I'd just like to note that we should all be thankful that those old 1950s tapes of the original Secrets Of The Motorway series weren't wiped, like so many other things were. Imagine if we lost such a resource! The horror! Great to see the archive footage being used to good effect here.

I think the British Leyland era would definitely benefit from the Auto Shenanigans treatment. 👍

i have zero interest in roads, cars or motorways outside of these videos but somehow you manage to keep me entertained regardless

@John ... Defo make a film about the British motor industry. With your ability to research in depth, i'm sure it would be more than interesting 😁

The building at Haydock was a GPO repeater station. I worked there briefly in the mid 60's. Its purpose was to provide a boost to the analogue signals on trunk lines to/from Liverpool. Became redundant when the network went digital, hence the repurpose mentioned above and eventual abandonment. Working there, it was curious to eat lunch in the grounds, watching the motorway traffic apparently driving on the roof (simple pleasures!)

For your next video on the M6 I'm sure you'll visit Lancaster University which borders the motorway. The fun fact was the existence of a zebra crossing across the motorway at the northern end of the campus. It was the only one on the whole world motorway network at the time. Painted by the students, obviously, during the night of what was "Rag Week", it caused major police worries, not to say a quasi-nuclear level of irritation, as to how this was done without anybody being killed (speed was of the essence) and how to remove it afterwards. The responsible persons were offered jobs running the Highways Maintenance Department, or so I've heard...

Love the authentic flashback to show how Motorway Spotter clothing style has evolved since 1958 ❤

As an ex truck driver I found these videos really interesting as I saw many of these features on the road but didn't really know what a lot of them really were, the internet was just a dream back then so finding information on places was a lot slower to get to, Jon's films and his personality really make them a joy to watch, keep up the good work.

How wonderful to hear the Juliet Bravo theme, it is a brilliant piece of music & I absolutely loved the first three series of the programme when Stephanie Turner was the Inspector. Those three series from 1980 to 83 show long long gone world.

Conway Twitty was genius, i properly laughed out loud! I love these little nods to other things.

As an old Leyland lad thanks for the shout out for my home town. As a kid in the 60s/70s there were parts of the motor works within the town itself and the present-day motor museum occupies one of these buildings. I remember bus and lorry chassis being driven from one part of the work to the other with just a bloke on a strapped down stacking chair by the bare steering wheel bereft of any other bodywork. 'Leyland Testers' we called them, and yes please to a BL video.

A nice nod at the end, what with Juliet Bravo being set in the fictional Lancashire town of Hartley. Good job, Jon👍

That Juliet Bravo theme is an absolute banger.

Shame the Pennine Tower at Forton services couldn't be re-purposed, it is such a landmark and unique feature of the MW network.

Gathurst Viaduct was the answer to one of the original Trivial Pursuit questions. Something like 'Which motorway bridge crosses all those other forms of transport?". Fun bonus fact - the River Douglas used to be navigable by small vessels at least as far upstream as Gathurst.

Wouldn't be Sunday without John

Yes, yes yes!!!! 🎉 I see you there on Fowler Lane, Farington (Leyland) Jon, doing your piece to camera 😁 You're right, Leyland Trucks does need a video all of its own but did you see Centurion Business Park whilst you were there? (Behind Paccar). The style of architecture in that business park is great. From the 60s right up to a modern Amazon warehouse. Always love seeing the tower at Forton too. Fwicked episode!! 👍🏻😁

You would do a phenomenal job of telling the history of all of the British auto makers. Though it would be much less unique than your Secrets of the Motorway series 😅

Yes the first motorway, no speed restrictions, with some cars easily reaching 60 mph

Love the original motorway signs on scaffold tube frames 😆🧱👍🏼

In the 90's the abandoned building was a BT depot where the field data services teams were based for quick access to the network. Before that, not too sure but would expect it's Government related.

Juliet Bravo theme at the end was a surprise. Another great funny & entertaining video.

Haydock Island was modified a few years ago to increase capacity, at the expense of safety. It's now a massive accident hotspot as drivers unfamiliar with the junction struggle to navigate it safely. Not even death and destruction are allowed to stand in the way of carving up the green belt for massive sheds. Thanks St. Helens Council.

The residents of Charnock Richard are appalled about your omission of their favourite local highlight - the Charnock Richard Service Station - from this video. We request, nay sir, we demand, that you include footage of this in your exciting upcoming video on the proud developments of our local car industry in Leyland.

I went with my dad in his lorry carrying asphalt to the original Preston bypass. So this was a look back at my childhood

Thank you, thank you, thank you for mentioning us lot in little old Leyland and our history of motors. I think you can go on tours of the factory, but here we have the “British commercial museum” which you can go in and soak in a lot of our history. Cheers John, I knew you’d get to J28 eventually 😂 I wish you’d of mentioned the horrendous slip roads on the southbound side, they’ve caught many a driver out with their overly tight bends. (9:18… Preston to Lancaster I think you meant)

Building behind the shell station is an old BT repeater station called old Boston .. where old analogue cables and systems where amplified on long main routes linking towns .

1:35 I work for talk talk and often find myself in buildings very much like this. same design, same parking area and specifically a very specific door. This may be a Telecoms exchange housing all the kit for local internet and phone lines.

Paccar also bought Foden when it went under in 1980, I think it was.

Abandoned building, thats Old Boston telephone exchange, the area is now served from the nearby 'Ashton In Makerfield' (LCAIM) exchange.

Hi John, the abandoned building is an old Post Office Telephone (BT) Known as Old Boston exchange

In the odd Annual trip to Carlisle. I always stop at Lancaster services and see the tower. Its quite unique and shame its been closed for a while. Probably cost too much to do it up. Bet its a fantastic view for miles around. I also enjoy this part of the M6 out of the bits of it. I avoid Birmingham...hate how long it goes through staffordshire but Warirngton - Carlisle - Scotland is splendid. Esepecially the bit in Cumbria when huge mountain ranges spurt up

To hear Leyland and success in the same sentence is actually nice for once! Should be proud they're still kicking

Ahh the sweet sound of the original theme music 😂

The Pennine Tower as a truck stop cafe was a good place to eat with great views but the price increases drove the customers away 🤷‍♂️

I think it is so true to be a dedicated episode for British Leyland as I am from Hong Kong, and there are plenty of buses from Leyland and Metro Cammell. I still remember when I was a kid going to and off school between Causeway Bay and Aberdeen Hong Kong, the Leyland Victory Mark 2 with her mighty Gardner diesel engine howling inside of the tunnel, after the tunnel I can see the giant Ocean Park icon with its cable car every day. Until the day I left Hong Kong in 2020, many great British engines like Gardner still running on the Hong Kong waters, and there were many small boats still running them! Is Leyland gone? Yes and no, the masterpiece of buses, the Leyland Olympian bus set up the new standard of the 3-axle heavy buses since it was designed and manufactured in Leyland UK in 1980. Until now, Volvo still uses the fundamentals of its design til today.

I always loved that Conway Twitty joke - both because it was a total non-sequitur and because I learned of his existence from it and he's pretty dam lit.

The abandoned building is a telephone exchange. Which isn't abandoned....😂

Fun fact . . . Many outside scenes for Juliet Bravo were filmed in Bacup, Lancashire.

There are still service stations operating on the German Autobahn system which have perilously short exit sliproads. One particular sliproad from a service station near Stuttgart is not only very short, but is on a steep upward slope. I once found myself on this sliproad in a Toyota Hiace. It was not a nice experience. The recent prevalence of UK motorways without hard shoulder (like in Germany) is a short-sighted and very dangerous innovation.

Leyland Motors first product was steam lawnmowers. The original site in Leyland moved from the center of the town north passing through Farrington up to the current DAF assembly plant. All buildings south of the assembly site were cleared and redeveloped apart from one large shed that became the British Commercial Vehicle Museum. Also Leyland Motors produced Tanks during WW2 and post war the Centurion. At the M6 junction the large stone memorial was originally sited alongside the north bound carriageway on the bridge. Sadly a couple of minor shunts and close calls got it relocated to prevent motorists trying to read it while on the M6

While the Shell at J23 (or indeed the Shell near J28) are cheaper than motorway service areas, the Sainsbury's at J29 is likely to be cheaper still. There is also an unofficial service area at J31 (this is signed but only from the sliproads and the A59).

Sandbach, just down the road from Leyland, probably has more commercial vehicle history with both Foden and ERF being built in the town

If you ever do the episode on British Leyland it's worth going to the British Motor Museum, where they have a fascinating and depressing infographic showing all the wonderful old British car marques that got swallowed up by BMC and then BL. How did it happen? So many reasons, WWII, poor management, lack of investment, lack of faith in British design. Probably loads of other reasons as well. I look forward to the episode.

A couple of mates and myself did a roadtrip back in1987. We stopped off at Forton Sevices and decided to take a peek inside the tower part. It was full of truckers, and Only Fools And Horses was on the TV. Oooh the excitement...

I would like to add a vote into the hat labelled "A video on the history of Leyland is something I didn't know I wanted until you mentioned it".

It really is amazing the sheer number of incomplete roads across the UK. Some probably best that they were never completed and others where they probably should have been completed

Particularly loved the flashback to Secrets of the Motorway 1958. I did think of alternative less charitable scripts about various things your British Leyland might do “with no speed limits”, all of which ended in tears. Yes please to the Secrets of British Leyland and its predecessors. Mr father can provide entertaining material regarding an asthmatic Austin A40 which failed every test of quality until it bit the dust in the 1950s. He then bought another mechanical shambles in the form of an Austin Lancer. That escapade also ended in tears.

junction 28 (Leyland) is the only junction to exit onto a B road (as far as I am aware). It was originally planned to exit onto the A49 a few hundred yards south where the Shell station is now but Leyland Truck and Bus (as it was known then) somehow persuaded the powers that be to re-route the junction to the B5256 as it was more convenient for them.

This is so relieving after listening Not Just Bikes' manipulative speech... :D

Watch the end credits at 2x speed and the Juliet Bravo theme tune is still a banger.

5:43 *LEYLAND TRUCKS* was actually one of 4 of the best bits of the British Leyland conglomerate. They were quite innovative in their engineering, and build quality was generally very good. They were the first to introduce the tilting cab for cab-forward tractor units and they made some quite powerful engines. They also created the semi-automatic gearbox for buses, the first being the Leyland National. By the way, the other most successful parts of the business were of course, Land Rover, Jaguar - though this was just about able to hang on (their suppliers caused so many big issues,) and a side hustle call BL Technologies. In fact this was the most successful of all of them. It was set up to provide comms technologies for all parts of the business but had extra capacity to sell to others. In the end I think it was sold on and eventually ended up becoming part of Marconi.

Another superb instalment from John keeping fast paced and engaging as always…..but no “photo bomber” spoiling the video…..never mind See you next week John

Broughton, near Preston, is pronounced B roar tun, not Brow-tun

theres a simular "bridge over nothing" on the A27 in west sussex near Arundel, where there were plans to continue the dual carriageway section of the road further. theres even ghost sliproads still in place leading forwards into a dead end simular to the northern end if the M23. I believe there are plans to revive the extention as part of the Arundel bypass project.

Winston Curhill opened the M6 at Thelwall viaduct. There they left up plaque which has either been stolen or sunk into obscurity. I was there.

An additional anecdote regarding Jct 26. To the east of the motorway lay the site of my school playing fields (Abraham Guest Secondary Modern, Orrell). For years after the motorway opened. there was simply the bridge carrying the main carriageway but going over nothing. Then on a Saturday sometime in October 1968 (I think) we had turned up to play a school football match. The playing fields were some way from the school. As we were making our way to them the first boys to get there were running back shouting to our teacher, Mr Jones, 'Sir, sir, there's bulldozers all over the field!' The constructors had moved in that morning to begin work on the junction and hadn't told the school. We ended up playing the game on a small side field by the school itself. Even now when I use that junction and go round the roundabout I'm thinking to myself, 'That's where the jumping pit was' 'I scored a goal about here' etc.

North of Lancaster, you'll have the building of the M6 dissect the Lancaster Canal three times between just before Burton in Kendal services and just after Junc 36 - no consideration given to 'crossing over other means of transport', just get the concrete down....

6:03 That's a yes from me 👍🏻 Spent my childhood around Atlanteans, Titans, Olympians, Leopards, Tigers and Cubs. Of the Leyland variety.

Really like your videos turning what would be a dry subject into an interesting subject full of places to visit. When traveling watch a video to learn about the motorway and share knowledge making a journey so much more enjoyable. Real blast from the past Juliet Bravo 🚨

My dad was born in Herbert Street, Leyland at his Aunts house, and 4 of her sisters lived with their families in the same road! My dad lives less than 100m away still, and worked at Leyland Motors for many years until he was, like literally half the town, made redundant when it eventually failed. As a town we have the commercial vehicle museum, and a festival parade in June, where a lot of old Leyland made vehicles (amongst other things) are brought out -including the Pope-mobile made for the Popes visit to the UK in the early 80's. I believe the Leyland brand is still going in India too! Id love to see a series on old British motor engineering companies, that would be wicked, sweet, awesome.

Leyland Trucks were sold off in 1987 to the Dutch company DAF Trucks not then owned by Paccar. It became Leyland DAF. After going into receivership in 93 the group was split up and it re-emerged under the ownership of Paccar.

Great video, John. My sister went to uni in Lancaster and the Pennine tower meant we were nearly there! Shame no one can go up there anymore!

The waving at the end always makes me smile 😂

I'm actually ashamed how much I've been looking forward to this one...

Heck yes to a video about British Leyland.

I remember as a kid competing with my brother to be the first to declare that they could see the "mushroom" as we called the Pennine Tower (and still do) every time we were on that stretch of the M6

Definitely think an "Icons of the Motor Industry" should be on the cards. Where were they made, where did they export to etc etc. Cars, lorries, buses, motorbikes, tractors and anything else that moves!!

Blimey, the JB theme tune certainly brings back happy memories 😎😎😎😎😎😎

Love this series, which is why I decided to be wicked sweet awesome and subscribe. When you eventually run out of motorways, might I suggest a topic for the next series? Ring roads! Coventry's is short with 9 junctions, and no two junctions are laid out the same! Also, some junctions have some lovely murals underneath them

Looking forward to part 4 and you covering the old layout of Junction 34! So much mad scrabbling to get up to speed on the north bound slip road (where it's now sitting there slowly getting grown over)

I very much look forward to part 4. (Excited Cumbrian)

Ah - the Juliet Bravo theme! A fond childhood memory of mine.

Yes, more on Leyland motor’s please. There still is the high speed test track there with its banked corners.

Juliette Bravo outro! The Heinz 57 factory and the British Leyland factory are both worthy of a video. As baked beans are sometimes sold in service stations, there still is a link to motorways.

that building looks to be an subexchange of somekind

I'm a 69yr old who has driven(mopeds16/17yrs old)cars since two months after my 17th B/D so just over 52yrs, I remember driving on the M1 with just a grass verge between you @ 70mph(if you could afford a car that went that fast)and oncoming traffic just a yard or so away, The A2/M2/A2 being 2 lanes all the way down to Faversham, and if you wanted Margate/Ramsgate a shared 3 lanes, I think your modern driver, might need to take Extra underwear,😂😂😂

The building behind the shell station at haydock belongs to BT. And we defo need a video on the British motor industry

About the half way point you mentioned that Paccar took over Leyland and DAF trucks. They also took over Sandbach truck makers Foden where I worked for two years ('78-'80), and may father and grandfather worked their whole lives. Before Paccar also failed, it demolished most of the Foden factory and the inevitable housing estate is there now.

I love these, I watch them in the evenings whilst eating dinner

As ever, John, top educational learning facilities provided here. Your Scotland miniseries - aside from the eviseration of place names - was brilliant and built on your wider collection of videos. It was very enjoyable hearing about part 3 of the M6 series. Looking forward to next week's instalment!

Pedant time: British Leyland wasn’t formed until 1968, so your 1958 video would have referred to vehicles from either BMC (Morris/Austin) or Rover, Triumph, Jaguar. Leyland mainly only made buses and lorries at the time.

I think I'm in love BUT... only at a distance, haha!! BRILLIANT!

I always find it amusing that Heinz baked beans are sold in the British section in grocery stores even in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the original home of Heinz.

Don't forget the WW2 and Cold War Leyland history - hence the Centurion tank parked on the roundabout on the A582/Penwortham Way roundabout!

‘Juliet Bravo’? I’m sure there’s a reason, but whatever - love it!

Very nostalgic. I grew up in the Ribble Valley. Back in the day, as a young member of the RAF, my father was one of the first of his peers to own a car. By all accounts he used to load up the car with a bunch of mates and go for 'nights out' at either Forton or Charnock Richard's service stations incorporating a high speed run on the new 'by-pass'. I guess for that short window he took full advantage of a lack of speed restrictions. From my point in the 1980s we would often go on walking excursions from school (Clitheroe Royal Grammar School). These day walks often included trips to the Lake District and a visit to Forton Services was included on the way back. Dudley Green, the teacher who used to enthusiastically lead us, was the member of staff in charge and as a result Forton/Lancaster services is forever known as Dud's Caff! Power to you!

I remember visiting Mr Stevie Catterall at Lostock Fold Farm nr Bamber Bridge to buy some of his British Friesian cattle as he was retiring from his small farm. He kept hens and operated a milk round in Leyland. He only milked 12 cows in his herd and the interesting thing was that all the cows were of one family called the Beaulahs. They were all descended from a cow called Hoole Beaulah and he got up to the name Cuerden Beaulah 123rd in his herd. He told me about first driving on the Preston bypass with his wife , and having to pull into a garage due to the alarming road noise they were experiencing. There was actually nothing wrong with his car , he just hadn't driven on a road made of concrete sections before.

If you haven't already filmed the fourth episode for the m6, I have a couple of landmark suggestions.... Coming south from penrith, the motorway passes mayburgh henge. Missing it by about 50 metres. Also, still heading south, just before Shap, gunner Keld stone circle is about ten feet from the hard shoulder.

Jon, just to the west of Junction 27 is Wrightington Hospital where Sir John Charnley pioneered the artificial hip replacement in 1962. It still remains a centre of excellence in orthopaedic surgery.

Lancaster University students / alumni eagerly awaiting the next M6 chapter

I attended a DfT event at the control centre at Newton (it was about the roll out of Smart Motorways and why the northern M60 wouldn't be included in the scheme). The large round building that looks like a slurry tank houses the control room and all the screens for the cameras. It was pretty good in there.

The Highway Depot at the beginning is also the Regional Control Centre for National Highways. I’ve been for a tour, they have all the screens watching the CCTV cameras, it’s like a cinema but real time. Also home to the North West Motorway Police that are a combined group of Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester Police. Gathurst Viaduct had a tragedy once when a truck went through and over the edge after an accident.

I worked in motorway maintenance for 10 years on the M7/M8 motorway here in Ireland and hated it but yet come here and love stuff about the motorways🚘🚘

Nice advert for Downton's... and while we're on the subject, I used to drive for them!

The Family Guy Conway cut was rather superb. Congrats.

Love to see a vid on British Leyland. I owned an MG Midget and not one but two TR7s.

Leyland Trucks factory is still there, but it's known as DAF trucks nowadays. DAF are primarily a Dutch company but have retained a lot of the workforce at their Leyland plant and its clearly a very successful plant when you look at the number of DAF trucks that continue to be made and sold around the UK and other European countries.

That the largest Heinz Factory in the world is not in the USA! Wow! That, in that case, it's in Greater Manchester ... Well obviously ...

Finally my neighbourhood! Been looking forward to this. Cant wait for secrets of the railway