M1 motorway reaches 50 years

A curiously deserted M1 - a rare sight these days

The M1 was Britain's first full-length motorway when it was built and remains the second longest in the network.

Opened on 2 November 1959, the M1 was expected to deal with 13,000 vehicles a day.

Its popularity now means that it now carries over 88,000 a day, leading to widening of the carriageway at certain points.

However, the road didn't reach Yorkshire until the following decade - initially only 72 miles were built.

In Pictures: M1 motorway

Motorways were first mooted as an idea in Government circles in the 1930s, especially once Hitler's Germany started constructions of the autobahns but the first ever motorway was built in Italy.

The Autostrada dei laghi, was opened on 21 September 1924. It linked Milan to Varese and was then extended to Como, near the Swiss border, a year later.

The parlous state of Britain's public finances in the 1930s, meant plans were held up until the 1950s, when Preston became the unlikely site of Britain's first motorway - now part of the M6.

Reached Leeds

The M1 's first section from Watford (near the present-day Junction 5) to Crick was completed in just 19 months, although it had no crash barriers, no lighting and no speed limit.

The M1 finally reached Yorkshire with a series of extensions built between 1965 and 1968, and in 1972 it reached central Leeds with the creation of the Leeds South Eastern Motorway.

The completion of the motorway revolutionised motor travel in the UK, and made journey times much shorter. It also took off some of the pressure on the traditional route north - the A1.

The dignitary charged with opening the motorway back in 1959 was Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples who saw it as opening up a new era.

Critics would probably agree - car ownership and traffic on the roads has increased exponentially over the years, and for many the M1 represents traffic jams and frustration.

What are your memories of trips to and from Leeds on the M1? Email [e-mail]

Your memories

I used to travel the length of the M1 twice a year, from where we lived in Leeds, around London, to see grandparents in Kent and Sussex. My sisters and I knew we were getting near the other end of the motorway when the road went red and suddenly the tyre noise was much louder, it must have been a different surface - possibly experimental? There were signs warning of the noise. I still make that journey, one generation later and in the opposite direction, but avoid the M1 if possible. Let the lemmings use it - it keeps them off the 'A' roads!
Jonathan Pagden

My wife and I married in 1987 and our first house was in Crossgates in East Leeds. Just 18 months later we moved (down the M1) to Fareham in Hampshire. We now live in Hinckley in Leicestershire but still have very dear friends who live in Colton. The (relatively) recent changes to the M1 mean we have a very fast journey to Colton as our friends live about five minutes from the motorway. Even though we were only in Leeds for 18 months we still have friends there and the trip up the M1 is a pleasant one as we look forward to seeing them.
Iain & Catherine Hamilton

The early M1 had no central crash barriers and it was possible to u-turn in the centre of the road!
Mark Readman

1969 was the first time I used the M1, and I even remember the car I was driving - a Ford Cortina E (in bronze ,how sad is that). In those days there wasn't a speed limit on the motorway and driving a company car, a sporty model at that, I couldn't resist the temptation. Once I got to 100mph, wow what a thrill, even though I had to hang onto the steering wheel in order to cope with the out of balance front wheels. All went well until I came to the first point where the road curved. Having never ever driven on a road quite like this before it took me a while to realise you don't have to slow down for bends, but boy once the penny dropped driving was like nothing else I had experienced and what a joy. I picked up the motorway at it's junction with the A43 on my way to Hull, even now after all these years when I use that stretch I think of the day back in late 1969 and how much, since that time, the motorway network has changed the nation's travelling habits (but it's not quite such good fun as it was then).
Barny L

Marg remembers taking trip in green A35 van down & back up M1 when it opened, stopping on hard shoulder to pick Daffodils!
Jaguar E type was announced at 1961 October Earls Court Motor Show. Following the close of the Show, Ted remembers driving up M1 in the Fixed Head demonstrator. Took hour to reach start of M1 at Watford from EarlsCourt and then a half hour to complete the journey to the factory. As there were no speed limits, reached 150MPH!!
Ted & Marg Laban

I'd lived in Woking all my life and met a friend on the internet, who lived in Wakefield. The journey was always an easy one, unless there was an accident somewhere (once there were four accidents - took seven hours!) but I did the journey several times before eventually moving up here, and marrying my friend!
There is one thing I do remember, which I was very fond of. The two chimney towers beside the motorway at the Meadowhall shopping centre, for me used to be the point when "I was nearly with my girlfriend" as it was about a good 30 minutes away from Junction 41, alas now they're gone and I never quite feel like I am going home now!!!
Spencer Guest