Seventy years ago this month, work started on Preston Bypass - which would become the first motorway in the country, the M6.
Engineered by Lancashire County Council, the experimental 8.25-mile road was designed to relieve congestion on the A6 through Preston. On June 12, 1956, Hugh Molson, the MP from the Ministry of Transport, triggered temporary traffic lights and commanded a bulldozer to clear the first section of hedge beside the A59 at Samlesbury.
The construction faced severe delays due to relentless rainfall in the winter of 1956–1957, turning the work sites into mudbaths and pushing the opening back to December 1958.
The Ministry of Transport initially only agreed to fund two lanes in each direction rather than three. But Lancashire's County Surveyor, Sir James Drake, had designed the bridges and layout for a three-lane profile to accommodate future widening, cementing the blueprint for future UK motorways.
Today, 70 years later, at 232 miles long, the M6 is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It serves as a major north-south backbone through England
9. Preston bypass
Opening of the Preston bypass - now M6. The gentleman is Dr Charles Hill from Talbot Archives Photo: Talbot Archives
10. Preston bypass
Slip road on to northbound M6 on opening. When first opened there was only an 'advisory' speed limit of 70mph. This did not appear on signage until later. This photograph is believed to be at the Bamber Bridge junction on to Preston Bypass. Picture courtesy of Preston Digital Archive Photo: Preston Digital Archive