Old Motorway Photos
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This gallery contains images sent in by visitors to CBRD - scans of original photos they took of motorways in the past. If you have a couple of pictures documenting a motorway near you under construction in the 60s or lightly trafficked with Ford Cortinas then get in touch and get them posted on the site for all to see.
Click a photo to see a larger version.
The M4 under construction in west London, where it crosses the A4. This looks far too big, as though it was superimposed later. Taken c1964.
Photo by Roger Maxwell
The A414 bridge under the M11, under construction c1974.
Photo by Roger Maxwell
Looking north along the M11, still under construction, from the A414, again c1974.
Photo by Roger Maxwell
Tolworth Tower as seen from the Kingston Bypass in 1963.
Photo by Roger Maxwell
Taken from the same point as the photo above, 39 years later, the Kingston Bypass has grown and so has the tower.
Photo by Roger Maxwell
The Orwell Bridge under construction near Ipswich - then for the A45, now carrying the A14. And a rather unusual vessel passing underneath! Image copyright 1982 East Anglian Daily Times.
Photo by Wally
An aerial shot as the bridge nears completion. Image copyright 1982 East Anglian Daily Times.
Photo by Wally
The main span completed, with some work needed on the approach viaducts.
Photo by Wally
Taken from one end - this really is a very impressive structure!
Photo by Wally
The M62 at Scammonden Dam shortly after opening - considerably quieter than today, and also in much nicer weather than usual!
Photo by Greg Taylor
The M62 passing either side of the famous farmhouse near Scammonden. This and the following 14 images are scans from a book published to celebrate the completion of the M62 across the Pennines.
Photo by Terry Ogden
An aerial shot of the Scammonden Dam and Bridge. The dam was constructed with material excavated from the cutting in the foreground.
Photo by Terry Ogden
Looking west from the Pennine Way overbridge at junction 22. The right hand carriageway now has a fourth climbing lane.
Photo by Terry Ogden
One of the M62's two split carriageway sections as it crosses Moss Moor.
Photo by Terry Ogden
Part of the Worsley Braided Interchange, showing the eastbound carriageway splitting for M61 and M62. The carriageway on the right now has three lanes. I wonder what the extra line on the M62 sign says?
Photo by Terry Ogden
One of the more neglected engineering features of the M62, mainly because motorists pass over it. This viaduct is just west of the Windy Hill section approaching junction 22 from Manchester.
Photo by Terry Ogden
An aerial photo of the M62 passing through the Worsley Braided Interchange, which is so lightly trafficked that it's hard to tell whether the road was open at this point. The traffic levels on this road are considerably higher now!
Photo by Terry Ogden
Orange sodium catenary lighting illuminates the M62 passing through the M61 interchange.
Photo by Terry Ogden
The Pennine Way overbridge near junction 22. Originally this unusual structure was going to be a plain footbridge, but the story goes that the Transport Minister of the time was a keen walker and demanded a more impressive bridge to be built at considerable cost.
Photo by Terry Ogden
Underneath the impressive arched bridge at Scammonden. When opened, this was the longest single span non-suspension bridge in the world - and it simply carried a local road over a man-made cutting!
Photo by Terry Ogden
An aerial photo of the same bridge under construction. Minor details of the bridge's design were changed several times as construction was under way in order to accommodate the heavy snowfalls in this area.
Photo by Terry Ogden
Part of the new reservoir created at Scammonden, with the M62 passing over the top of the dam.
Photo by Terry Ogden
A wider aerial image of the new dam - grassed over on this side to reduce its visual impact.
Photo by Terry Ogden
Looking east just beyond the dam, and it must be rush hour. There's so much traffic that a couple of overtaking maneouvres are in progress! Towards the right of the image is an early middle lane hog.
Photo by Terry Ogden
Underneath one of the curving bridges at Worsley, carrying the M62 westbound to M61 sliproad over the M62 itself.
Photo by Terry Ogden
From one part of the M61/M62 interchange to another. These three photos were taken by one of the people employed to build the motorway in about 1970. The same bit of road, completed, is above; here the sign is blank on the left (where it should read M61) and on the right reads M62 (M66).
Photo by D. Dunwell
A little further along, the complexity of this three-way interchange becomes apparent. Catenary lighting has already been installed.
Photo by D. Dunwell
The northern part of the junction, with a gracefully curving flyover reaching ground level to the right. Lane markings are in place, but no hard shoulder.
Photo by D. Dunwell
The A1(M) Darlington Bypass, seen looking south from the A67 Merrybent bridge, taken on May 14th 1965.
Photo by Lorraine Morrison
The same view again, this time in 2008, with substantially more foliage but little else different.
Photo by Lorraine Morrison
To the M40 in March 1968, looking towards London at the elevated viaduct section near High Wycombe. In the foreground is a line that closed two years later - after engineers had worked so hard to accommodate it.
Photo by Robert
A car misses the end of the road and hits the temporary barriers at High Wycombe, July 1968.
Photo by Robert
The Loudwater Viaduct nearing completion in September 1968.
Photo by Robert
An overbridge on the M40, almost finished, in October 1968.
Photo by Robert
Site clearance for what was about to become the M40 near Beaconsfield in May 1969. This is now a dual-four lane motorway.
Photo by Robert
A view towards London from junction 4 in 1982. This section now has four lanes each way.
Photo by Robert
With thanks to Tony Frost for information on this page.
