Rtn David Axon - Motorways

David Axon stepped in at very short notice to give us an entertaining talk on motorways.

The first motorway was a six-mile stretch of the Preston by-pass built in 1958. Motorways used the German autobahn design criteria and they were designed for cars to travel at speeds of up to 100 mph. This is the reason the M1, opened in November 1959, is straight.

David recalled visiting his brother at Cambridge University the weekend that the M1 opened and then making a trip to Dunstable to try out the new road. There was very little traffic on the road but every bridge was packed with people watching the cars and motorcycles.

David’s love of motorways and fast cars shone through his talk as he spoke about Jaguars, TR5s, and his mate’s father’s 3-litre Rover which blew up after being driven at 125 mph on the way to watch their favourite team play football. The fastest he went before the national speed limit was introduced on 22 December 1965, was 140 mph in a friend’s E-type Jaguar.

The M1 was initially designed for 30,000 vehicles a day and is now used by ten times that number.

The M25 was fully opened in 1986 and the record for travelling round its 117 miles is just under an hour. Smart speed limits and overhead cameras have put paid to any more record attempts.

Our President reports that she tried to recall David’s enthusiasm later that afternoon as she and her husband drove round the M25 to the M4 mired in heavy traffic and speed restrictions.