Wigan Album
Standish Motorway M6 approach Shevington Moor
14 CommentsPhoto: Peter Worthington
Item #: 22033
Two features missing off the motorway which are there today
Footbridge
Malc - would they be no central reservation barriers abd lighting? I lived in Shevington from 1952 to 1970 and remember the building of the M6 very well. If I remember correctly the girders that were used to build the Gathurst Viaduct were brought by road through the village.
correct Peter - no barriers & no lighting columns
I too watched th M6 being constructed at the junction of Pepper Lane and Mossey Lea road where the road bridge was built. Great fun watching the big machines cut into the earth. It was all finished befor we flew to Australia in 1964!! Cheers.
Don't forget ---- NO SPEED LIMIT !!!
My hubby was an ambulance man at this time, and the tales he can tell are not for the squeamish.
Our house is not there as well
Freda, I used to stand on rhe bridge and watch the traffic and you are right some of the speeds they used to do especially the sports cars they used to fly!!! Cheers!!
Like I mentioned previously I watched them construct the motorway not knowing at that time that between January 1979 and January 1984 I would be patrolling it as part of the Greater Manchester Police Motorway team and to the latter end of my police service as an accident investigator. Some of the incidents that I attended were not for the squeamish as Freda has mentioned with regards to her husband.
What about 1960s? When all hell let loose on November 5th. Think it was 1969? Does anyone remember that?. My uncle was fireman that night!!!
Diane R. I was a member of the AFS and on that night we went to the fire station as back up for bomfire fires and as it happened there was no call outs.
So we went to catch the last bus home to Shevy but the fog was very thick and the bus wasnt running so somebody said try the trains so we went and managed to get one to gathurst and as we where walking up gathurst lane we could here the skidding vehicles and crashing sounds coming from the motorway.
This tells the story,
http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=19383&fullsize=1
I hope that someone can supply a link to it.
My husband was on duty that night too. There was no Junction 26 at Orrell at that time - So from Billinge they had to go to Ashton junction 24 to get on the M6 northbound, and they almost became a part of the crash scene.
Something made him pull off the road an up the grass banking a split second before another HVG travelling at speed ploughed into the standing traffic. It was absolute Mayhem.
Also, Councelling for people after accidents like this was a thing of the future.
I've tried to do a link-
[url="http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=19383&fullsize=1"Link[/url]
remember hitching a lift many a time from here to Stonehenge.:-)