'Operation motorway': Landscapes of construction on England's M1 motorway

Journal of Historical Geography

Volumn 31, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 113-133

  Merriman, Peter ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF READING   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

England; Landscape; M1 motorway; Mobility; Transport

Indexed keywords

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE; MOTORWAY; ROAD CONSTRUCTION;

EASTERN HEMISPHERE; ENGLAND; EURASIA; EUROPE; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE; WORLD;

EID: 19544388535     PISSN: 03057488     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhg.2003.06.001     Document Type: Article

References (169)

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28. See, e.g., W.J.T. Mitchell Introduction in: W.J.T. Mitchell (Ed.) Landscape and Power 1994 London 1-4 1. Despite using the phrase 'on the ground' I do not want to suggest that certain spaces of ordering are more important than others
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31. D. Mitchell The Lie of the Land 1998 London 33
32. The 72 miles of the M1, M10 and M45 that were opened on 2 November 1959 included 55 miles of motorway built by Laing (stretching from Luton to Rugby), and the 17 mile St Albans Bypass motorway built by Tarmac Civil Engineering and Cubitts, Fitzpatrick and Shand. References to the London-Yorkshire Motorway and London-Birmingham Motorway were used somewhat interchangeably during the 1950s. See P. Merriman, M1: A cultural geography of an English motorway, 1946-1965, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Nottingham, 2001
33. P. Merriman 'A power for good or evil': Geographies of the M1 in late-fifties Britain in: D. Gilbert D. Matless B. Short (Eds.) Geographies of British Modernity: Space and Society in the Twentieth Century 2003 Oxford 115-131
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36. Merriman, M1.
37. On the inaugural ceremony, see Public Record Office (hereafter PRO) MT 121/23. On the work of Sir Owen Williams and Partners, see G. Stamp (Ed) Sir Owen Williams 1890-1969 1986 not known London
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39. Merriman, M1
40. J.D.W. Jeffery, London-Birmingham Motorway and St Albans By-pass. Notes of meeting held at Hereford Road 27th January, 1958 to discuss proposed Inaugural Ceremony, PRO MT 121/23.
41. J.D.W. Jeffery, London-Birmingham Motorway and St Albans By-pass. Notes of meeting held at Hereford Road 27th January, 1958 to discuss proposed Inaugural Ceremony, PRO MT 121/23.
42. These public relations devices or media are central to the 'organisational display' of the company. See P. Crang Organisational geographies: Surveillance, display and the spaces of power in business organisation in: J. Sharp P. Routledge C. Philo R. Paddison (Eds.) Entanglements of Power: Geographies of Power/Resistance 2000 London 204-218 210
43. Rolt was a pioneer of railway preservation and industrial archaeology, an organicist, and founder member of the Inland Waterways Association and Vintage Sports-Car Club. See L.T.C. Rolt The London-Birmingham Motorway, London, 1959, 6
44. M. Baldwin (Ed), L.T.C. Rolt: A Bibliography, Cleobury Mortimer, 1994
45. L.T.C. Rolt Landscape with Machines: An Autobiography 1971 London
46. L.T.C. Rolt Landscape with Canals: An Autobiography 1977 Gloucester
47. L.T.C. Rolt Landscape with Figures: The Final Part of His Autobiography 1992 Stroud
48. Matless, Landscape.
49. L.T.C. Rolt George and Robert Stephenson 1984 Harmondsworth (1960)
50. Rolt, The London.
51. Rolt, The London, 6.
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53. Rolt, The London, 7.
54. On J.C. Bourne's prints, see S. Daniels Images of the railway in nineteenth century paintings and prints, Nottingham Castle Museum Train Spotting: Images of the Railway in Art 1985 Nottingham 5-19
55. M. Freeman Railways and the Victorian Imagination 1999 London
56. Rolt, The London, 6.
57. Rolt, The London, 6.
58. Rolt, The London, 25.
59. On Caterpillar's factory, see: Britain's first motorway, Road International 29 (1958) 24-31
60. Newspaper articles referenced without page numbers are contained in two unnumbered press cutting books in the archives of Owen Williams, Birmingham. M. Wharton and M. ffolkes, A land fit for traffic to live in, The Daily Telegraph, 31 July 1958.
61. M. Wharton and M. ffolkes, A land fit for traffic to live in, The Daily Telegraph, 31 July 1958.
62. No rest from the noise, The Wolverton Express, 16 May 1958
63. New motor road: Complaints at Dunchurch, Rugby Advertiser, 28 June 1958.
64. The one-hour Radio Ballad Song of a Road was broadcast on the BBC Home Service on 5 November 1959. See Merriman, M1
65. On the geographies of sound, music, noise and landscape, see A. Leyshon D. Matless G. Revill Introduction: Music, space and the production of place in: A. Leyshon D. Matless G. Revill (Eds.) The Place of Music 1998 London 1-30
66. Motorway death, Luton News, 25 July 1958
67. Motorway men's pay grabbed, Chronicle and Echo, Northampton, 5 December 1958
68. Years driving ban on motorway man, The Wolverton Express, 26 September 1958
69. Hartwell man stole tools from motorway, Mercury and Herald, Northampton, 19 December 1958
70. Will have to bring gravel sixty miles if fail appeals, The Wolverton Express, 18 July 1958.
71. Motorway firm's appeal allowed, Chronicle and Echo, 11 September 1958.
72. Effect of the motorway: Newport has a traffic problem, The Wolverton Express, 10 October 1958.
73. Where they dare not wear shoes: M-U-D spells trouble for Leagrave mothers, Luton News, 18 December 1958.
74. Lorry short cuts, The Daily Telegraph, 12 September 1958
75. Lorries 'speed' in narrow lanes, Chronicle and Echo, 18 September 1958
76. Hell Drivers, 1957, Rank/Aqua, was directed by C. Raker Endfield and starred Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Patrick McGoohan, Sid James and Sean Connery as lorry drivers paid by the quantity of ballast they transport. The drivers take short cuts, overtake on bends, drive on verges, and travel at breakneck speeds along country lanes
77. Motorway contractors 'very helpful', The Bucks Standard, 18 October 1958.
78. Motorway film show, The Bucks Standard, 20 December 1958
79. Major Road Ahead, 1958, 16 mm film, John Laing and Son Limited, CTIS library, Laing Technology Group, Hemel Hempstead.
80. Rolt, The London, 36
81. Pitch is 'reprieved': Roadmakers aid sport, Luton News, 27 April 1958
82. See Editorials, Team Spirit: The Monthly New Sheet Issued by the Laing Group of Companies 150 (1959) 1
83. Editorials, Team Spirit 153/4 (1959) 1
84. Field, R. Rain stops the motorway machines: View from air of brown scar shows idleness. Chronicle and Echo, 4 June 1958
85. On bodily metaphors and analogies relating to traffic and roads, see R. Sennett, Flesh and Stone, London, 1994
86. W. Self (Ed), Grey Area and Other Stories, London, 1994
87. Merriman, M1.
88. 142 objections were lodged against the routing of the motorway but no public inquiry was held as civil servants felt that most of the objections could be easily addressed. All but one of the objections was eventually withdrawn. See Minute 8, 5 March 1956, PRO MT 117/28.
89. H.S. Pryke, Scars across the land, The Times 6 June 1958, 13.
90. E.J. King-Salter, Excavated top soil, The Times 23 January 1958, 11.
91. Camera record of pre-autoway Northants: Club presents 92 prints to community centre, Mercury and Herald, 12 July 1958
92. Race against time won on motorway bridge, Luton News, 15 May 1958
93. Farmer Williams wins with a road block, The Wolverton Express, 12 May 1958
94. See also, Farmers appeal to motorway sightseers, The Wolverton Express, 16 May 1958
95. On Joad, walking, and citizenship, see Matless, Landscape
96. S. Daniels and S. Rycroft Mapping the modern city: Alan Sillitoe's Nottingham novels Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 18 1993 460-480 465
97. Rolt, The London, 29-30.
98. In his autobiography Rolt, Landscape with Figures, 177, referred to the 'fearful mechanical commotion' of the helicopter
99. T. Cuneo The Mouse and His Master: The Life and Work of Terence Cuneo 1977 London 34
100. Cuneo, The Mouse 34.
101. Terence Cuneo the artist at work, Team Spirit 54 (1951) 7-8, 7.
102. Cuneo, The Mouse, 61.
103. Cuneo is best known for his railway paintings. See T. Cuneo The Railway Painting of Terence Cuneo 1984 London
104. Cuneo, The Mouse, 61.
105. Artist in a helicopter, Team Spirit 146 (1958) 7.
106. Motorway rumours scorched, Chronicle and Echo, 26 November 1958.
107. On issues of government see, e.g. N. Rose Powers of Freedom 1999 Cambridge
108. M. Dean Governmentality 1999 London
109. P. Crang Organisational geographies: Surveillance, display and the spaces of power in business organisation in J. Sharp P. Routledge C. Philo R. Paddison (Eds.) Entanglements of Power: Geographies of Power/ Resistance 2000 London 204-218
110. P. du Gay Consumption and Identity at Work 1996 London
111. Rolt, The London, 29.
112. Rolt, The London, 29.
113. Keeping in touch: Communications system on the motorway, Team Spirit 146 (1958) 7
114. Rolt, The London
115. M. Wharton and M. ffolkes, A land fit for traffic to live in, The Daily Telegraph, 31 July 1958.
116. Wharton and M. ffolkes, A land fit for traffic to live in.
117. It's like a military operation on the helicopter highway, The Bucks Standard, 19 July 1958.
118. See, e.g. B. Ritchie The Good Builder: The John Laing Story 1997 London
119. D. Livingstone The Geographical Tradition 1992 Oxford
120. S. Kirsch and D. Mitchell Earth-moving as the measure of man: Edward Teller, geographical engineering, and the matter of progress Social Text 54 1998 101-134
121. It's like a military operation on the helicopter highway, The Bucks Standard, 19 July 1958.
122. P. Miller and N. Rose Governing economic life Economy and Society 19 1990 1-31 8
123. See, e.g., Ministry of Information Transport Goes to War: The Official Story of British Transport, 1939-42 1942 London
124. Rolt, The London, 9.
125. Rolt, The London, 9.
126. Rolt, The London, 37.
127. Rolt, The London, 42.
128. Rolt, The London, 63.
129. Rolt, The London, 17.
130. Rolt, The London, 27.
131. Rolt, The London, 27.
132. Rolt, The London, 47
133. There are parallels here with J.B. Harley's assertion that maps are embedded in networks of power/knowledge. See e.g. J.B. Harley Maps, knowledge, and power in: D. Cosgrove S. Daniels (Eds.) The Iconography of Landscape 1988 Cambridge 277-312
134. On the role of models and maps in the performance of expertise, see Merriman, M1
135. also T. Ploszajska Constructing the subject: Geographical models in English schools, 1870-1944 Journal of Historical Geography 22 1996 388-398
136. J. Law Organizing Modernity 1994 Oxford 26
137. C. Philo and H. Parr Institutional geographies: Introductory remarks Geoforum 31 2000 513-521 513
138. E. Laurier and C. Philo, Meet You at Junction 17: A Socio-Technical and Spatial Study of the Mobile Office, ESRC Project Report, R000222071, University of Glasgow 1999
139. G. Davies Narrating the natural history unit: Institutional orderings and spatial strategies Geoforum 31 2000 539-551
140. P. Crang Organisational geographies: Surveillance, display and the spaces of power in business organisation in: J. Sharp P. Routledge C. Philo R. Paddison (Eds.) Entanglements of Power: Geographies of Power/ Resistance 2000 London 204-218
141. J. Law Organizing Modernity 1994 Oxford 2
142. Motorway, 1959, 16 mm film, John Laing and Son Limited, CTIS library, Laing Technology Group, Hemel Hempstead.
143. Motorway, 1959, 16 mm film, John Laing and Son Limited, CTIS library, Laing Technology Group, Hemel Hempstead.
144. Motorway, 1959, 16 mm film, John Laing and Son Limited, CTIS library, Laing Technology Group, Hemel Hempstead.
145. Rolt, The London, 44.
146. Premiere of motorway film, Team Spirit 158 (1959) 10
147. Company films, Team Spirit 164 (1960) 7.
148. N.J.de W. Erasmus Distant eye on the motorway Team Spirit 145 1958 7
149. Workers in the team no.122 - John J.G. Michie, Team Spirit 137 (1958) 2.
150. Workers in the team no.127 - John Alan Pymont, Team Spirit 142 (1958) 2.
151. Workers in the team no.134 - Walter Hunt, Team Spirit 149 (1959) 2.
152. Homes on wheels, Team Spirit 145 (1958) 5.
153. On house keeping, cleanliness and modernity, see K.Ross, Fast Cars, Clean Bodies, London, 1995
154. On the construction of gypsies as abject others, processes of boundary formation, and attempts to purify spaces such as the home, see D.Sibley, Geographies of Exclusion: Society and Difference in the West, London, 1995
155. Homes on wheels, 5.
156. Homes on wheels, 5.
157. This information is based on interviews the author conducted with Douglas Elbourne (Project Manager, Contract D) on 11 February 2000, and Michael May (Chief Engineer) on 18 February 2000.
158. Rolt, The London, 49.
159. A. McClintock Imperial Leather 1995 London 52
160. Wharton and M. ffolkes, A land fit for traffic to live in. Academics made frequent references during the 1950s to the shadowy presence of strangers and 'dark strangers' in Britain.
161. See C. Waters 'Dark strangers' in our midst: Discourses of race and nation in Britain, 1947-1963 Journal of British Studies 36 1997 207-238
162. B. Schwarz Black metropolis, white England in: A. Nava M. O'Shea (Eds.) Modern Times: Reflections on a Century of Modernity 1996 London 176-207
163. J.M. Laing, quoted in John Laing and Son limited. Minister visits the motorway, Team Spirit 153/4 (1958) 8.
164. Merriman, M1.
165. E. MacColl Journeyman: An Autobiography 1990 London 317
166. Parker and MacColl were surprised when they visited one pub and discovered that many of the Irish labourers didn't sing or know the traditional Irish ballads they knew. See Birmingham City Archives CPA/ LC84.
167. On cultures of archiving and archive research, see e.g. M. Featherstone Archiving cultures British Journal of Sociology 51 2000 161-184
168. G. Rose Practising photography: An archive, a study, some photographs and a researcher Journal of Historical Geography 26 2000 555-571
169. N. Thrift It's the little things in: K. Dodds D. Atkinson (Eds.) Geological Raditions: A Century of Geopolitical Thought 2000 London 380-387