Yes... where is that M53 video that I mentioned... Well.. The M53 was supposed to be released today and the M56 next week. Reasons happened that resulted in a last minute panic to release a video on time and here we are with the M56.
Some people waste millions of pounds building motorways that go nowhere, sliproads to nothing, and buying land that will never be used. I think we can let you off for accidentally not a video.
In a minority perhaps, but I can only remember Rave / Dance / Pop / Techno / Indy from the 1990s. All the TV Easter Eggs are sadly lost on me. *EDIT* (Expanded genres.)
Lymm is pronounced 'Lim', not 'Lime'. Lymm services used to be called Poplar's Truck-stop that had fuel pumps and a 'greasy spoon' restaurant before being moved across the road to it's present location, upgraded, and renamed Poplar 2000 Services. Chester services was built on the site of what used to be a large parking area that had a 24hr butty wagon (if memory serves me correctly), I used to frequent there quite regularly with a bunch of CBers that I used to hang out with. Great video though, I learned quite a bit about the local area.
Yeah I only knew that cos one of my best mates is from Lymm - although to be honest I probably would still pronounce it ‘lim’ but I can see how some people may emphasise the Y
I was driving back from Bristol and started telling my partner about all the interesting stuff I learned from the M32 video. Let's just say she didn't find it as interesting as I did, but I'll give her time to come around to it...
You're pretty much right about the swing bridge - you can still see the 'hinge' on google maps across the navigation, but the swing bridge itself is long gone. What you are on is a temporary Bailey bridge, installed so kit can be delivered to the substation that must have been in front of you when you were filming. Since it blocks off boat traffic when in use, it usually sits where you found it, but they can trundle it out when needed. Last used in November '21, apparently. Edit: Jack (see subcomment) has video of this Thunderbirds-esque deployment.
Yay, the M56 is exciting because it’s the only Manchester motorway I’ve been on, and our introduction to Manchester, a rail replacement bus from the Airport with an enthralling drive from junction 5 to junction 3A, during which driver cranked it up to a thrilling 50 or so. Living life on the edge that was.
I've probably said it before, but I'm going to say it again - Secrets of the Motorway is one of those guilty pleasures with the same sort of relaxing vibes as The Joy of Painting. Doesn't matter how my week went, come Sunday, I know I'll have Auto Shenanigans to sit down to with a cupper and just chill out, and learn something new and fascinating.
I just was wondering why I, as a Dutch guy, am watching all your videos in GB. Well, not that I soon will drive down there. But is it is wicked sweet awesome and fun to see it. You present it well.
I’m weekly gobsmacked how much detail and information you manage to cram into every episode. I dread to think how much time you spend researching and shooting these videos. I take my hat off to you sir. Top notch work.
i do love how little you strive for perfection, also the stunning vista's where you choose to deliver you line's, i think from this week's my favoured one was the 3 sand/gravel bag's in some shitty field... marvelous
Great video as always! One thing to note, the BOW in “Bowdon” is pronounced the same way as “Toe”. It’s also one of the wealthiest areas in the country outside of the South East!
You have to remember that El Presidente of this channel "El jono" is from Northampton, And the accent is a mix of West Midlands and Southern English. So you have to give him some slack.
The wealth of Bowden dates back many years, at least to the early 70's in my knowledge and probably much before that. There's no doubt that the wealth of both footballers and entertainment personalities has an impact on certain areas, but in the this area I would say that much of that wealth can be found a few miles away in the Wilmslow, Prestbury area. I think the wealth of Bowden is more rooted in industrial heritage.
@@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe Yeah, but mispronouncing placenames isn't really an accent thing. (Not criticizing El Jono for it -- it's basically impossible to avoid without local knowledge. The other day, I learnt that Happisburgh is pronounced HAZE-bruh. I mean, WTF?)
Excellent again Jon, the M56 is one of my favourite motorways. I love the way people pay no attention whatsoever to the chevrons on it that advise a 2 chevron gap. It’s almost like folk try to make the gaps as small as possible between each other 😂
I think that’s primarily because some smooth brains out there also equate those chevrons to mean “drive at 50mph regardless of which lane you are in”, so it leads to a mass braking at the beginning, bunched up frustrated “normal” people for the duration, followed by a mad rush back to 70+ at the end… 😂
I've only recently found your channel and am thoroughly enjoying it. We use roads/motorways without thinking too much about them especially these days with the (...) satnav! I passed my driving test in 1994 and used atlas/map with pen & paper (writing it down helps you remember, especially Junction numbers and the roads you need to take after exiting😊) til 2008 when health issues stopped me driving, but I have driven to the top of Scotland, over to North Wales, down to Letchworth Garden City and almost everywhere in between. I LOVED to drive (I was 36 when I passed my test and had recently lost my husband to cancer) and did so at every opportunity. I made sure I took 2x2hour motorway lessons after successful pass of test so that I didn't baulk at using them, like a lot of people do. I couldn't understand some friends who wouldn't/couldn't use motorways. Each to their own, I suppose, but I wanted to drive, so made sure I could do so safely. Sorry, rambling. Back to the video... even using motorways as I did you don't know the history(onics?) Behind them unless you are interested - most of us aren't - until someone like you comes along and MAKES it interesting. Thanks for all the research and the videos 👍
ah, the good old M56 - for me it's always associated with holidays, as it's part of the route to north Wales it's also the site of a personal record, as it was the first place where I got to 90 mph on my 600 cc motorbike (a completely deserted stretch of the A11 in Cambridgeshire was the second)
Just before the old interchange with the A494, the M56 had a heavily-banked right turn to reach the roundabout. After the realignment, the M56 went straight on at the (previous) right turn but the contractors left a substantial part of the banking, so with an old Mini at the right speed it was possible to get close to lifting all wheels off the ground when going over it. Much later the bump was flattened, but not quite enough and can be felt still.
The best part of this video is when he said the expressway was stopped by environmental issues that might affect an oil refinery? Obviously I'm a Yank, but I thing the interchanges with a round-a-bout make so much sense, though they did present some confusion when I drove in the UK some years ago. My wife and I once went around one three times before we found our way. Love this video.
Until the late 1990s Chester Services was actually signed as a Picnic Area and was just an unlit gravel car park and some loos. You really wouldn't want to visit at night. The signs at both ends of the motorway said at the time, "No services on M56”. The services themselves closed temporarily after a nasty fire in August 2004 which broke out in the kitchens. Not long after that the Wimpy there became a McDonald's.
As a Runcorn native I've been waiting for an M56 episode and it didn't disappoint, great stuff as always! I thought I was going to be a billy big balls and point out that it's pronounced Lim not Lime but then I read the comments..did it away😊
Did I miss Junction 10? It cut the village of Stretton in half, now we have Lower Stretton and the other bit where I used to live. There used to be two roads diverging near to St. Matthew's, however they retained the Tarporley Road and slightly modified its route, but sliced through the Northwich one and instead joined them up at the Motorway Junction.
Awesome as always. The a494/a55 first stretch after that roundabout used to terminate at a set of lights in the Shotwick area, it was an unusual way those roads segued but perhaps more unusual was a short distance further on where the road crossed the site of RAF Sealand. At this point there was a ridiculously severe hump over a tunnel between the two sides of the site with a speed limit. If you were lucky enough to start driving when this tunnel was still around you could be tempted to perform Dukes Of Hazard style air manoeuvres. In fact if you hung around the side roads long enough you could witness people doing this to varying degrees of success. Long since gone with sale of one side of the site and the bike path on a suspension bridge over the road, it’s all sensible and flat now. The A$$ road has very few other significant spots though I’m sure if anyone could unearth them you could. Once upon a time there was a crossing point at the Halkyn Little Chef (Three corner wood) and people would try all sorts from U turns to driving cattle across. I suppose when you get further along to Penmaenmawr the tunnels are something of note! As a kid visiting family in Caernarfon it went from a 3 hrs slog to around half that time. Keep up the great work!
If you ever doubt the quality of you videos : I am watching them everytime a new one goes out even if I am living across the channel and I never drove on the UK road network (And know nothing about Uk road network)
Takes twice as long to watch these videos as I pause to look at the photos and try to align with my memories of hammering up and down the UK motorways in the 80s and 90s.
good grief how many twists and turns can you get into 33 miles. A good yarn for John for sure! Another case of a lot of information I didn't know I needed to know... Thanks Pal! 😅
Lymm Services started off as the Poplar Truck Stop on the A50 and grew and grew to the stage where it sort of got the motorway (or at least new access roads) built up to its front door.
Keep up the work on the videos. They're wicked, sweet awesome!. It's been great lately watching your videos of the motorways of the North West that I drive over weekly. It's good to see the fascination I have with them isn't just me being weird. One quick question through...I cant see the M53 video?
Yeah, where's the M53 video? I've been waiting for that one from the start. I want to know all the details of the junction with the A41 and what that now demolished tunnel was going to be used for.
As child we lived next to Manchester Airport and frequently visited relatives who lived north of Liverpool - a partially hideous journey that involved the dreary boredom that is the East Lancs road. The opening and connections of all these roads in 1974 transformed the journey as we could now do the M56, M6, M62 and M57 making the far quicker journey almost door to door by motorway.
The east lancs is an absolute beast. Such a heavy lifter. But much slower these days with more traffic lights and speed restrictions. Hoping Jon will do the A580 someday
Another rambling diatribe about asphalt and concrete across the countryside. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole ride! A great way to spend Sunday afternoon, thanks John.
This one's so local to part of my family that I was very much looking forward to this one! Completely brilliant! Now to be one of those people and mention a pronunciation error - Lymm is simply pronounced "lim", not "lime". 'Twas going to end up being mentioned somewhere down in the comments anyway...
I do love how you leave some of the "outtakes" in. And just how much you tell it like it is. Thank you for reminding us all that it's okay to be human. (Unless you're a road planner, who need to cut it out and build sensible stuff instead of shit). Have you ever considered doing a series based on the CBRD Bad Junctions? If only because I want to see your take on some of those hellholes. (totally not specifically eyeballing the A406/A118 Ilford interchange specifically, the horrors of which i will never be able to forget)
John, you've made my day. Use the 56 daily and I've always had so many questions about some of its quirks. Turns out, everyone was high when planning this out 😂 can't wait for you to do the m53 😁😁😁😁😁
I was auditing the contractor who was building the a556 bypass and when I saw the drawing of the m56 Junction I was pretty pleased, until I saw the total lack of any reworking of the m6 Junction 19, that is!
5:16 Hi John. Excellent vlogging as always. Great to see you doing a bit up North M55 way. Where abouts is the bridge your stood at 5:16, ? You put in so much work and research into your vlogs, there's so much we would of never known, with all the time and effort you go through. I have learnt quite a lot through watching. Look forward to your next 1. 5***** get my vote all the time.
Ah The M56, an old fave. Living in my childhood in Didsbury up the road from the tentaclesque junction 1 I felt a certain pride to live by such a distinguished and surely world reknowned motorway. And upon that hallowed tarmac did many a trip start for holidays in North Wales heading for the more sedate meandering A55 (The Queue to Conway) that prior to dualling was a little packed at times.
This is truly a UA-cam gem, and hope you only go from strength to strength, as your presenting skills get more relaxed, they get more enjoyable with each episode...'no gay'.. subbed ages ago and fully belled up.
@@SJ8311 Absolutely!... but some councillor said that "it would impact other nearby business negatively...." how exactly? by bringing another 100 local jobs? anyhow its just on the other side of Rostherne Mere which I live next to.
@@jonathanfarber It's in the middle of a motorway junction! What nearby businesses? There's what looks like a set of farm buildings, but I can't imagine they are justified by the small amount of farmable land inside the loop. In fact, if you look on Google street-view the area looks almost abandoned. The northern entrance (which would presumably be used for the services) has a gate across it that looks as if it hasn't been opened for years -- there are bushes growing through it. The southern entrance looks rather better, but even that has a post-delivery-box which has its door hanging open, and which seems to be in the process of being reclaimed by nature. There's a weird arrangement that you can see by clicking on the blue dot in the middle of the loop that appears on Google maps when you turn street-view on. It looks like a private burial ground, with some rather ornate graves -- one of which has an open coffin on top. Distinctly spooky looking.
I believe that the 'Slidey Bridge' at Junction 12 was once used to allow traffic to cross the Weaver Canal to get in and out of Frodsham when the Swing Bridge on the A56 was taken out of service for maintenance, many moons. The factory you can see over your shoulder while discussing the missing Junction 13 are the Rocksavage and Castner Kellner Sites operated by Koura and Ineos/Inovyn respectively Stanlow is much more visible when travelling along the M53 near Ellesmere Port.
OhhI know this motorway oh so well living in Chester. It’s so accident prone especially the closer it gets to Manchester and Junction 5 is a pain in the arse. The Junction 7 is brilliant for testing the cornering ability (or lack thereof) of your car…. I used to live in Ince village and I had an uninterrupted view of said refinery from the back of the house. Fab. Great video as always John!
Nice work. The M56 Bowdon interchange is a particularly fascinating one and has some good ghost roads you can walk up alongside the new layout. I think you might have gone for a stroll down there judging by your position at 3:45. BTW Bowdon is pronounced as it bow tie, not bow down.
In addition to the upgrade works to the A494/M56 connection in the 2000s there was also heavy upgrade work done to the A494 to bring it up to motorway standards so that the M56 could absorb it and extend pretty much all the way to the A55. However due to money/environmental issues and many complaints from locals it never went ahead, but if you look on Google maps at the point the A494 reaches the river Dee you can see that the road is twice as wide on the eastern bank having been upgraded for eight lanes, it was planned to build a second bridge and have the A494/M56 cross the river with four lanes on each side but the plan died here.
Used to drive the M56 and M53 on the way to Birkenhead in the 90s, so I'm looking forward to the next installment, hope you explain the weird alignment near Hooton.
A more interesting junction is the Moreton spur which was a supposed, but never actually planned, link directly to North Wales at Mostyn docks. Also never built which is a shame.
Very interesting and detailed video. Not just the road itself, but all the important sites next to it. I think this content is pretty unique, and unlike Top Gear, I don't think anyone is going to copy it.
Really enjoy watching all these Motorway and Service Stations as an ex truck driver now living in Saskatoon SK. You drove and visited every inch that once provided me with a living. Does Charnock Richard services (Sth bound) still have the mock up of the Titanic washrooms ?? Pity you couldn’t do some of the Truck stops on your motorway journeys
The Kingsway junction is a remarkable one - not only does it connect the two motorways with the A34 (but not in all directions!), it threads around three railway lines, the River Mersey and a (now former) hospital - reputed to be one of Britain's most haunted buildings!
And we have the Manchester Airport flight path above, and even a tram is in walking distance in East Didsbury. However there are several connections you can't make here without planning miles ahead, you can do M56 Eastbound to A34 Northbound, but no legal way from M60 Eastbound to A34 North (leave J5 to go through Northenden and Didsbury). A34 Southbound can only join M60 Eastbound, no anticlockwise on the ring road! A34 Northbound can join M60 either way, but can't reach M56 as it merges too late. (go south to new A555). M56 can't join A34 south as it joins M60 too late (leave at J2 and go through Gatley). At end of the circular slip road from M60 to A34 southbound you can turn off before A34 to a tiny tunnel under A34 joining it northbound, but illegal unless you remembered that you know someone living in that street but they were not at home that day. It is all very confusing even for me after 15 years, as you can't assume going back where you came from! A34 maps.app.goo.gl/HQf1vXuVtw3qqU1X7
@@SteveOnTheInterweb Yes, I used to live in Heald Green, so I know the junction quite well, but as it's 25 years since I left, I couldn't remember which connections you couldn't do.
Very close to home for me, now. Where you were standing just after Chester Services is the abandoned Bridle Lane - which I pass on my daily commute to work!
should have looked the other side of the weaver navigation for signs of the old swingbridge - foundations of it can still be seen on google maps - oddly looks like it wasn't even in line with that other bit of bridge you filmed though....
Your commentary often reminds me of Billy Bragg's "A13 (trunk road to the sea")" which, for the civilians out there, is a rundown of the A13 motorway set to the tune of Bobby Troup's "Route 66"
I wonder by this point if John has a massive spreadsheet of different junctions and how they link to each of the videos he's done so that he can mention back to previous/future vids?
I was holding out for your exit drone sequence to start from under the bridge; maybe next time? (Or how about you start a drone sequence from inside a bridge/tunnel and then as it passes outside and you're no longer inview, you can run around to resume waving from on top of the bridge. It'd be a bit like when school kids would attempt to appear in more than one location on their school photos back in the days of those slow-panning cameras.
Thanks John, oddly captivating yet again. At 6.12 just as you said, of course, the loose ends of that builders bag jumped up perfectly synchronised with your voice. How did you manage that?
Another Wicker episode - thanks. The A 494 at the Western end of the M56 is could be seen as the start of the North Wales Expressway which goes all the way to the Irish Ferry terminal at Holyhead. I have seen the upgrading of this road over my lifespan. Partly funded by EU Money to allow improved road connections to all EU member countries capital cities from EU HQ in Brussels. If you see some European road maps this North Wales Expressway is called Euroroute 22. This runs from Dublin all the way to Moscow (just in case Putin starts to behave himself). Might be worth doing a future Vlog on this - can't wait to see how you pronounce the second roundabout (after Penmaenmawr)!
Although the E-road network itself is nothing to do with the E.U. but is a system of a United Nations committee. The U.K. and Albania are the only countries in Europe not to show E numbers in any signage. But they are also mostly unsigned in Asia, as some of the east-west ones travelling out of Europe, some of those even reaching the border with China. The E22 only starts at Holyhead (as roads do not start or end on a ferry) but ends in Asia as it continues another 1,500 miles east of Moscow, ending in Ishim. Dublin is on the E20 which goes from Shannon to St. Petersburg that instead crossing the Irish Sea to Liverpool. It is also on the E1 from Larne to Seville, the most westerly E road, hence the number. But the M62(/M60) between J10 and J35 is therefore part of both the E20 and E22. The former turning continuing to Hull where it crosses the North Sea to Esbjerg in Norway, while the latter takes the M18 to head to Immingham to get a ferry to Amsterdam. I very much look forward to "This week I am in the Islamic Republic of Iran, standing at the end of the 12,700 mile Asia Highway 1 where is becomes the E80 and runs 3,800 miles across Lisbon. Welcome to Secrets of the E Roads." Although if Jon wants to cheat there are three E Roads entirely within the U.K. E13 between the major European cities of London and, erm, Doncaster. But it has already been done as it is the M1 and M18. E24 goes from Birmingham to Ipswich (M6 and A14). And E32, which manages a journey of 19 miles across the expanses of north west Essex, from Colchester to Harwich (A120 and A136).
I drove up and down the M56 last week and wanderd "when will the M56 get its episode ' and here it is, wow. I was also on A55 but some how i think its a long way off before it gets its own episode🤔
Yes... where is that M53 video that I mentioned... Well.. The M53 was supposed to be released today and the M56 next week. Reasons happened that resulted in a last minute panic to release a video on time and here we are with the M56.
Some people waste millions of pounds building motorways that go nowhere, sliproads to nothing, and buying land that will never be used.
I think we can let you off for accidentally not a video.
Should've popped in for a brew whilst doing the M53 junction 8 John 😂 could set up junction parties for subscribers on your travels 😂
So, looks like you’re planning is as good as some of the motorways😂😂 look forward to seeing the next video though, always get a laugh watching you👍👍
Strange really that there isn’t no Junction 8 on the M56.
Hope for some discussion about the ghost slip road that lays before junction 5
Please know that I have understood and thoroughly enjoyed every region-specific 90s TV theme tune end credits music reference in all your videos!
In a minority perhaps, but I can only remember Rave / Dance / Pop / Techno / Indy from the 1990s. All the TV Easter Eggs are sadly lost on me.
*EDIT* (Expanded genres.)
Oh damn, first a Geoff Marshall mention in the video, now Jay Foreman is here in the comments. What a crossover episode!
Nice to see you again Jay. When will you be doing another video on your channel 😁
@@DexyG87 I wonder if he'll find an excuse to mention Jen, or G Loves....?
This one was Hollyoaks even though it’s the M53 that ends at Chester, miles from “Chester” services….
“The M56 planners enjoyed their crack” is an absolutely golden line, love these videos!
I thought exactly the same. Took me a minute to recover haha.
I think he meant 'craic' !
One of the best I’ve heard on this channel - and that’s a high bar!
@@simongreene1 Are we shure ? 😂
Well they were certainly on something hallucinogenic
And John didn’t even stop for breath. 👌 Gold.
Lymm is pronounced 'Lim', not 'Lime'. Lymm services used to be called Poplar's Truck-stop that had fuel pumps and a 'greasy spoon' restaurant before being moved across the road to it's present location, upgraded, and renamed Poplar 2000 Services.
Chester services was built on the site of what used to be a large parking area that had a 24hr butty wagon (if memory serves me correctly), I used to frequent there quite regularly with a bunch of CBers that I used to hang out with.
Great video though, I learned quite a bit about the local area.
Similarly, Bowdon is pronounced “Bo-don”
Thank you - why on earth would anyone pronounce it Lime?
@@hulahoopone the MM, mmm; Li-mmmmm(e)
@@hulahoopone people who are unfamiliar with it? Eg; Ged pronounced like “Shed”
Yeah I only knew that cos one of my best mates is from Lymm - although to be honest I probably would still pronounce it ‘lim’ but I can see how some people may emphasise the Y
I used to think my fascination of motorways was weird...I suppose it still is, but I'm relieved there are thousands of other M geeks like myself!
What's even more weird is that I'm not even from the UK and still watch this channel.
The 1st rule of being a motorway nerd is that you do not talk about being a motorway nerd..
I was driving back from Bristol and started telling my partner about all the interesting stuff I learned from the M32 video. Let's just say she didn't find it as interesting as I did, but I'll give her time to come around to it...
@@plankhead72 yes motorway facts are definitely peak pillow talk 🤣
What's odd is the amount of us who don't even drive 😂😂
You're pretty much right about the swing bridge - you can still see the 'hinge' on google maps across the navigation, but the swing bridge itself is long gone. What you are on is a temporary Bailey bridge, installed so kit can be delivered to the substation that must have been in front of you when you were filming. Since it blocks off boat traffic when in use, it usually sits where you found it, but they can trundle it out when needed. Last used in November '21, apparently.
Edit: Jack (see subcomment) has video of this Thunderbirds-esque deployment.
I thought it looked like a Bailey bridge. Thanks for the interesting info.
Excellent and scarce use of the word "trundle". Thank you.
A video of the bridge being launched / used
ua-cam.com/video/yaz023DhHM4/v-deo.html
@@heavyhaulage1 A most excellent find. Thank you.
@@heavyhaulage1 jesus that music is annoying though. Watch it on mute. 🤣
Yay, the M56 is exciting because it’s the only Manchester motorway I’ve been on, and our introduction to Manchester, a rail replacement bus from the Airport with an enthralling drive from junction 5 to junction 3A, during which driver cranked it up to a thrilling 50 or so. Living life on the edge that was.
Rail replacement bus :( eww.
I've probably said it before, but I'm going to say it again - Secrets of the Motorway is one of those guilty pleasures with the same sort of relaxing vibes as The Joy of Painting. Doesn't matter how my week went, come Sunday, I know I'll have Auto Shenanigans to sit down to with a cupper and just chill out, and learn something new and fascinating.
I bet it is a guilty secret for some planning authorities!
Sooo true. I await each new episode with baited breath. Is that right? Well, who cares. John, well done
The performance from those rubble sacks was spot on.
Missed opportunity there - Jon could have climbed into the empty sack (in the background) and made himself look a complete fool!! ;-))
Score! It’s a proper Sunday now. M56 and M62 are my jam.
Same
yup i was brought up in altrincham and drove alot on the 56
I just was wondering why I, as a Dutch guy, am watching all your videos in GB. Well, not that I soon will drive down there. But is it is wicked sweet awesome and fun to see it. You present it well.
I’m weekly gobsmacked how much detail and information you manage to cram into every episode. I dread to think how much time you spend researching and shooting these videos.
I take my hat off to you sir.
Top notch work.
i do love how little you strive for perfection, also the stunning vista's where you choose to deliver you line's, i think from this week's my favoured one was the 3 sand/gravel bag's in some shitty field... marvelous
Couldn't agree more Alan, even the sand/gravel bags handles 'lifted' when Jon raised his hands....he has super powers you know!
Great video as always! One thing to note, the BOW in “Bowdon” is pronounced the same way as “Toe”.
It’s also one of the wealthiest areas in the country outside of the South East!
Football or Industry responsible for that. I always said levelling up was nonsense
You have to remember that El Presidente of this channel "El jono" is from Northampton, And the accent is a mix of West Midlands and Southern English. So you have to give him some slack.
The wealth of Bowden dates back many years, at least to the early 70's in my knowledge and probably much before that. There's no doubt that the wealth of both footballers and entertainment personalities has an impact on certain areas, but in the this area I would say that much of that wealth can be found a few miles away in the Wilmslow, Prestbury area. I think the wealth of Bowden is more rooted in industrial heritage.
@@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe Yeah, but mispronouncing placenames isn't really an accent thing. (Not criticizing El Jono for it -- it's basically impossible to avoid without local knowledge. The other day, I learnt that Happisburgh is pronounced HAZE-bruh. I mean, WTF?)
Your channel would be worth every penny of 164 million for the educational and entertaining content you provide
Excellent again Jon, the M56 is one of my favourite motorways. I love the way people pay no attention whatsoever to the chevrons on it that advise a 2 chevron gap. It’s almost like folk try to make the gaps as small as possible between each other 😂
It’s one of the maddest motorways I’ve driven on. Very high percentage of psychopaths
I think that’s primarily because some smooth brains out there also equate those chevrons to mean “drive at 50mph regardless of which lane you are in”, so it leads to a mass braking at the beginning, bunched up frustrated “normal” people for the duration, followed by a mad rush back to 70+ at the end… 😂
@@ermfwp True
@@DubStu Nailed it 👍🏼
Its a crap motorway thags permenantly going slow using because some tool has crashed and closed a lane or two down.
I've only recently found your channel and am thoroughly enjoying it. We use roads/motorways without thinking too much about them especially these days with the (...) satnav! I passed my driving test in 1994 and used atlas/map with pen & paper (writing it down helps you remember, especially Junction numbers and the roads you need to take after exiting😊) til 2008 when health issues stopped me driving, but I have driven to the top of Scotland, over to North Wales, down to Letchworth Garden City and almost everywhere in between. I LOVED to drive (I was 36 when I passed my test and had recently lost my husband to cancer) and did so at every opportunity. I made sure I took 2x2hour motorway lessons after successful pass of test so that I didn't baulk at using them, like a lot of people do. I couldn't understand some friends who wouldn't/couldn't use motorways. Each to their own, I suppose, but I wanted to drive, so made sure I could do so safely.
Sorry, rambling. Back to the video... even using motorways as I did you don't know the history(onics?) Behind them unless you are interested - most of us aren't - until someone like you comes along and MAKES it interesting. Thanks for all the research and the videos 👍
Thanks for sharing. I remember driving with maps "wait a minute, I need to find the next page" A nightmare in London.
ah, the good old M56 - for me it's always associated with holidays, as it's part of the route to north Wales
it's also the site of a personal record, as it was the first place where I got to 90 mph on my 600 cc motorbike (a completely deserted stretch of the A11 in Cambridgeshire was the second)
Just before the old interchange with the A494, the M56 had a heavily-banked right turn to reach the roundabout. After the realignment, the M56 went straight on at the (previous) right turn but the contractors left a substantial part of the banking, so with an old Mini at the right speed it was possible to get close to lifting all wheels off the ground when going over it. Much later the bump was flattened, but not quite enough and can be felt still.
The best part of this video is when he said the expressway was stopped by environmental issues that might affect an oil refinery? Obviously I'm a Yank, but I thing the interchanges with a round-a-bout make so much sense, though they did present some confusion when I drove in the UK some years ago. My wife and I once went around one three times before we found our way. Love this video.
best day of the week john
Until the late 1990s Chester Services was actually signed as a Picnic Area and was just an unlit gravel car park and some loos. You really wouldn't want to visit at night. The signs at both ends of the motorway said at the time, "No services on M56”. The services themselves closed temporarily after a nasty fire in August 2004 which broke out in the kitchens. Not long after that the Wimpy there became a McDonald's.
And there was a Premier Inn before it was sold off to days inn
As a Runcorn native I've been waiting for an M56 episode and it didn't disappoint, great stuff as always! I thought I was going to be a billy big balls and point out that it's pronounced Lim not Lime but then I read the comments..did it away😊
Did I miss Junction 10? It cut the village of Stretton in half, now we have Lower Stretton and the other bit where I used to live. There used to be two roads diverging near to St. Matthew's, however they retained the Tarporley Road and slightly modified its route, but sliced through the Northwich one and instead joined them up at the Motorway Junction.
Awesome as always.
The a494/a55 first stretch after that roundabout used to terminate at a set of lights in the Shotwick area, it was an unusual way those roads segued but perhaps more unusual was a short distance further on where the road crossed the site of RAF Sealand. At this point there was a ridiculously severe hump over a tunnel between the two sides of the site with a speed limit. If you were lucky enough to start driving when this tunnel was still around you could be tempted to perform Dukes Of Hazard style air manoeuvres. In fact if you hung around the side roads long enough you could witness people doing this to varying degrees of success. Long since gone with sale of one side of the site and the bike path on a suspension bridge over the road, it’s all sensible and flat now. The A$$ road has very few other significant spots though I’m sure if anyone could unearth them you could. Once upon a time there was a crossing point at the Halkyn Little Chef (Three corner wood) and people would try all sorts from U turns to driving cattle across. I suppose when you get further along to Penmaenmawr the tunnels are something of note! As a kid visiting family in Caernarfon it went from a 3 hrs slog to around half that time.
Keep up the great work!
Great video as always!
I'm waiting for the crossover where you pop up in one of Geoff's rail videos now or at least get a mention.
Or Geoff starts his own "Secrets of the railways main lines" series😂
I have had a fair week thank you John.
If you ever doubt the quality of you videos :
I am watching them everytime a new one goes out even if I am living across the channel and I never drove on the UK road network (And know nothing about Uk road network)
"We've covered the stoak interchange in the M53 Video"
Did I miss one? I've been waiting for that one for ages as its my local 🤔
Guessing it will be coming very soon & he's just posted them not quite in his original planned order
I thought the same!. What m53 video?.
The M53 one should be very interesting. It's full of unfinished business and really odd junctions.
@@nowster I was just thinking the same thing! We haven't had a video for the M53. Next week maybe?
I love driving past the oil refinery at night. Reminds me of Mega-City One with all the lights on it.
Yes, and it looks particularly striking at sunset. OMD wrote a song called "Stanlow" (it's on the second album) which is quite romantic about it.
Does it still smell as bad as it did?
Takes twice as long to watch these videos as I pause to look at the photos and try to align with my memories of hammering up and down the UK motorways in the 80s and 90s.
good grief how many twists and turns can you get into 33 miles. A good yarn for John for sure! Another case of a lot of information I didn't know I needed to know... Thanks Pal! 😅
From childhood annual holidays to Rhyl I remember how the M56 used to come to an end on a T-junction near Queensferry
Can’t be many more motorways left to cover which is a shame because I really like this series.
There's all of Europe to do.
@@QuentinStephens He's still to do the A823(M)! Hell of a lot to do in that(!)
There's a whole series on A roads to do.
The A5 could be a series in itself.
@@davelewthwaite then secrets of the B roads! 🤣
There's still the M25 to do, isn't there
given how much the paint has faded, the signage around the M56/M53 interchange is probably the original stock from the early 80s
All of these signs were replaced in 2018 except 1/2 mile advance sign of A5117 on sliproad directing you to northbound carriageway of M53
I really enjoy this motorway information, I’ve spent over 9 years driving up and down of the M42 and M6 as a delivery driver.
Lymm Services started off as the Poplar Truck Stop on the A50 and grew and grew to the stage where it sort of got the motorway (or at least new access roads) built up to its front door.
This is my local motorway, YAY
Also, I always found it funny that it doesn't have a junction 13
I thought this was a superstitious thing with it being missing
Keep up the work on the videos. They're wicked, sweet awesome!. It's been great lately watching your videos of the motorways of the North West that I drive over weekly. It's good to see the fascination I have with them isn't just me being weird. One quick question through...I cant see the M53 video?
Yeah, where's the M53 video? I've been waiting for that one from the start. I want to know all the details of the junction with the A41 and what that now demolished tunnel was going to be used for.
@@ianstoyan I have an 1995 wirral AtoZ with the original plans for a proposed road that doesn't exist now
I also don't remember an M53 video, my local motorway, I've been waiting for this one.
@@Robwantsacurry bro same it's my local motorway too
I enjoy this channel so much I always click the like button twice
Manchester has given us some gems of motorways!!
"gems"?! That's one word I guess. They are the weirdest combination of lsd trips in the uk!
As child we lived next to Manchester Airport and frequently visited relatives who lived north of Liverpool - a partially hideous journey that involved the dreary boredom that is the East Lancs road. The opening and connections of all these roads in 1974 transformed the journey as we could now do the M56, M6, M62 and M57 making the far quicker journey almost door to door by motorway.
The east lancs is an absolute beast. Such a heavy lifter. But much slower these days with more traffic lights and speed restrictions. Hoping Jon will do the A580 someday
9:08 like at marker M56 A 25.8 and M56 A 27....... yep no signs at all.
I like to imagine the cars on the circlular bit at 4:00 are stuck and just loop forever.
Thanks Jon. Have a wicked sweet awesome week
On the face of it these video's should be boring AF. But they're not, they're brilliant. Well done John, well done.
9:03 On google maps I do actually see signposts for Lymm services on the M56 both East and Westbound
Why am I finding all this motorway history so interesting? Great vid again. 👍👍
Another fascinating and informative video as always Jon.
Another rambling diatribe about asphalt and concrete across the countryside. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole ride! A great way to spend Sunday afternoon, thanks John.
This one's so local to part of my family that I was very much looking forward to this one! Completely brilliant!
Now to be one of those people and mention a pronunciation error - Lymm is simply pronounced "lim", not "lime". 'Twas going to end up being mentioned somewhere down in the comments anyway...
Yup, I mentioned it too before seeing yours 🤣
I love this channel that predominantly has zero effect on my daily life, as i live nowhere near the UK, then any human probably should.
I've used the M56 a few times travelling from Yorkshire to North Wales.
The junction onto the A494 is the best junction anywhere!
Beers, football and Auto shenanigans. My perfect Sunday! Thanks for another great video 😊😊
I do love how you leave some of the "outtakes" in. And just how much you tell it like it is. Thank you for reminding us all that it's okay to be human. (Unless you're a road planner, who need to cut it out and build sensible stuff instead of shit).
Have you ever considered doing a series based on the CBRD Bad Junctions? If only because I want to see your take on some of those hellholes. (totally not specifically eyeballing the A406/A118 Ilford interchange specifically, the horrors of which i will never be able to forget)
Nice to hear the original Hollyoaks theme lol. Very informative as ever John. Enjoying your channel friend
John, you've made my day. Use the 56 daily and I've always had so many questions about some of its quirks. Turns out, everyone was high when planning this out 😂 can't wait for you to do the m53 😁😁😁😁😁
I was auditing the contractor who was building the a556 bypass and when I saw the drawing of the m56 Junction I was pretty pleased, until I saw the total lack of any reworking of the m6 Junction 19, that is!
What year?@@familyhelpdeskhelpdesk270
Wish they was more motorway in this country. Just love watching these videos,absolutely brilliant
5:16 Hi John. Excellent vlogging as always. Great to see you doing a bit up North M55 way. Where abouts is the bridge your stood at 5:16, ? You put in so much work and research into your vlogs, there's so much we would of never known, with all the time and effort you go through. I have learnt quite a lot through watching. Look forward to your next 1. 5***** get my vote all the time.
Thanks
Cheers mate appreciate that
Driven this motorway many times and didn't realise how long the viaduct over the River Weaver was, you learn something new every day 👍
Ah The M56, an old fave. Living in my childhood in Didsbury up the road from the tentaclesque junction 1 I felt a certain pride to live by such a distinguished and surely world reknowned motorway.
And upon that hallowed tarmac did many a trip start for holidays in North Wales heading for the more sedate meandering A55 (The Queue to Conway) that prior to dualling was a little packed at times.
I do love a exciting new episode .
Hello mister Jon, yes I have had quite a good week, thanks for asking, and I hope you did too 😊
This is truly a UA-cam gem, and hope you only go from strength to strength, as your presenting skills get more relaxed, they get more enjoyable with each episode...'no gay'.. subbed ages ago and fully belled up.
I went on a school infants trip to see the M56 being built in about 1970. Sadly I remember it clearly! Thanks for making the videos,.
Nothing sad about remembering it clearly! 😀
Fascinating. Another strand of spaghetti in the dogs dinner around Manchester. Nicely researched and presented.
Westmorland, the people behind Gloucester & Tebay Services want to build another service area on the M56, inside the loop of Junction 7.
Ooh, that would be handy. And nice!
@@SJ8311 Absolutely!... but some councillor said that "it would impact other nearby business negatively...." how exactly? by bringing another 100 local jobs? anyhow its just on the other side of Rostherne Mere which I live next to.
@@jonathanfarber It's in the middle of a motorway junction! What nearby businesses? There's what looks like a set of farm buildings, but I can't imagine they are justified by the small amount of farmable land inside the loop.
In fact, if you look on Google street-view the area looks almost abandoned. The northern entrance (which would presumably be used for the services) has a gate across it that looks as if it hasn't been opened for years -- there are bushes growing through it. The southern entrance looks rather better, but even that has a post-delivery-box which has its door hanging open, and which seems to be in the process of being reclaimed by nature.
There's a weird arrangement that you can see by clicking on the blue dot in the middle of the loop that appears on Google maps when you turn street-view on. It looks like a private burial ground, with some rather ornate graves -- one of which has an open coffin on top. Distinctly spooky looking.
Hey John I can see how much work - research and travel - you put into these videos. Absolutely fantastic viewing and well done!
I believe that the 'Slidey Bridge' at Junction 12 was once used to allow traffic to cross the Weaver Canal to get in and out of Frodsham when the Swing Bridge on the A56 was taken out of service for maintenance, many moons. The factory you can see over your shoulder while discussing the missing Junction 13 are the Rocksavage and Castner Kellner Sites operated by Koura and Ineos/Inovyn respectively Stanlow is much more visible when travelling along the M53 near Ellesmere Port.
Koura and Ineos ? Bring back Imperial Chemical Industries, sounds much more British!! :-)
Love the name check with Geoff Marshall 🖐👍
It probably makes sense on the ground but the "upgrade" from the simpler roundabout looks more confusing. 10:00
I was looking forward to this, M56 is my main motorway, lovely video John!
Great video as usual. Lymm is pronounced the same as limb not lime for future.
OhhI know this motorway oh so well living in Chester. It’s so accident prone especially the closer it gets to Manchester and Junction 5 is a pain in the arse. The Junction 7 is brilliant for testing the cornering ability (or lack thereof) of your car…. I used to live in Ince village and I had an uninterrupted view of said refinery from the back of the house. Fab. Great video as always John!
Thank you, John. As to how I am, I'm recovering from a nasty digestive upset but, on balance, I have had a good week.
Where M56 becomes A494, Dunkirk rounda bout and transport cafe with legendary potholes. Now Costco (other discount retailers are available)
Nice work. The M56 Bowdon interchange is a particularly fascinating one and has some good ghost roads you can walk up alongside the new layout. I think you might have gone for a stroll down there judging by your position at 3:45. BTW Bowdon is pronounced as it bow tie, not bow down.
In addition to the upgrade works to the A494/M56 connection in the 2000s there was also heavy upgrade work done to the A494 to bring it up to motorway standards so that the M56 could absorb it and extend pretty much all the way to the A55. However due to money/environmental issues and many complaints from locals it never went ahead, but if you look on Google maps at the point the A494 reaches the river Dee you can see that the road is twice as wide on the eastern bank having been upgraded for eight lanes, it was planned to build a second bridge and have the A494/M56 cross the river with four lanes on each side but the plan died here.
Used to drive the M56 and M53 on the way to Birkenhead in the 90s, so I'm looking forward to the next installment, hope you explain the weird alignment near Hooton.
It was supposed to be a motorway link to the north side of chester at liverpool road via the welsh road but never got built.
A more interesting junction is the Moreton spur which was a supposed, but never actually planned, link directly to North Wales at Mostyn docks. Also never built which is a shame.
Very interesting and detailed video. Not just the road itself, but all the important sites next to it. I think this content is pretty unique, and unlike Top Gear, I don't think anyone is going to copy it.
Really enjoy watching all these Motorway and Service Stations as an ex truck driver now living in Saskatoon SK. You drove and visited every inch that once provided me with a living.
Does Charnock Richard services (Sth bound) still have the mock up of the Titanic washrooms ??
Pity you couldn’t do some of the Truck stops on your motorway journeys
From driving this daily … thank you for a great video / history
The Kingsway junction is a remarkable one - not only does it connect the two motorways with the A34 (but not in all directions!), it threads around three railway lines, the River Mersey and a (now former) hospital - reputed to be one of Britain's most haunted buildings!
And we have the Manchester Airport flight path above, and even a tram is in walking distance in East Didsbury. However there are several connections you can't make here without planning miles ahead, you can do M56 Eastbound to A34 Northbound, but no legal way from M60 Eastbound to A34 North (leave J5 to go through Northenden and Didsbury). A34 Southbound can only join M60 Eastbound, no anticlockwise on the ring road! A34 Northbound can join M60 either way, but can't reach M56 as it merges too late. (go south to new A555). M56 can't join A34 south as it joins M60 too late (leave at J2 and go through Gatley). At end of the circular slip road from M60 to A34 southbound you can turn off before A34 to a tiny tunnel under A34 joining it northbound, but illegal unless you remembered that you know someone living in that street but they were not at home that day.
It is all very confusing even for me after 15 years, as you can't assume going back where you came from!
A34
maps.app.goo.gl/HQf1vXuVtw3qqU1X7
@@SteveOnTheInterweb Yes, I used to live in Heald Green, so I know the junction quite well, but as it's 25 years since I left, I couldn't remember which connections you couldn't do.
Very close to home for me, now. Where you were standing just after Chester Services is the abandoned Bridle Lane - which I pass on my daily commute to work!
should have looked the other side of the weaver navigation for signs of the old swingbridge - foundations of it can still be seen on google maps - oddly looks like it wasn't even in line with that other bit of bridge you filmed though....
Great video John, very interesting as always, nicely done 👍😀👌
Great shout out to “ Geoff Marshall. “ 👏👏👍😀 Another cracking episode. 👍
Your commentary often reminds me of Billy Bragg's "A13 (trunk road to the sea")" which, for the civilians out there, is a rundown of the A13 motorway set to the tune of Bobby Troup's "Route 66"
I wonder by this point if John has a massive spreadsheet of different junctions and how they link to each of the videos he's done so that he can mention back to previous/future vids?
I was holding out for your exit drone sequence to start from under the bridge; maybe next time?
(Or how about you start a drone sequence from inside a bridge/tunnel and then as it passes outside and you're no longer inview, you can run around to resume waving from on top of the bridge. It'd be a bit like when school kids would attempt to appear in more than one location on their school photos back in the days of those slow-panning cameras.
I the link road between the A 494 & the M56 is a godsend. I remember the congestion before the upgrade.
Thanks John, oddly captivating yet again. At 6.12 just as you said, of course, the loose ends of that builders bag jumped up perfectly synchronised with your voice. How did you manage that?
I love the slight teleportation of the white car just after 7:46 🙂. Another great video; thanks Jon!
Guy was about to do a full-on teleport but realised he was on video and couldn't give away the heavily classified tech.
Another Wicker episode - thanks. The A 494 at the Western end of the M56 is could be seen as the start of the North Wales Expressway which goes all the way to the Irish Ferry terminal at Holyhead. I have seen the upgrading of this road over my lifespan. Partly funded by EU Money to allow improved road connections to all EU member countries capital cities from EU HQ in Brussels. If you see some European road maps this North Wales Expressway is called Euroroute 22. This runs from Dublin all the way to Moscow (just in case Putin starts to behave himself). Might be worth doing a future Vlog on this - can't wait to see how you pronounce the second roundabout (after Penmaenmawr)!
Although the E-road network itself is nothing to do with the E.U. but is a system of a United Nations committee. The U.K. and Albania are the only countries in Europe not to show E numbers in any signage. But they are also mostly unsigned in Asia, as some of the east-west ones travelling out of Europe, some of those even reaching the border with China.
The E22 only starts at Holyhead (as roads do not start or end on a ferry) but ends in Asia as it continues another 1,500 miles east of Moscow, ending in Ishim. Dublin is on the E20 which goes from Shannon to St. Petersburg that instead crossing the Irish Sea to Liverpool. It is also on the E1 from Larne to Seville, the most westerly E road, hence the number. But the M62(/M60) between J10 and J35 is therefore part of both the E20 and E22. The former turning continuing to Hull where it crosses the North Sea to Esbjerg in Norway, while the latter takes the M18 to head to Immingham to get a ferry to Amsterdam.
I very much look forward to "This week I am in the Islamic Republic of Iran, standing at the end of the 12,700 mile Asia Highway 1 where is becomes the E80 and runs 3,800 miles across Lisbon. Welcome to Secrets of the E Roads." Although if Jon wants to cheat there are three E Roads entirely within the U.K. E13 between the major European cities of London and, erm, Doncaster. But it has already been done as it is the M1 and M18. E24 goes from Birmingham to Ipswich (M6 and A14). And E32, which manages a journey of 19 miles across the expanses of north west Essex, from Colchester to Harwich (A120 and A136).
Great research John, except on how to pronounce Lymm
(Like Limb without the b 😊)
Keep up the great work 👍
The B in Limb is silent anyway.
The information conveyed by this channel, I will never use but my life is somehow better off for knowing this it. 😕
I'm currently looking forward with some more motorway, it's definitely the best thing I can look at.
It's a miracle that any motorway ever got built with all the messing about.
It's all the coke the planners were on coming up with loads of ideas, now if they'd stuck to weed they'd have chilled out and dozed off.😂
@@dave_h_8742 classic northern industry of the 1990s
I drove up and down the M56 last week and wanderd "when will the M56 get its episode ' and here it is, wow. I was also on A55 but some how i think its a long way off before it gets its own episode🤔
The A55 definitely deserves an episode. Not technically a motorway but it’s very interesting.