A1 road

A1 road
Direction	North - South
Start	City of London
Primary destinations	Alnwick Doncaster Berwick-upon-Tweed Gateshead Darlington Grantham Leeds Morpeth Newton Aycliffe Newcastle upon Tyne Newark-on-Trent Peterborough Pontefract Scotch Corner Stamford Wetherby
End	Edinburgh
Roads joined	M25 motorway A14 road A16 road A17 road A19 road A40 road A41 road A43 road A46 road A47 road A406 road A421 road A428 road A52 road A57 road A61 road A63 road A64 road A66 road A69 road A167 road A606 road A720 road
Euroroute(s)	E 15

Sign at Junction 1 of the A1(M) at South Mimms in Hertfordshire. Signs at the northern terminus of the A1 in central Edinburgh. Previously the sign had read 'London and the South' instead of Berwick upon Tweed. A single carriageway section of the A1 skirting the Scottish coastline just across the border from Northumbria.

The A1 is the longest numbered road in the UK at 409 miles (658 km) long. It connects London, the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. For much of its path it follows the historic Great North Road. The modern course of the A1 diverges somewhat, particularly where it passed through a town or village that has subsequently been bypassed, or where new motorway standard road has been constructed on a more direct route. Between its junctions with the M25 (near London) and A696 (near Newcastle upon Tyne) the road forms part of the unsigned Euroroute E15 which runs from Inverness to Algeciras.

Origins and history

For the numbering rationale see: Great Britain road numbering scheme

For details of the route and history of the road within the M25, see A1 road (London)

The original A1 route was designated by the Ministry of Transport in 1921, mostly following the course of the ancient Great North Road. This ran from Smithfield in Central London, up St John Street to the Angel Islington, where it merges with the present A1, which follows a parallel route from St Pauls up Aldersgate Street and Goswell Road to the Angel, Islington. The route then follows Upper Street and Holloway Road through Barnet, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, to Alconbury, where it joined the route of a Roman road, Ermine Street, as far as Colsterworth, where it is joined by the A151. It also follows Ermine Street in the North Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire areas. At one point, North of Doncaster where the Roman Road roughly bisects the course of both the A1(M) and the older Great North Road (here numbered A638), the Roman Road is known as the Roman Rigg or Roman Ridge. The route was modified in 1927 when bypasses were built around Barnet and Hatfield, the latter being rebuilt in a tunnel during the 1980s. In 1960 Stamford and Doncaster were bypassed, as was Retford in 1961 and St Neots in 1971. The Great North Road includes other stretches of Roman Road including Dere Street, and is mentioned in much English literature, for example Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. The legendary highwayman Dick Turpin's rapid flight from London to York, in less than 15 hours, on his faithful mare Black Bess, is perhaps the most famous legend of the Great North Road. Various inns that still stand along the A1 claim that Turpin ate his lunch there that night, or stopped off there for a brief respite for his horse. Harrison Ainsworth, in his famous 1834 romance Rookwood, immortalised this with a spirited account of this wonderful ride by Dick Turpin on his mare, and it is in this connection that Turpin's name has been generally remembered. However, historians have frequently argued that Turpin never actually made this speedy journey, and that, as far as Turpin is concerned, the incident is pure fiction. They argue that such a ride was really made by John Nevison, known as "Swift Nick", born and raised at Wortley village near Sheffield and a well-known highwayman in the time of Charles II some 50 years before Turpin, who to establish an alibi rode from Gad's Hill (near Rochester, Kent) to York (some 190 miles) in about 15 hours. Even more unreliable evidence links various highwaymen with the Ram-Jam Inn at Stretton, in Rutland. The A1 passes a few feet from the door. Although the interior of the historic inn was lost to fire in the 1970s, a modern restaurant occupies the building now. The original Great North Road had a number of Historic Coaching Inns, including the George at Stamford and the Bell at Stilton, where the blue cheese became famous across the land Scotch Corner, in North Yorkshire, marks the point where the traffic for Glasgow and the west of Scotland divides from that for Edinburgh, as it has for hundreds of years before motor traffic. As well as a historic hotel there have been a variety of homes for the famous transport café, now subsumed as a motorway services. Recent re-routing required the moving of the memorial at Norman Cross to the Napoleonic prisoners buried there. The road skirts the remains of Sherwood Forest, and passes the historic Catterick Garrison.

Route

The A1 runs from the heart of the City of London at St. Paul's Cathedral to the centre of Scotland's capital, Edinburgh. The A1 shares its London terminus with the A40, in the City area of Central London. It then runs out of London through Islington (where Upper Street forms part of its route), up Holloway Road, through Barnet, Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn, Stevenage, Baldock, Biggleswade, Sandy, St Neots and Peterborough. Continuing north, the A1 runs on modern bypasses around Stamford, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Bawtry, Doncaster, Knottingley, Garforth, Wetherby, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Scotch Corner, Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, Durham, Chester-le-Street, past the Angel of the North sculpture and the Metrocentre in Gateshead, around Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, into Scotland, past Dunbar, Haddington and Musselburgh before finally arriving in Edinburgh at the East End of Princes Street near Waverley Station at the junction of the A7, A8 and A900 roads. For more information on the London sections of the road, see A1 road (London).

Improvements underway

An upgrade of the Black Cat Roundabout at the junction with the A421 (Bedford Road) is now complete with the Great Barford A421 bypass also finished. 2006.^[1] Work has started in August 2006 to replace the six roundabouts (Blyth (A614), Apleyhead (A614/A57), Markham Moor (A57), Gonerby Moor (B1174), Colsterworth (A151) and the junction of A1/B6403, and Carpenters Lodge (Stamford) (B1081)) on the A1 between Blyth and the A1(M) section to Alconbury with grade separated junctions. Once complete this will provide a fully grade separated route between the Buckden roundabout (just north of St Neots and approximately 4 miles north of the Black Cat roundabout) and just north of Morpeth.^[2]

Future improvements

There is a proposal to link with the main section of the A14 at Brampton Hut roundabout with a planned A14 southerly bypass of Huntingdon.^[3] Improvements to the road north of Newcastle upon Tyne were planned where the road consists mostly of single carriageway sections as opposed to a combination of dual carriageway and motorway to the south. Plans to dual the road between Morpeth and Felton and between Adderstone and Belford were shelved in 2006 as they were not considered a regional priority^[4] by central government. There are no current plans to dual the whole of the A1 route between Newcastle and Edinburgh, despite fierce campaigns in the past to make this so. The section north of Morpeth is single carriageway and the combination of heavy tourist traffic to locations like Alnwick Castle ("Hogwarts") and heavy goods vehicles serving Scotland has made the road a notorious stretch with dangerous overtaking, leading to many speed cameras to discourage the practice.

Expressway

In Scotland a section of the road has been upgraded to motorway standard and classified as a Special Road, but is not designated as the A1(M). This runs from the east of Edinburgh to Dunbar.

A1(M)

The A1(M) as it approaches Chester-le-Street.

Some sections of the A1 have been upgraded to motorway standard. These are known as the A1(M). These include:

• A stretch between the M25 at South Mimms to the town of Stotfold;
• The four lane Peterborough section from the Alconbury junction near Huntingdon to Orton Southgate near Peterborough; this stretch starts just north of the A14 junction proper and receives traffic from the A14 eastbound from the M6 and westbound from the A14 spur and M11.
• The Doncaster bypass, which intersects the M18 (this was the first section of motorway on the A1 and one of the earliest sections of motorway built in the United Kingdom);
• The new Hook Moor section, and South Leeds Orbital, from Darrington, intersects with the M62 adjacent to Ferrybridge power station and is joined by the end of the M1 at Aberford.
• A relatively new (1993) section which now runs from Wetherby to Dishforth, past Harrogate, Ripon and Boroughbridge. The southern stretch to the River Wharfe bridge opened in August 2005. This was separated from the existing Hook Moor section by only around 6.5 miles of dual carriageway. The majority of this was replaced in 2006 by a new section taking the A1(M) east of Wetherby, joining the old dual carriageway section for only a mile at Wetherby racecourse, before it opens out again to the three lanes and on to Darrington.
• The final stretch of A1(M) from Barton just north of Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire to Washington in Tyne and Wear through County Durham.

Barton to Newcastle

A1(M) motorway
Length	30 miles (48.3 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	Barnton
Primary destinations	(Newton) Aycliffe Chester-le-Street Darlington Durham Scotch Corner
End	Washington
Construction dates	1999 - 2006
Motorways joined	57 - A66(M) motorway 65 - A194(M) motorway
Euroroute(s)	E 15

This section in stages:

• Junctions 56 to 59 opened in 1965
• Junctions 59 to 63 opened in 1969
• Junctions 63 to 65 opened in 1970

Junctions

The A1 near Washington

Wetherby to Dishforth

A1(M) motorway
Length	17 miles (27.4 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	Wetherby
Primary destinations
End	Dishforth
Construction dates	1995 - 2005
Motorways joined	none
Euroroute(s)	E 15

This section opened in stages:

• Junctions 46 to 47 opened in 2005
• Junctions 47 to 49 opened in 1995

Junctions

M62 to Wetherby

A1(M) motorway
Length	14 miles (22.5 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	Darrington
Primary destinations	Wetherby
End	Bramham
Construction dates	1999 - 2006
Motorways joined	41 - M62 motorway 43 - M1 motorway
Euroroute(s)	E 15

This section opened in sections:

• Junctions 43 to 44 opened in 1999

When this section opened it ended at a temporary terminus south of the M1. There was a final exit into Micklefield Village for non-motorway traffic onto what is now the access road.

• Junctions 40 to 43 opened in 2005 & 2006

This is the most recent upgrade of the road, which upgraded the previous two-lane dual carriageway, much of which was on a substandard alignment to a dual 3-lane motorway. The northern section of the upgrade, bypassing Fairburn village opened to traffic in April 2005 with a temporary connection with the existing A1 between Fairburn and Brotherton. The southern section, with a free-flow interchange with the M62 motorway opened to traffic on 13 January 2006.

Junctions

Doncaster Bypass

A1(M) motorway
Length	15 miles (24.1 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	Blyth
Primary destinations
End	Carcroft
Construction dates	1961 - complete route
Motorways joined	35 - M18 motorway
Euroroute(s)	E 15

This section opened in 1961.

Junctions

Alconbury to Peterborough

A1(M) motorway
Length	14 miles (22.5 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	Alconbury
Primary destinations
End	Peterborough
Construction dates	1998 - Complete Route
Motorways joined	none
Euroroute(s)	E 15

This section opened in 1998.

Junctions

M25 to Baldock

A1(M) motorway
Length	23 miles (37 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	South Mimms
Primary destinations	Hatfield Welwyn Garden City Stevenage
End	Baldock
Construction dates	1962 - 1986
Motorways joined	1 - M25 motorway
Euroroute(s)	E 15

Looking southwards from junction 2.

This section opened in stages:

• Junctions 1 to 2 opened in 1979
• Junctions 2 to 4 opened in 1986
• Junctions 4 to 6 opened in 1973
• Junctions 6 to 8 opened in 1962
• Junctions 8 to 10 opened in 1967

Junctions

Unfulfilled plans

A proposal to replace the road with a parallel motorway between Baldock and Alconbury thus giving a continuous motorway to Peterborough, was dropped as too expensive, despite the very poor alignment and accident record on this section. The same decision dropped the proposed conversion to motorway north of Peterborough to Grantham.^[5]

Future plans

Further sections of motorway upgrades are planned, which would ultimately create a single motorway running from Doncaster to Gateshead. The next two sections of motorway likely to be built are from Bramham cum Oglethorpe (the A1(M)/A64 junction) to Wetherby, and from Dishforth (A1(M)/A168 to Barton (end of northernmost section of A1(M)). The Bramham to Wetherby scheme public inquiry began on 18 October 2006.^[6] Designed by James Poyner, construction of the Dishforth to Barton scheme is scheduled to start in April 2008. Once these two schemes are complete, which is currently scheduled for 2011, then the Newcastle upon Tyne area will be connected to the rest of the national motorway network. It is possible that the section of A1(M) between Micklefield and Newcastle would then be renamed as M1, as the M1 from London to Micklefield and A1(M) from Micklefield to Newcastle would then be one single continuous motorway.^[7]

Popular culture

• Part of the J.B. Priestley novel The Good Companions features the Great North Road, a representation to the northerner Jess Oakroyd as the gateway to such exotic destinations as Nottingham.
• The Lord Peter Wimsey short story "The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag" by Dorothy L. Sayers features a motorcycle chase along the Great North Road.
• Near the southern end are signs saying "Hatfield and the North". These signs gave their name to 70s rock band Hatfield and the North.
• The A1(M) is mentioned in the song "Gabadon" by Sheffield band Haze.
• The 'Great North Road' is mentioned in Mark Knopfler's song "5:15 AM", from the album Shangri La.

See also

• Brampton Hut junction

References

External links

• CBRD Motorway Database - A1(M)
• BiffVernon: A1-The Great North Road
• Society for All British Road Enthusiasts entry for the A1
• Road to Nowhere
  • About
  • Map and Exit List
• The Motorway Archive (A1(M))
  • Junctions 1 to 10 & 13 to 17
  • Junctions 34 to 38
  • Junctions 47 to 49
  • Junctions 56 to 59
  • Junctions 59 to 63
  • Junctions 63 to 65
• Pathetic Motorways: A1(M) Central Motorway East

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Future	M4 Toll