another exciting episode" means youve found more to cover, i love this series and your style. If this is the end, i look forward to whatever you choose to do next 😊

Back in the day you could get off the Channel Tunnel and stay on the motorway network, and not find a service station until North of Birmingham on the M6.

i love this channel. learning about the history of our motorway system and its reasoning etc is all great, but i genuinely think i stay for the satirical comedy. keep it up please john, and i am devilishly fine thank you! :D

Waited ages for this one, was hoping to find out why they used noisy concrete on large sections...

I’ve said it before and will no doubt say it again, brilliant! My local motorway that I’ve travelled many times and still learnt more about it from you. Looking forward to the next part, this must have taken ages to film! Well done, expertly done once more.

Extra helping of sarcasm this week Jon - I love it👍🏻

I've had in my head for ages audio of Jon finally saying "as you may have noticed, I've been scraping the bottom of the barrel for a while, and I'm afraid to say we've now finally run out of motorways"

"Bullsh**ery" (I hope I'm "spelling" that properly.. 2 't's maybe?) I love it. I will try to use it several times in the upcoming week. Thank you, Jon for boosting my vocabulary - great video too!

When we bought our house in Coulsdon, there was an item on one of the local searches involving a viaduct bridge over Chipstead Valley with an extension of the M23 going north from the M25. It would’ve gone through Cane Hill or Rickman Hill park and connected with one of the arterial routes into London at Mitcham, Sutton or Croydon. Thankfully, never built.

I passed my driving test in 1987. One of the first things I did with my mates was to drive all the way round the M25. Sad, but true😊 it cost me 8 quid in petrol.

My old stomping ground. In the 1970s we'd have a family outing to the Bigger Hill airshow, remember my dad taking the M25 from Reigate to Godstone, and then picking up the A25. In the late 1980s had friends living in Tunbridge Wells and Swanley, so have fond memories of this section of the M25. In the early 1990s I was working in Kidderminster, and a colleague from the head office in Sweden visited by car, complained that there wasn't a service station between Dover and Kidderminster, M2, M25, M40.

@4:48 I feel compelled to say Clacket lane services is called because there is a road that goes over it called Clacket Lane. Was originally going to be called Titsey woods but was thought the name wouldn’t be taken seriously. You can drive over Clacket lane to go from north to south services to access the hotel there. However it is restricted to that purpose only. I did walk the bridge once and was amused on the south side To see a sign saying no pedestrians. Well I was in my companies lorry at the time and remember if they were to stop me going back to the other side 1. How would I get back and 2. How would I explain that to the controller lol. Lucky for me they didn’t and I never tried that again. There is also a nature walk off Clacket Lane.

LOVE, LOVE LOVE THIS!!! BRILLIANT!! 🎉👌🏻 (And now taking the caps lock off).... Great work Jon! Interesting, the Leatherhead area. I'm sure I remember back at the time the route was being mooted / planned, there was an old guy being interviewed on a piece of old 'Nationwide' footage and he had his rifle in hand, telling the interviewer how he'd shoot anyone who came to try and get him out to build the road. Not sure if that's why the route around there was changed but it could be(?) You're right with that mess at J10 as well. I remember when the Wisley interchange was first being built and now it's a hot s**t mess all over again! I've driven it a few times recently from when that work was first starting and the amount of trees cut down there is absolutely shocking! 😔🤬 Brilliant episode - cheers Jon! 👋🏻

Thanks Jon! Love the series and the channel in general! Have some diesel money! Or get the misses something nice from the petrol station 😁 Happy New Year! 🎉

Kudos John for producing such an engaging video about the M25 motorway! The attention to detail and storytelling skills truly bring out the unique charm of this crap road. Great work!

What a great series. Thank you 😊

Happy new year, Jon - thanks for the never-ending stream of stuff I didn't know I needed to know.

What do you mean "only motorway we've got left"? There's a whole island just to the to the west of Britain full of quirky motorways to explore

Great video as always thanks Jon 👍

1. fuck yeah! 2. more super market sweep! 3. any plans for the future?

Does anyone else remember the 'M25' bridge built over the A20 at Swanley (J3) in the 70's and stood there totally isolated and forlorn until they built the M25 in the mid 80's? Great piece of foresight...except for the fact that after 10 years they realised it wasn't big enough(!), so no hard shoulder on that bit of the M25.

Use to live just down the road (A217) from Junction 8 and my nan lived in Ashtead I walked one time from Ashted to Junction 8 one weekend when it was still being built :)

Loving your work mate. Thank you!!!!

I am amazed the video shows traffic actually moving on the M25

Great video and great knowledge jon

Your videos always brighten my day, thanks!

Nice to see your still up for a good time after the welcome break, pun intended. Really enjoy your video's, great content with some side tracks morrrrrre please.

Thanks Jon have a good New year

Interesting from end to end 👍😀

The Junction 10 improvements are essentially for safety. North bound on the A3 fast traffic encounters a slip road from Ripley, a layby with traffic turning out of Wisley RHS, and a slip road to the M25 on a blind left hand bend. This makes it the most dangerous motorway junction in the country, with accidents every week. Of course, slowing traffic to 50mph would probably do the job nearly as well.

Love this, regularly drive on all the sections covered, will re-watch so I can thrill passengers with M25 knowledge.

5:49 oh how wonderful...... you're "turn of phrase" brings such joy MANY MANY THANKS, and here to the New Year, again thank you.

One of the better videos in the series, well done!

Always a good giggle and smile here watching your vlogs.

Thank you John!

Loving the videos 👍been here from the start and love the dry sense of humour… don’t stop at the motorways, do the major A roads next!

Another cracking video. I can’t help thinking, with it being one of the most famous ones, it could’ve spread out over several episodes…. but that’ll only make Jon work more. I’ve just discovered I’m in the credits list too… overwhelmed! 🎉

What a great series, Thanks

Beautifully dry humour and some fascinating historical asides. Keep it up!

This is the one I've been waiting for. Well done Jon, mammoth project.

Another superb video!

So right about junction ten !!! Spot on!

Interesting and funny. Thanks Jon.

I'm always surprised how much I enjoy Jon's videos given how much I hate everything about motorways but am forced to use them. I'd be happy to watch you talk about any subject really as your humour is infectious. Thanks for making a hellish subject fun!

Excellent video, Jon. I live in Reigate these days so am very familiar with this part of the M25. Apparently, there was a plan to tunnel much of the M25 through Reigate hill - it might have been a damn site quieter! I also understand the Merstham section was horrendously difficult to build due to all the old mining tunnels and shafts in that area! Near Reigate fort is a whole set of tunnels built in WWII - every so often someone gets in there and then they get sealed again!

I still can’t figure why these videos are so interesting but anyway, keep up the good work, very interesting and love your sense of humour!

"....and when it`s finished it won`t make any difference at all." How true that is.

Cyclists can cross the Dartford crossings, they used to have specially built buses that provided a service but it is now just a van.

"The 'slight disagreement' between 1939 and 1945..." Great use of litotes, there, Jon. Also worthy of note: the term 'Bullshittery'. Not censored by the auto captions. I approve of that.

Top work john

Been waiting for this one! 👍🏻

Awesome video, loved the sereis, looking forward to the next sereis of something else and fascinated to find out what that something else will be

At least I know now why I ended up in Tunbridge Wells that time. Thanks Jon for another wonderful video.

Another brilliant video

Another great production Jon. Permission to use the term "Bull Shirtery" had me in stitches. Also the outro, those 2 cars passing, break timing was excellent...spot on production content.

I’ve tried to imagine what the Auto Shenanigans videos would be like without the occasional line of cutting dry sarcasm. Then I realised I don’t want to imagine that. The horror.

Brilliant episode Jon

Hi Jon, I hope you’re good. I’ve just watched episodes 1 and 2 of the M25 series. Absolutely brilliant, very well researched and chuffing funny. Thanks for making.

Been waiting for this for so long

I managed the Ground Investigations at RAF Wisley in 2019 which preceeded the main construction works starting. The junction was planned before the houses although there was a preliminary application being submitted by the then landowner. The fuel tanks at RAF Wisley were still present under the apron which made coring "interesting" - as was a load of asbestos material, which was nice...

Can’t believe you didn’t mention that one of the bridges in this section was used as a filming location for the crash site at the beginning of film “Morons from Outer Space” staring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones just before the motorway opened

Great video John, very interesting,I have to say I love clacket lane services 👍👌😀

Lovingly displayed next to the toilets - brilliant

The field on the North side, halfway along the runway at Wisley Airfield was transformed into a World War I no-man's-land, complete with trenches, muddy shell holes and charred trees, in 2010, for the filming of Steven Spielberg's "War Horse". An impressive set! A few weeks later, it was just a field again; how boring!

Another thing that's still in place at Wisley towards the east end of the runway is the Ockham VOR. This is an air traffic control radio navigation beacon, one of 4 that designates the final holding points for planes going into Heathrow. If you've ever come into Heathrow from the South West, you will have passed over this and probably circled over it (they actually turn 180deg at this point and then fly back for 1 minute before doing another 180 to head back to the beacon). Not sure how long it will be there, since ground based navigation is being replaced by GPS.

These videos are way better than we deserve. Thanks for being great!

North Kent resident here and today I learned some new stuff.

Jon. I think you need to add Northern Ireland. Admittedly only 2 more episodes. But you haven't covered the UK if you don't.

I wasn't expecting an adam something esque dig at road buidling

Excellent video, as always. Your first pronunciation of Darenth was spot on by the way.