No lights or crash barriers: A workman sweeps part of the new motorway on the longest straight section, six miles long, near Dunstable
But unbelievably the road did not have any crash barriers, lighting or even a speed limit.
A later extension between 1965-1968 saw the road reach Leeds and in the south it met London. It now measures 193 miles in length.
Motorways were first mooted as an idea in Government circles in the 1930s, especially once Hitler's Germany started constructions of the autobahns but the first ever motorway was built in Italy.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1224267/Happy-Birthday-M1-Britains-length-motorway-going-strong-50-years.html#ixzz0VnZ6ZIUc
M1 and Watford Gap celebrate 50 years...with a 6p cup of tea
By Sarah Gordon
Last updated at 2:40 PM on 02nd November 2009
Comments (13) Add to My Stories Britain's most famous road and one of the country's best known service stations are celebrating a big birthday.
Both the M1 and Watford Gap are marking 50 years of iconic road travel by acknowledging their more famous users and offering 1959 prices.
The latter is even staging a play paying homage to the many travelling musicians from The Beatles and Dusty Springfield to The Rolling Stones, who have used it as a roadside watering hole.
Taking the high road: There were just five million licensed cars on the road in 1959 when the M1 opened
Previously called the Blue Boar, the services became so talked about among stars that Jimi Hendrix mistook it for a London nightclub.
Beyond its celebrity fans, the arrival of the M1 also ushered in a new age of high-speed road travel. It had no speed limit and with just five million registered cars in the UK there was certainly no traffic.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1224682/M1-motorway-Watford-Gap-service-station-celebrate-50-years.html#ixzz0VnXtjx9x
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