Secrets of The Motorway - M56
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- Опубликовано: 22 апр 2023
- #infrastructure #cheshire #motorway
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The M56 is Cheshire's main motorway. It links Chester with Manchester stopping at some large and important industries along the way. The M56 certainly wins the award for more bizarre junctions with several featuring unique design layouts that boggle the mind.
Take junctions 1 to 3... they're all on a separate spur road and the M56 main carriageway starts at junction 3a. Confused? Yes it makes little sense but hopefully this weeks episode explains all.
In this series we aim to explore what our motorway network is hiding. As we drive along at 70mph..ish...we simply just wouldn't be aware of what we're missing. This series aims to uncover some of the hidden secrets our motorways have to offer. 
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Yes... where is that M53 video that I mentioned... Well.. The M53 was supposed to be released today and the M56 next week. Reasons happened that resulted in a last minute panic to release a video on time and here we are with the M56.
Some people waste millions of pounds building motorways that go nowhere, sliproads to nothing, and buying land that will never be used.
I think we can let you off for accidentally not a video.
Should've popped in for a brew whilst doing the M53 junction 8 John 😂 could set up junction parties for subscribers on your travels 😂
So, looks like you’re planning is as good as some of the motorways😂😂 look forward to seeing the next video though, always get a laugh watching you👍👍
Strange really that there isn’t no Junction 8 on the M56.
Hope for some discussion about the ghost slip road that lays before junction 5
Please know that I have understood and thoroughly enjoyed every region-specific 90s TV theme tune end credits music reference in all your videos!
In a minority perhaps, but I can only remember Rave / Dance / Pop / Techno / Indy from the 1990s. All the TV Easter Eggs are sadly lost on me.
*EDIT* (Expanded genres.)
Oh damn, first a Geoff Marshall mention in the video, now Jay Foreman is here in the comments. What a crossover episode!
Nice to see you again Jay. When will you be doing another video on your channel 😁
@@DexyG87 I wonder if he'll find an excuse to mention Jen, or G Loves....?
This one was Hollyoaks even though it’s the M53 that ends at Chester, miles from “Chester” services….
“The M56 planners enjoyed their crack” is an absolutely golden line, love these videos!
I thought exactly the same. Took me a minute to recover haha.
I think he meant 'craic' !
One of the best I’ve heard on this channel - and that’s a high bar!
@@simongreene1 Are we shure ? 😂
Well they were certainly on something hallucinogenic
And John didn’t even stop for breath. 👌 Gold.
I used to think my fascination of motorways was weird...I suppose it still is, but I'm relieved there are thousands of other M geeks like myself!
What's even more weird is that I'm not even from the UK and still watch this channel.
The 1st rule of being a motorway nerd is that you do not talk about being a motorway nerd..
I was driving back from Bristol and started telling my partner about all the interesting stuff I learned from the M32 video. Let's just say she didn't find it as interesting as I did, but I'll give her time to come around to it...
@@plankhead72 yes motorway facts are definitely peak pillow talk 🤣
What's odd is the amount of us who don't even drive 😂😂
Lymm is pronounced 'Lim', not 'Lime'. Lymm services used to be called Poplar's Truck-stop that had fuel pumps and a 'greasy spoon' restaurant before being moved across the road to it's present location, upgraded, and renamed Poplar 2000 Services.
Chester services was built on the site of what used to be a large parking area that had a 24hr butty wagon (if memory serves me correctly), I used to frequent there quite regularly with a bunch of CBers that I used to hang out with.
Great video though, I learned quite a bit about the local area.
Similarly, Bowdon is pronounced “Bo-don”
Thank you - why on earth would anyone pronounce it Lime?
@@hulahoopone the MM, mmm; Li-mmmmm(e)
@@hulahoopone people who are unfamiliar with it? Eg; Ged pronounced like “Shed”
Yeah I only knew that cos one of my best mates is from Lymm - although to be honest I probably would still pronounce it ‘lim’ but I can see how some people may emphasise the Y
You're pretty much right about the swing bridge - you can still see the 'hinge' on google maps across the navigation, but the swing bridge itself is long gone. What you are on is a temporary Bailey bridge, installed so kit can be delivered to the substation that must have been in front of you when you were filming. Since it blocks off boat traffic when in use, it usually sits where you found it, but they can trundle it out when needed. Last used in November '21, apparently.
Edit: Jack (see subcomment) has video of this Thunderbirds-esque deployment.
I thought it looked like a Bailey bridge. Thanks for the interesting info.
Excellent and scarce use of the word "trundle". Thank you.
A video of the bridge being launched / used
ruclips.net/video/yaz023DhHM4/видео.html
@@heavyhaulage1 A most excellent find. Thank you.
@@heavyhaulage1 jesus that music is annoying though. Watch it on mute. 🤣
I've probably said it before, but I'm going to say it again - Secrets of the Motorway is one of those guilty pleasures with the same sort of relaxing vibes as The Joy of Painting. Doesn't matter how my week went, come Sunday, I know I'll have Auto Shenanigans to sit down to with a cupper and just chill out, and learn something new and fascinating.
I bet it is a guilty secret for some planning authorities!
Sooo true. I await each new episode with baited breath. Is that right? Well, who cares. John, well done
The performance from those rubble sacks was spot on.
Missed opportunity there - Jon could have climbed into the empty sack (in the background) and made himself look a complete fool!! ;-))
Yay, the M56 is exciting because it’s the only Manchester motorway I’ve been on, and our introduction to Manchester, a rail replacement bus from the Airport with an enthralling drive from junction 5 to junction 3A, during which driver cranked it up to a thrilling 50 or so. Living life on the edge that was.
Rail replacement bus :( eww.
I’m weekly gobsmacked how much detail and information you manage to cram into every episode. I dread to think how much time you spend researching and shooting these videos.
I take my hat off to you sir.
Top notch work.
Score! It’s a proper Sunday now. M56 and M62 are my jam.
Same
yup i was brought up in altrincham and drove alot on the 56
I just was wondering why I, as a Dutch guy, am watching all your videos in GB. Well, not that I soon will drive down there. But is it is wicked sweet awesome and fun to see it. You present it well.
Your channel would be worth every penny of 164 million for the educational and entertaining content you provide
Just before the old interchange with the A494, the M56 had a heavily-banked right turn to reach the roundabout. After the realignment, the M56 went straight on at the (previous) right turn but the contractors left a substantial part of the banking, so with an old Mini at the right speed it was possible to get close to lifting all wheels off the ground when going over it. Much later the bump was flattened, but not quite enough and can be felt still.
Until the late 1990s Chester Services was actually signed as a Picnic Area and was just an unlit gravel car park and some loos. You really wouldn't want to visit at night. The signs at both ends of the motorway said at the time, "No services on M56”. The services themselves closed temporarily after a nasty fire in August 2004 which broke out in the kitchens. Not long after that the Wimpy there became a McDonald's.
And there was a Premier Inn before it was sold off to days inn
given how much the paint has faded, the signage around the M56/M53 interchange is probably the original stock from the early 80s
All of these signs were replaced in 2018 except 1/2 mile advance sign of A5117 on sliproad directing you to northbound carriageway of M53
i do love how little you strive for perfection, also the stunning vista's where you choose to deliver you line's, i think from this week's my favoured one was the 3 sand/gravel bag's in some shitty field... marvelous
Couldn't agree more Alan, even the sand/gravel bags handles 'lifted' when Jon raised his hands....he has super powers you know!
From childhood annual holidays to Rhyl I remember how the M56 used to come to an end on a T-junction near Queensferry
Great video as always! One thing to note, the BOW in “Bowdon” is pronounced the same way as “Toe”.
It’s also one of the wealthiest areas in the country outside of the South East!
Football or Industry responsible for that. I always said levelling up was nonsense
You have to remember that El Presidente of this channel "El jono" is from Northampton, And the accent is a mix of West Midlands and Southern English. So you have to give him some slack.
The wealth of Bowden dates back many years, at least to the early 70's in my knowledge and probably much before that. There's no doubt that the wealth of both footballers and entertainment personalities has an impact on certain areas, but in the this area I would say that much of that wealth can be found a few miles away in the Wilmslow, Prestbury area. I think the wealth of Bowden is more rooted in industrial heritage.
@@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe Yeah, but mispronouncing placenames isn't really an accent thing. (Not criticizing El Jono for it -- it's basically impossible to avoid without local knowledge. The other day, I learnt that Happisburgh is pronounced HAZE-bruh. I mean, WTF?)
"We've covered the stoak interchange in the M53 Video"
Did I miss one? I've been waiting for that one for ages as its my local 🤔
Guessing it will be coming very soon & he's just posted them not quite in his original planned order
I thought the same!. What m53 video?.
The M53 one should be very interesting. It's full of unfinished business and really odd junctions.
@@nowster I was just thinking the same thing! We haven't had a video for the M53. Next week maybe?
Excellent again Jon, the M56 is one of my favourite motorways. I love the way people pay no attention whatsoever to the chevrons on it that advise a 2 chevron gap. It’s almost like folk try to make the gaps as small as possible between each other 😂
It’s one of the maddest motorways I’ve driven on. Very high percentage of psychopaths
I think that’s primarily because some smooth brains out there also equate those chevrons to mean “drive at 50mph regardless of which lane you are in”, so it leads to a mass braking at the beginning, bunched up frustrated “normal” people for the duration, followed by a mad rush back to 70+ at the end… 😂
@@ermfwp True
@@DubStu Nailed it 👍🏼
Its a crap motorway thags permenantly going slow using because some tool has crashed and closed a lane or two down.
This is my local motorway, YAY
Also, I always found it funny that it doesn't have a junction 13
I thought this was a superstitious thing with it being missing
I have had a fair week thank you John.
best day of the week john
ah, the good old M56 - for me it's always associated with holidays, as it's part of the route to north Wales
it's also the site of a personal record, as it was the first place where I got to 90 mph on my 600 cc motorbike (a completely deserted stretch of the A11 in Cambridgeshire was the second)
Takes twice as long to watch these videos as I pause to look at the photos and try to align with my memories of hammering up and down the UK motorways in the 80s and 90s.
Manchester has given us some gems of motorways!!
"gems"?! That's one word I guess. They are the weirdest combination of lsd trips in the uk!
I've only recently found your channel and am thoroughly enjoying it. We use roads/motorways without thinking too much about them especially these days with the (...) satnav! I passed my driving test in 1994 and used atlas/map with pen & paper (writing it down helps you remember, especially Junction numbers and the roads you need to take after exiting😊) til 2008 when health issues stopped me driving, but I have driven to the top of Scotland, over to North Wales, down to Letchworth Garden City and almost everywhere in between. I LOVED to drive (I was 36 when I passed my test and had recently lost my husband to cancer) and did so at every opportunity. I made sure I took 2x2hour motorway lessons after successful pass of test so that I didn't baulk at using them, like a lot of people do. I couldn't understand some friends who wouldn't/couldn't use motorways. Each to their own, I suppose, but I wanted to drive, so made sure I could do so safely.
Sorry, rambling. Back to the video... even using motorways as I did you don't know the history(onics?) Behind them unless you are interested - most of us aren't - until someone like you comes along and MAKES it interesting. Thanks for all the research and the videos 👍
Thanks for sharing. I remember driving with maps "wait a minute, I need to find the next page" A nightmare in London.
I love this channel that predominantly has zero effect on my daily life, as i live nowhere near the UK, then any human probably should.
Did I miss Junction 10? It cut the village of Stretton in half, now we have Lower Stretton and the other bit where I used to live. There used to be two roads diverging near to St. Matthew's, however they retained the Tarporley Road and slightly modified its route, but sliced through the Northwich one and instead joined them up at the Motorway Junction.
I really enjoy this motorway information, I’ve spent over 9 years driving up and down of the M42 and M6 as a delivery driver.
As a Runcorn native I've been waiting for an M56 episode and it didn't disappoint, great stuff as always! I thought I was going to be a billy big balls and point out that it's pronounced Lim not Lime but then I read the comments..did it away😊
It's a miracle that any motorway ever got built with all the messing about.
It's all the coke the planners were on coming up with loads of ideas, now if they'd stuck to weed they'd have chilled out and dozed off.😂
@@dave_h_8742 classic northern industry of the 1990s
Can’t be many more motorways left to cover which is a shame because I really like this series.
There's all of Europe to do.
@@QuentinStephens He's still to do the A823(M)! Hell of a lot to do in that(!)
There's a whole series on A roads to do.
The A5 could be a series in itself.
@@davelewthwaite then secrets of the B roads! 🤣
There's still the M25 to do, isn't there
I love driving past the oil refinery at night. Reminds me of Mega-City One with all the lights on it.
Yes, and it looks particularly striking at sunset. OMD wrote a song called "Stanlow" (it's on the second album) which is quite romantic about it.
Does it still smell as bad as it did?
I enjoy this channel so much I always click the like button twice
Great video as always!
I'm waiting for the crossover where you pop up in one of Geoff's rail videos now or at least get a mention.
Or Geoff starts his own "Secrets of the railways main lines" series😂
On the face of it these video's should be boring AF. But they're not, they're brilliant. Well done John, well done.
good grief how many twists and turns can you get into 33 miles. A good yarn for John for sure! Another case of a lot of information I didn't know I needed to know... Thanks Pal! 😅
Thank you, John. As to how I am, I'm recovering from a nasty digestive upset but, on balance, I have had a good week.
Awesome as always.
The a494/a55 first stretch after that roundabout used to terminate at a set of lights in the Shotwick area, it was an unusual way those roads segued but perhaps more unusual was a short distance further on where the road crossed the site of RAF Sealand. At this point there was a ridiculously severe hump over a tunnel between the two sides of the site with a speed limit. If you were lucky enough to start driving when this tunnel was still around you could be tempted to perform Dukes Of Hazard style air manoeuvres. In fact if you hung around the side roads long enough you could witness people doing this to varying degrees of success. Long since gone with sale of one side of the site and the bike path on a suspension bridge over the road, it’s all sensible and flat now. The A$$ road has very few other significant spots though I’m sure if anyone could unearth them you could. Once upon a time there was a crossing point at the Halkyn Little Chef (Three corner wood) and people would try all sorts from U turns to driving cattle across. I suppose when you get further along to Penmaenmawr the tunnels are something of note! As a kid visiting family in Caernarfon it went from a 3 hrs slog to around half that time.
Keep up the great work!
Lymm Services started off as the Poplar Truck Stop on the A50 and grew and grew to the stage where it sort of got the motorway (or at least new access roads) built up to its front door.
From driving this daily … thank you for a great video / history
As child we lived next to Manchester Airport and frequently visited relatives who lived north of Liverpool - a partially hideous journey that involved the dreary boredom that is the East Lancs road. The opening and connections of all these roads in 1974 transformed the journey as we could now do the M56, M6, M62 and M57 making the far quicker journey almost door to door by motorway.
The east lancs is an absolute beast. Such a heavy lifter. But much slower these days with more traffic lights and speed restrictions. Hoping Jon will do the A580 someday
Driven this motorway many times and didn't realise how long the viaduct over the River Weaver was, you learn something new every day 👍
This one's so local to part of my family that I was very much looking forward to this one! Completely brilliant!
Now to be one of those people and mention a pronunciation error - Lymm is simply pronounced "lim", not "lime". 'Twas going to end up being mentioned somewhere down in the comments anyway...
Yup, I mentioned it too before seeing yours 🤣
The information conveyed by this channel, I will never use but my life is somehow better off for knowing this it. 😕
Love the name check with Geoff Marshall 🖐👍
Thanks Jon. Have a wicked sweet awesome week
If you ever doubt the quality of you videos :
I am watching them everytime a new one goes out even if I am living across the channel and I never drove on the UK road network (And know nothing about Uk road network)
I do love how you leave some of the "outtakes" in. And just how much you tell it like it is. Thank you for reminding us all that it's okay to be human. (Unless you're a road planner, who need to cut it out and build sensible stuff instead of shit).
Have you ever considered doing a series based on the CBRD Bad Junctions? If only because I want to see your take on some of those hellholes. (totally not specifically eyeballing the A406/A118 Ilford interchange specifically, the horrors of which i will never be able to forget)
Another fascinating episode JPH. Well done mate 🚙🚧👍
Great video John, thanks
Hey John I can see how much work - research and travel - you put into these videos. Absolutely fantastic viewing and well done!
I do love a exciting new episode .
Another rambling diatribe about asphalt and concrete across the countryside. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole ride! A great way to spend Sunday afternoon, thanks John.
Another fascinating and informative video as always Jon.
Nice to hear the original Hollyoaks theme lol. Very informative as ever John. Enjoying your channel friend
I was looking forward to this, M56 is my main motorway, lovely video John!
Why am I finding all this motorway history so interesting? Great vid again. 👍👍
Beers, football and Auto shenanigans. My perfect Sunday! Thanks for another great video 😊😊
Great video John, very interesting as always, nicely done 👍😀👌
Wish they was more motorway in this country. Just love watching these videos,absolutely brilliant
Another excellent episode well done
Another fantastic episode!
Cheers John🎉
I've used the M56 a few times travelling from Yorkshire to North Wales.
The junction onto the A494 is the best junction anywhere!
Lymm is pronounced Lim John Lim hahaha. It's one of Europes biggest truck stops. I bloody love your videos
the m60, m6, and m56 videos are my favourite by far because i get little flashes of shit i see every day, it's all utterly mundane but seeing someone else acknowledge feels very satisfying for reasons I can't quite place.
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Very interesting and detailed video. Not just the road itself, but all the important sites next to it. I think this content is pretty unique, and unlike Top Gear, I don't think anyone is going to copy it.
Thanks Jon
This is truly a RUclips gem, and hope you only go from strength to strength, as your presenting skills get more relaxed, they get more enjoyable with each episode...'no gay'.. subbed ages ago and fully belled up.
Just seen this video. Always fun to see "this bit of transport infrastructure is really janky because they kept cancelling bits of it" isn't just restricted to the last few years
OhhI know this motorway oh so well living in Chester. It’s so accident prone especially the closer it gets to Manchester and Junction 5 is a pain in the arse. The Junction 7 is brilliant for testing the cornering ability (or lack thereof) of your car…. I used to live in Ince village and I had an uninterrupted view of said refinery from the back of the house. Fab. Great video as always John!
Like a Time Machine showing what has and what could have been done.
The best part of this video is when he said the expressway was stopped by environmental issues that might affect an oil refinery? Obviously I'm a Yank, but I thing the interchanges with a round-a-bout make so much sense, though they did present some confusion when I drove in the UK some years ago. My wife and I once went around one three times before we found our way. Love this video.
I went on a school infants trip to see the M56 being built in about 1970. Sadly I remember it clearly! Thanks for making the videos,.
Nothing sad about remembering it clearly! 😀
Fascinating. Another strand of spaghetti in the dogs dinner around Manchester. Nicely researched and presented.
Great shout out to “ Geoff Marshall. “ 👏👏👍😀 Another cracking episode. 👍
Great episode 😃
Wicked, sweet, awesome!
Intresting Thank You
Loving the before/after map fades.
This is the best video I've ever seen about anything
John, you've made my day. Use the 56 daily and I've always had so many questions about some of its quirks. Turns out, everyone was high when planning this out 😂 can't wait for you to do the m53 😁😁😁😁😁
I was auditing the contractor who was building the a556 bypass and when I saw the drawing of the m56 Junction I was pretty pleased, until I saw the total lack of any reworking of the m6 Junction 19, that is!
What year?@@familyhelpdeskhelpdesk270
I've always called lymm services lim not lime, interesting
Ah The M56, an old fave. Living in my childhood in Didsbury up the road from the tentaclesque junction 1 I felt a certain pride to live by such a distinguished and surely world reknowned motorway.
And upon that hallowed tarmac did many a trip start for holidays in North Wales heading for the more sedate meandering A55 (The Queue to Conway) that prior to dualling was a little packed at times.
Awesome video
You beat me to the weaver viaduct i was going to smash that out on my next monumental series, Hey it looks awesome underneath! Thanks for the recee!! lol
“We bodged it all together and called it a road network” - first time I have ever spat out a drink 😂😂
Brilliance
😂😂😂 hollyoaks theme music, nice touch. Yay the River Weaver, runs through my home village of Weaverham, means village on the weaver. Loved the pronunciation of Lymm, different. As always it's a wicked sweet awesome video.
Hello mister Jon, yes I have had quite a good week, thanks for asking, and I hope you did too 😊
Westmorland, the people behind Gloucester & Tebay Services want to build another service area on the M56, inside the loop of Junction 7.
Ooh, that would be handy. And nice!
@@SJ8311 Absolutely!... but some councillor said that "it would impact other nearby business negatively...." how exactly? by bringing another 100 local jobs? anyhow its just on the other side of Rostherne Mere which I live next to.
@@jonathanfarber It's in the middle of a motorway junction! What nearby businesses? There's what looks like a set of farm buildings, but I can't imagine they are justified by the small amount of farmable land inside the loop.
In fact, if you look on Google street-view the area looks almost abandoned. The northern entrance (which would presumably be used for the services) has a gate across it that looks as if it hasn't been opened for years -- there are bushes growing through it. The southern entrance looks rather better, but even that has a post-delivery-box which has its door hanging open, and which seems to be in the process of being reclaimed by nature.
There's a weird arrangement that you can see by clicking on the blue dot in the middle of the loop that appears on Google maps when you turn street-view on. It looks like a private burial ground, with some rather ornate graves -- one of which has an open coffin on top. Distinctly spooky looking.
awesome video
Video references that there’s already an episode on the M53 but I can’t find that one….
Just wait
He'll do it
Must be in the backlog and we’ll get it next week? M53 is a such a Jekyll and Hyde motorway; soo looking forward to that video 😂
Very close to home for me, now. Where you were standing just after Chester Services is the abandoned Bridle Lane - which I pass on my daily commute to work!
I'm currently looking forward with some more motorway, it's definitely the best thing I can look at.
Nod to Geoff was on point
"The thing is, that's a load of shite"
Brilliant 😂
Great to see the views of Stanlow too, it's my site (in my Emergency Planning Officer capacity) 😊