From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A1 road
Length (miles)	409
Length (km)	658
Direction	South - North
Start	City of London[1]
Primary destinations*	Hatfield Hertford Stevenage Bedford Huntingdon Peterborough Stamford Grantham Newark-on-Trent Doncaster Pontefract Leeds Wetherby Harrogate Scotch Corner Darlington Durham Gateshead Newcastle upon Tyne Morpeth Alnwick Berwick-upon-Tweed
End	Edinburgh55°57′08″N 3°11′19″W / 55.9522°N 3.1886°W / 55.9522; -3.1886
Roads joined	M1 motorway M25 motorway M18 motorway M62 motorway A66(M) motorway A194(M) 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 A689 road A690 road A1231 road A69 road A167 road A606 road A720 road
Euroroute(s)	E15
Notes
* Primary destinations as specified by the Department for Transport.

The A1 is the longest numbered road in the UK at 409 miles (658 km). It connects London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It passes through and near Hatfield, Stevenage, Letchworth, Peterborough, Leeds, York, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne and Berwick-upon-Tweed.^[2]

For much of its path it follows the Great North Road. Several sections of the route are classified as motorway. The modern course of this ancient route diverges where it passes through a town or village that has been bypassed, or where new motorway takes a more direct route. Between the M25 (near London) and A696 (near Newcastle upon Tyne) the road is part of the unsigned Euroroute E15 from Inverness to Algeciras.

Route

The A1 runs from the City of London at St. Paul's Cathedral to the centre of Edinburgh. It shares its London terminus with the A40, in the City area of Central London. It 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, through the western suburbs of 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.

• Route of A1 overlaid on Google Maps

Origins and history

The modern A1 mainly follows the Great North Road coaching route used by mail coaches between London, York and Edinburgh. The many inns on the road, many of which still survive, were staging posts on the coach routes, providing accommodation, stabling for the horses and replacement mounts.^[3] However, virtually none of the surviving coaching inns can be seen while driving on the A1, because the modern route now bypasses the towns in which the inns are to be found.

A traditional starting point of the Great North Road was Smithfield in Central London. Distances on the road were computed from the now demolished Hicks Hall, situated at the south end of St John Street, just to the north of Smithfield Market.^[4] The route ran from Smithfield up St John Street to the Angel Islington. However, with the building of the General Post Office at St Martin's-le-Grand in 1829, coaches started using an alternative route, used by the modern A1, beginning at the GPO building and following Aldersgate Street and Goswell Road before joining the old route at the Angel. The Angel was an important staging post on the route.^[5] The next important stages were Highgate, Barnet, Hatfield, Baldock, Biggleswade and Alconbury, all replete with traditional coaching inns.

The A1 at South Mimms, Hertfordshire, approaching Junction 1 with the M25 and A1(M).

At Alconbury, the Great North Road joined the Old North Road, an older route from London which follows the Roman Ermine Street. Here a milestone records mileages to London via both routes: 65 by the Old North Road and 68 by the Great North Road.^[6] From Alconbury the Great North Road follows the line of Ermine Street north, through Stilton and Stamford as far as Colsterworth (at the A151 junction). Inns on this section include the George at Stamford and the Bell Inn at Stilton, the original sellers of Stilton cheese.

At Colsterworth the Great North Road diverges west of the Roman road and continues through Grantham, Newark, Retford and Bawtry to Doncaster. North of Doncaster the Great North Road again follows a short section of Ermine Street called Roman Rigg or Roman Ridge. Further north the Great North Road used the Roman Dere Street to Boroughbridge from where it went to Northallerton and then through Darlington and Durham.

In the first era of stage coaches York was the terminus of the Great North Road, on the route Doncaster–Selby–York but was later superseded by the route Doncaster–Ferrybridge–Wetherby–Boroughbridge–Darlington, the more direct way to Edinburgh, the ultimate destination. The first recorded stage coach operation running to York was in 1658. This took four days to reach its destination. Faster mail coaches began using the route in 1786, stimulating a quicker service from the other passenger coaches. In the 'Golden Age of Coaching', between 1815–35 coaches could get from London to York in 20 hours and the whole distance to Edinburgh in 45 and a half hours. In the mid nineteenth century, under competition from the new railways, coach services were withdrawn. The last coach from London to Newcastle left in 1842 and the last from Newcastle to Edinburgh in July 1847.^[7]

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 hotel there have been a variety of homes for the transport café, now subsumed as a motorway services.

The road skirts the remains of Sherwood Forest, and passes Catterick Garrison.

The original A1 was designated by the Ministry of Transport in 1921. The route was modified in 1927 when bypasses were built around Barnet and Hatfield. In the 1930s by-passes where added in Chester-le-Street, Durham and the Ferryhill Cut was dug. In 1960 Stamford and Doncaster were bypassed, as was Retford in 1961 and St Neots in 1971.

During the early 1970s plans to widen the A1 along the Archway Road section were abandoned after considerable opposition and four public inquiries during which road protesters disrupted proceedings.^[8] The scheme was finally dropped in 1990.^[9]

The Hatfield tunnel was opened in 1986.^[10]

A proposal to upgrade the whole of the A1 to motorway status was investigated by the government in 1989^[11] but was then dropped in 1995 along with many other schemes in response to road protests associated with other road schemes (including the Newbury Bypass and the M3 extension through Twyford Down).^[12]

A 13 miles (21 km) section of the road from Walshford to Dishforth was upgraded to motorway standard which opened in 1995.^[13] Neolithic remains and a roman fort were discovered. A 21 kilometres (13 mi) section of the road from Alconbury to Peterborough was upgraded to motorway standard at a cost of £128m which opened in 1998^[14] requiring the moving the memorial to Napoleonic prisoners buried at Norman Cross.^[15]

A single carriageway section of the A1 skirting the Scottish coastline just across the border from Northumberland.

A number of sections from the Scottish border to Edinbugh were dualed between 1999 and 2004, including a 3 km section from Spott Wood to Oswald Dean in 1999, 2 km sections from Bowerhouse to Spott Road and from Howburn to Houndwood in 2002-2003 and the 13.7 km "A1 Expressway", from Haddington and Dunbar in 2004. The total cost of these works was some £50m.^[16]

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.

Plans to dual the single carriageway section of road north of Newcastle upon Tyne were shelved in 2006 as they were not considered a regional priority by central government. The intention was to dual the road between Morpeth and Felton and between Adderstone and Belford.^[17]

In 1999 a section of A1(M) between Bramham and Hook Moor opened to traffic along with the extension of the M1 from Leeds. Oddly, the southern terminus was at an arbitrary point near Micklefield as opposed to a junction.^[18] Under a DBFO contract,^[19] A section from Wetherby to Walshford and Darrington to Hook Moor were opened in 2005 and 2006 (fixing the oddity).

Recent developments

A1 Peterborough to Blyth grade separated junctions

Between August 2006 and September 2009 the six roundabouts on the A1 between Blyth and the A1(M) section to Alconbury were replaced with grade-separated junctions. These provide a fully grade separated route between the Buckden roundabout (just north of St Neots and approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the Black Cat roundabout) and just north of Morpeth.^[20] This project cost £96 million.^[21]

A1(M) Bramham to Wetherby motorway

Upgrade of 6.2 miles (10.0 km) of road to dual 3-lane motorway standard between the Bramham/A64 junction to north of Wetherby to meet the section of motorway at a cost of £70 million began in 2006, including a road alongside for non-motorway traffic. The scheme's public inquiry began on 18 October 2006 and the project was designed by James Poyner. Work began in May 2007, the motorway section opened in July 2009 and remaining work on side roads was still ongoing in late August and is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.^[22]

Current improvements

A1(M) Dishforth to Barton motorway

Upgrade of the existing dual carriageway to dual 3-lane motorway standard, with a local road alongside for non-motorway traffic, between Dishforth (A1(M)/A168 junction) and Barton (North of Scotch Corner), Which is the start of current northernmost section of A1(M), began in March 2009 and is expected to be completed by Summer 2012.^[23] Once complete this will provide continuous motorway standard between Darrington (south of M62 junction) and Washington.

Proposed developments

Ellington to Fen Ditton scheme

The planned A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton scheme would require a new junction at Brampton, north of which the A1 will be widened to three lane dual carriageway from Brampton to Brampton Hut. The new 2 lane dual carriageway section of the A14 would run also parallel with the A1 on the section.^[24]

Sandy-Beeston Bypass

In 2003 a proposal for a bypass of Sandy and Beeston, Bedfordshire, was put forward as a green lighted scheme as part of a government multi-modal study, with a cost of £67 million.^[25] However, the Highways Agency was unwilling to confirm the information as the study was preliminary and intended for future publication.^[26] In 2008 the proposal was submitted for consideration in the pre-2013/14 Regional Funding Advice 2 Programme of the East of England Development Agency.^[27]

Other proposals

The Highways Agency has also been investigating an upgrade of the A1 Newcastle/Gateshead Western By-Pass to a dual 3 lane motorway standard to alleviate heavy congestion which in recent years has become a recurrent problem.^{[citation needed]}

Improvements to junctions near the village of Elkesley, Nottinghamshire are planned—the village's only access to the rest of the road network is via the A1.^[28]

Consideration is being given to widening the Brampton Hut to Alconbury sections to 3 lane dual carriageway.^[29]

Legend and popular culture

The highwayman Dick Turpin's flight from London to York in less than 15 hours on his mare Black Bess is the most famous legend of the Great North Road. Various inns along the A1 claim Turpin ate lunch there that night, or stopped for a respite for his horse. Harrison Ainsworth, in his 1834 romance Rookwood, immortalised this with a spirited account of this ride. Historians argue that Turpin never made the journey, claiming instead that the ride was by John Nevison, known as "Swift Nick", born and raised at Wortley near Sheffield and a highwayman in the time of Charles II, 50 years before Turpin. It is claimed that Nevison, in order to establish an alibi, rode from Gad's Hill, near Rochester, Kent, to York (some 190 miles (310 km)) in 15 hours.

The Winchelsea Arms was an inn on a long straight section of the Great North Road near Stretton which was reputed to be another haunt of Dick Turpin. It is now called the Ram Jam Inn after a story from those coaching days. A coach passenger undertook to show the landlady the secret of drawing both mild and bitter beer from the same barrel. Two holes were made and she was left with one thumb rammed against one and the other jammed into the other. The trickster then made off.^[30]

In literature the Great North Road features in The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. Part of the J.B. Priestley novel The Good Companions features the Great North Road; represented 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.

The A1 and Great North Road are also celebrated in song. The A1 is mentioned by Jethro Tull on the title track of the album Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! "Up on the A1 by Scotch Corner". Near the southern end, signs saying "Hatfield and the North" inspired the eponymous 1970s rock band Hatfield and the North. The A1 is mentioned in The Long Blondes' song, "Separated By Motorways", along with the A14. The A1(M) is mentioned in the song "Gabadon" by Sheffield band, Haze, and the 'Great North Road' is mentioned in Mark Knopfler's song, "5:15 AM", from the album Shangri La.

A1(M)

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

M25 to Stotfold

A1(M) motorway
Road of the United Kingdom
Length	23 miles (37 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	South Mimms
Primary destinations	Hatfield Welwyn Garden City Stevenage Letchworth
End	Stotfold
Construction dates	1962 - 1986
Motorways joined	J1 → M25 motorway
Euroroute(s)	E15

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

Alconbury to Peterborough

A1(M) motorway
Road of the United Kingdom
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)	E15

This section opened in 1998.

Junctions

Doncaster bypass

A1(M) motorway
Road of the United Kingdom
Length	15 miles (24.1 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	Blyth
Primary destinations
End	Carcroft
Construction dates	1961 - complete route
Motorways joined	J35 →M18 motorway
Euroroute(s)	E15

This section opened in 1961 and is one of the oldest sections of motorway in Britain.

Junctions

Darrington to Dishforth

A1(M) motorway
Road of the United Kingdom
Length	34 miles (54.7 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	Darrington
Primary destinations	Wetherby
End	Dishforth
Construction dates	1995 - 2009
Motorways joined	J41 → M62 motorway J43 → M1 motorway
Euroroute(s)	E15

Wetherby Services on the A1(M).

This section opened in sections:

• Walshford to 49 opened in 1995
• 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. From opening in 1999 until 2009 junctions 43 & 44 were incorrectly numbered as junctions 44 & 45 and are shown as such in many road atlases.

• Junction 46 to temporary junction at Walshford opened in 2005^[31]
• Junction 40 to south of 43 opened in 2005 & 2006

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 44 to 46 opened in 2009^[32]

Junctions

Dishforth to Scotch Corner

A1(M) motorway
Road of the United Kingdom
Length	24 miles (38.6 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	Dishforth
Primary destinations	Wetherby
End	Scotch Corner
Construction dates	2012 - complete route
Motorways joined	none
Euroroute(s)	E15

Section to be upgraded to dual 3-lane motorway standard, work began in March 2009. It will include four new junctions:

Junctions

Due to junction numbers further north being based on older rejected plans which included more planned junctions there will not be a Junction 54 or 55.

Scotch Corner to Gateshead

A1(M) motorway
Road of the United Kingdom
Length	30 miles (48.3 km)
Direction	North - South
Start	Barton
Primary destinations	Newton Aycliffe Chester-le-Street Darlington Durham Scotch Corner
End	Gateshead
Construction dates	1965 - 1970
Motorways joined	J57 → A66(M) motorway J65 → A194(M) motorway
Euroroute(s)	E15

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

This section opened in stages:

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

Junctions

Looking northwards at Washington Services as the A1(M) approaches Junction 65.

See also

• Brampton Hut junction

References

External links