The Great North Road - Then and Now

How very annoying!

This is a Leyland Clock, It is now in Kendal, but it once stood on the A6 near the Jungle Cafe at Shap. Now I knew about this one, but what I didn't know is that there were at least 6 more dotted around the country, erected by the Leyland truck company as advertising. Two of them stood on the Great North Road. One at Alconbury and one at Healam near Boroughbridge. They had all been removed by the 1960s and at least four of them have been preserved.

Why is it interesting facts such as this appear AFTER I've written the damn book

Heads up lads and lasses. It's finally becoming a thing 😃

I've just drove past the old Ram Jam site. Although it's somewhat obscured by scaffolding and a fence, it looks very much like the new building is going to resemble the old inn.

I have just discovered another error in the book 😞. This is the route through Gateshead to the Tyne bridges. The correct route is in red. In the book I have it going down the yellow line. DOH!

I've just discovered this in an old book on coaching in Yorkshire. This was the pub that rebuilt in later years became the so called 'Chalet pub' near Wetherby.

On p145 of the book I mention the Railway Hotel and Catterick Bridge station just north of Catterick. What I didn't know until recently was that they had been destroyed in a wartime ammunition explosion in the station sidings where soldiers were loading ammunition destined for D-Day. This was pointed out to me by Nevil Hall whos in-laws actually ran the hotel prior to this occurrence. Their name was Haggie giving rise to the name of the crossroads as 'Haggies Corner'.

So I managed to stop and get a couple of shots of the old Grantshouse caff site. Its cleared but the remains of the building are still there. This sign is on the gate but I don't know whether that is an old name or a taste of something to come.

Great shot of Chester Le Street from Aerofilms clearly showing the GNR heading straight through. Looking north.

So theres a new book out detailing one man's journey up the GNR. Its more in the vein of Harper and Webster than an actual investigation of the road itself.

Alan Westwood sent me his reminiscences of the GNR...

"In 1951 my parents moved from Yorkshire to Kent. I joined them there in the summer once my school term finished in Wakefield. Within 2 or 3 days a telegram arrived saying my granddad in Horbury had died, and so plans were immediately made to travel back to Yorkshire by car. My dad had a 1938 Morris 8 (EAT35) and this somehow accommodated my younger brother and me, my parents and our luggage. No boot and no roof rack!

My dad had a route book supplied by the AA and mum would read out the instructions one by one. We headed for London from Maidstone, using the A20. I saw landmarks I had hitherto only read about: the Oval cricket ground, Hyde Park Corner, Swiss Cottage. Eventually, and with great excitement, we joined the Great North Road. It’s hard to recapture the sense of thrill this gave me. Prior to this I had only ever made one road journey outside Yorkshire, and this a relatively short trip to Mansfield. This was amazing new territory. The Great North Road, no less! I soon memorised all the places en route: Welwyn, Stevenage, Baldock, Biggleswade, Stamford, Grantham, Newark, Retford, Bawtry and Doncaster. They are firmly imprinted on my memory to this day. We ticked off the towns as we slowly and laboriously headed north. The stretch from Biggleswade to Stamford, with its sharp bend in the middle of the town, seemed to my 12 year old mind to take forever. I can hear now my mum calling out specific points of interest: “Clock Hotel, AA Box Alconbury Weston, Norman Cross, Ram Jam Inn”. Dad would stop the car occasionally “to let the engine cool down”. I heard him say to mum in a low voice “I think the big ends might be going”. This gave me great inward anxiety though I had no idea what they were! Was the engine about to blow up? Would we make it to the funeral? The road was often more like a country lane and of course it went right through the centre of every conurbation. But the irony, that this was the famous “Great North Road”, was completely lost on me. After Doncaster we should have turned left onto the A638 to Wakefield but my dad, who by this time was tired, took the Barnsley road instead. For a few moments he admitted to being lost. We finally arrived at our destination towards 10 pm, after a journey of more than 10 hours. More like 12 I think! However we did make it and after two or three days we braced ourselves for the return journey south. For the next few years we made an annual summer trip to Yorkshire, though the Morris soon gave way to a Ford Popular. Eventually we knew all the signposts like old friends. And, amazingly new sections of road began to appear, bypassing some of our towns. I even began to hear that a major new London to Leeds road would be built, which would go through no towns, involving no roundabouts of traffic lights. It all seemed like a pipe dream to me!

1988, in my work as a Baptist Church Minister, my wife and I moved to Stevenage. Our church was in the Old Town, close to the High Street. As I walked frequently along it, I would sometimes try to recapture the emotions of my teenage years. This really was part of the Great North Road! This was hard to imagine, for Stevenage had been totally bypassed by the A1(M) for a number of years. Your picture of Six Hills is evocative because we lived adjacent to Six Hills Way. The section of road from Knebworth to Stevenage and on towards Baldock is also very familiar. I enjoyed reading your book and having my memories stirred. "

I happened to notice this aft that another old caff on the GNR is being demolished. In fact it looks like the whole site is being cleared. Grantshouse.

The Ram Jam is in the process of being demolished as we speak. I've just drove past it.

Uh ohh

Found an old shot of the Old Fox (chalet pub) near Wetherby

This spot is still there near Markham Moor, its a Starbucks now. Been around longer than you might think, It was built in 1960 as a petrol station by an architect named Scorer. Theres a similar building by the same bloke in Lincoln apparently.

So after things hanging in the balance for a while, the publisher has been bought out and other stuff going on, I can finally announce....

Highways of Britain - Then and Now

(It may lose the 'then and now' bit)

Should be published in June 2022.

A general history of Britain's roads!

Carlton Reid has made a 20 minute video about the GNR, worth a quick look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWWps5TAIUY

GREAT NORTH ROAD — 1 Morgan, 1 Brompton, 3 Coaching inns Short film explores the history — and some oddities — of the Great North Road. Carlton Reid travels from London to Newcastle in a Morgan sports car with a Br...

The GNR looking north near Sawtry in 1923. The road off to the right is Cooks Lane. There would be an 8 lane highway in the left hand half of this photo today. Aerofilms.

More from Aerofilms. GNR heading north through Buckden

GNR in Wentbridge. Aerofilms.

Early shot of Sutton on Derwent clearly showing where the GNR used to go over a level crossing. Bypassed by the road in the pic and later bypassed again by the dualled A1. Aerofilms

Great shot from Aerofilms showing the original bridge over the Don in Doncaster. Most of the bottom right quarter of this pic is a shopping centre now.

Couple of good shots from Aerofilms. Ferrybridge here. GNR clearly visible going over the old bridge and then across the marshes. Note the arches carrying the road across the marsh.

Some shots of the Woodlands garage/truckstop in Micklefield. Now houses. Apologies, I can't remember who sent me these if you'd like to identify yourself.

This is an interesting one...

As I discovered fairly quickly on my voyages of discovery, a dead giveaway to the original course of the Great North Road was the presence in many a town of a 'North Road' or 'Old North Road'. And likewise in the other direction, a 'London Road' or 'Old London Road'. Never 'South Road' interestingly enough.

So when I was alerted by a work colleague to an 'Old London Road' in a small village not far from York I had to go and investigate. Now as we are aware, any northbound traffic heading for York would have left the GNR at Brotherton and headed up what is now the A162 to Tadcaster.

The Old North Road in question leaves the A162 as a bridleway at the northern end of Towton village which begs the question, Why Old LONDON road? I would expect this to be on the southern side of a place.

This bridleway can in fact be traced on a map or Streetview curving west away from the A162 then curving back nearly to the village of Stutton before entering Tadcaster as Stutton Road less than 400 yards west of the A162.

I have come to the conclusion that this old road is in fact a stretch of road originally heading south from Tadcaster and is therefore the Old London Road, Tadcaster. Why this was upgraded at a guess prior to 1675 I do not know.

This was a Londonderry cafe and hotel on the GNR

In the 1950s the Brampton Hut interchange was just a crossroads with a hotel on the corner.

Ever wondered why it was called the Brampton Hut roundabout?

Finally! A photo of the Hilltop Cafe near Blythe. I've been looking for one for years. This must have been taken from the road coming out of Blythe village as I remember this was elevated above the A1 which must be in the background of this pic.

An early shot of the eagle monument just north of Norman Cross.