Motorways

Dynamic, dreary – Britain has 2,300 miles of motorways, and the country would grind to a halt without these tarmac arteries. But they were part of a fast, futuristic post-war vision. Will we ever build another one?

Ros Taylor talks to Chris Marshall, who runs roads.org.uk, and the musician and comedy writer Jason Hazeley. You can find a special MJT motorway playlist on Spotify, compiled by Jason, Ros, producer David Turnbull and listeners.

Readings are by David Turnbull . Ernest Davies, MP for Enfield, spoke about the need for motorways in 1957 and R Gresham Cooke (Twickenham) discussed speed limits in 1958.

I drew on Motorways (James Drake, H L Yeadon and D I Evans, Faber & Faber, 1969), On Roads (Joe Moran, Profile Books, 2009) and Always a Welcome - the glove compartment history of the motorway service area (David Lawrence, Between Books).

The Motorway Archive contains a vast amount of detail.

The National Express 'Elaine' and Trusthouse Forte ads are on YouTube. The BBC broadcast a documentary in 1969 on The Cost of Motorways. Egon Ronay's service station reviews are available here.

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