I had thought maybe Jon knew about this as he was involved - but it turned out the perpetrator has blond hair, was wearing a grey T shirt and was driving a black, coupe style car … Not a Saab.
I marvel at how Jon turns something as boring as fuck into an amusing and informative video! The guy on the bridge wasn't taking the piss, he was giving it!!
Just to clarify which county this motorway is in: Darlington itself is County Durham, but the A66(M) is fully within North Yorkshire. The river Tees is the boundary. That means that as you leave the motorway at the roundabout and cross the bridge over the river, you will cross into County Durham.
Maybe it's a sort of Yin/Yang thing that North Yorkshire has thousands of miles of very interesting single track roads and is also host to a short, featureless, and boring motorway ?
"The previous method was to plane up the old surface, chuck it into a truck and send it off to wherever it goes..." The government uses it as filler to bulk up institutional meals served at prisons and care facilities, NHS hospitals, the Home Office's workers cafeteria, military bases, etc.
I admire John's commitment to research and filming, taking it must be several hours to produce a video just a few minutes long, condensing the points of interest down to something that's succinct, informative and entertaining. No padding whatsoever in Secrets of The Motorway.
For a short section with no junctions, that was really interesting. As a Civil engineer, the resurfacing method caught my attention. John looks rather cold, I appreciate the commitment to the cause.
I'm no sort of engineer mate but I found it interesting too. a 10 year lifespan is no biggy for us in Herts, our main roads are so busy the surfaces would struggle to last 10 years if they were made of diamonds. Funnily enough though we had a local busy road re-surfaced by rolling a pre-fabricated tarmac surface on, very fast it was, a kilometre of road was done both ways in 2 days. Didn't last though, has had to be repaired repeatedly before being resurfaced again this year, though this year's resurfacing was a cheap job so it'll probably wear out again in a few years flat, it's already started cutting up a bit and it's only been down since summer.
@@darthwiizius apart from the main wearing area (under the tyres) the big problems are the side gutters and the central seam joints which seem to move, allow in water which freezes and blows the road surface, what can be done about that?
@@highpath4776 Yeah, when we had the wet drought year once everything dried out the road surfaces round me all sank and broke up because the water had washed out all the aggregate under the surfaces. Took a lot of work to repair and I snapped a spring on my hot hatch before they did. The centre seam issue I've seen down my road, when they finally resurfaced the end of the road the centre quickly opened up, it's been re-done again and seems to be holding up this time after 2 years, though we haven't had a hard winter in that time.
My dad, when he was young used to live in that old toll house on Blackwell Bridge, with his Uncle. Having seen it from the drone footage, it's bigger than what i thought.
When I saw the toll house in the video I couldn't help wondering who would choose to l live in such a busy situation - when you're not collecting tolls.
@@AdrianNelson1507 It was in the 1930's when my dad lived there and kit was a rented property. All i know is that his uncle gave him a revolver from WW1 to shoot anybody that broke into the house! Totally different times then.
Oh nice i caught up! Didn't watch the videos for like 6 months, because i prefer binging multiple videos at once, and then forgot about it, but now - 5 binges later - i am back up to date :)
A similar machine was used by South Lanarkshire Council in the early 2010s to resurface many miles of country roads in Clydesdale. Many of them have needed major repairs or patching since. A couple of thousand years of road design can’t be replaced by penny pinching.
Yes...the roundabout at the end of the A66M is rather large, especially as the only other road onto it is the former A1, which has very little traffic on it. There again, its actually a fun roundabout to whizz round on a motorbike!
@@PatrickTimmins Its the combo of a fast right hand bend around the roundabout, followed by the flowing left to cross the Blackwell Bridge that makes it fun!
totally agree his rule breaking and photographic technique is absolutely criminal, that bridge shot about a minute and a half in had a really overexposed sky by being at the wrong side of the bridge. I feel I have no option but to report him to the old bailey, and I mean David.
That is a nice bridge, and I'm relieved that they maintained its appearance rather than going for the cheap-but-fugly concrete abominations so common today.
For a long time there used to be a "No Sign" at the start of the A66(M) at the Darlington end, most likely orginal to the motorway opening. It disappeared sometime in the mid 2010s....
The A66 around Teesside is a pretty interesting road in general, especially the Middlesbrough area. You've got a huge free flowing interchange between the A19 and A66, with numerous other sliproads for access dotted around. You could probably make a whole series of videos about the A66, A174 and unbuilt roads around Teesside (including the briefly planned Tees Tunnel!) . iirc initial plans were to continue to the road across the bridge as a dual carriageway right to its end, but the road around Darlington falls apart resulting in a relatively long freeflowing section from Middlesbrough awkwardly turning off onto a sliproad from a roundabout to a number of single carriageways and roundabouts.
Great video! Like to see roads local to me, with mentioning the old signage, I believe the A66(M) was the last motorway to keep the original "No stopping, No U-turns" sign, I think you can still see it on streetview in 2009 or so!
Very true comment John, regarding the attitude in the 1960s of blasting or demolishing old structures and replacing them with some hideous concrete monstrosity. The bridge widening preserved a lovely old structure.
Hi Jon, have you ever thought of doing a side-bar series on the many 'mum & dad/family run' transport cafes that were lost due to these new by-passes & route changes? I used to find their food quality could be judged by the state of their parking area; the more water filled moon craters to negotiate, both in-vehicle & on foot before you even got to the building, the better - it showed they were busy & people will suffer such things for 'good' food. Many a long mile was trundled, just fantasizing about my next carcinogenic feast of doom! : )
Great Idea! The long-lost Budgie's Restaurant/ (then 'Phil's Café') on the London-bound A1 just after Hatfield. IIRC, they had the name painted on the slate tiled roof. The building's still there but now a private residence.
I’ve used this road on many occasions while visiting family and it becomes a welcome distraction from 150 miles of boredom from leicester via M1/A1 as you peel off the A1, the sweeping bends provide you with a little more engagement and after the roundabout, the sweep over the tees bridge up the hill to Blackwell is a pleasant end to the journey.
This was fascinating. Despite being a Norwich local; I drive this road regularly and I had no idea about the bridge, the toll house or the reasoning behind the lack of northbound slip roads! I'm going to keep my eyes open the next time I'm in Darlo to look out for these tid-bits ;)
Same with many spurs like that. The only people who'd want to use the A66(M) to go north along the A1(M) are people who live close to the end of the A66(M). For anyone else, it would be quicker to take a more direct route to the northbound motorway.
A few years back I got stuck on the QEII Bridge due to a fatal accident near the toll booths or site of (can’t recall if they were still there) we were stuck for several hours and I spotted one bloke having a piss over the side of the bridge.
So the Bridge will be from now and ever be known as the golden shower bridge !!! the A1 used to run through Grantham and Stamford here in Lincolnshire but was re-routed before my time around these towns . The A1M in my neck of the woods is further south past Peterborough . I guess they got some thing right back them as can you imagine all that traffic passing through those Market towns !!! . On a Bridge much like on a ship always check for wind as you don't want splash back , but don't worry about the traffic below . After all it you have a convertible you knew the risks when you bought it 🤣.
My local motorway as a child. I have pondering what secrets it would behold since the Ax(m) features began. As ever I was so far from disappointed…(no spoilers). Thanks again Jon
boring fact - the A1(M) A66(M) junction is a visual reporting point for light aircraft entering Teeside airport control area. There's also a Brick Mallard a bit further down the A66: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Train
I first saw that sort of resurfacing in the early 1990s in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The road was blasted with heat, scraped, heated some more and laid back down. It was a slow moving very large machine. After, the road was like new.
Literally round the corner from me, never expected a video about it but you proved me wrong! A good watch 😊😊 I also remember about that urinating incident 😂
Some random bloke pissing off of a bridge, onto traffic below. It's an enduring image, isn't it? Your corpsing is perfectly valid on this occasion, John. I'd have expected nothing less. 😆😆😆
Missed opportunity possibly. If you had continued to Darlington and around the east side you could have videoed your farewell hand wave from the brick Mallard. That is Mallard as in steam engine rather than a duck! Worth a Google.
I admire your dedication to these videos. When it is going from location to location and appears smooth. There must have been a lot of travel in-between those cuts.
Hi Jon, hope you well, another great motorway fact, I know there is no junctions apart from it's end but as always plenty of local fact of it's area. Have a good week catch you soon take care👍
Great video ! I was surprised when you said the Toll House was now a private residence - I guess that would be somewhere you really need to " get used to the traffic " A whole new meaning to motorway on your doorstep. (*_*)
I couldn't live somewhere like that, but there are a lot of houses very close to major roads. BTW, it's not literally a motorway on their doorstep -- it's just the A66(not-M) at that point.
Oh Thank you John from someone who was born in Darlington and Darlo is in County Durham. Lots of things about the area around the road I was unaware of especially the "Weeing over the Bridge", begs a question, why the middle of the bridge? Very funny. Thank you again.
The A66(M) is quite a short spur motorway since it was built when the A1(M) was built and extended to allow traffic to avoid Darlington as what you have explained in the video. Never knew that the A1 went through Darlington before the A1(M) Darlington bypass was built.
Nice. Been waiting for this episode as a Darlo lad! The junction only connects to the south as there was originally meant to be another link road between the A66 East of Darlo and A1 to the north of the town, but the project was cancelled. Plans are resurfacing though so maybe soon!
It's interesting to know what they did with the Blackwell Bridge. Someone should tell North Yorkshire CC to do the same on the A65 at Coniston Cold. A similar bridge, they use the "listed" excuse for doing nothing yet the bridge has been hit so many times very little is original. Perhaps the inevitable fatal accident will prompt them into doing something.
Same with Harewood Bridge just north of Harewood House between Leeds and Harrogate. Although I guess as it is the boundary bridge neither side wants to pay for it.
@@therealunclevanya That bridge (A61) was closed for 6 weeks for remedial works recently, unfortunately the boffins at the council also authorised roadworks to a major junction on the diversionary route at the same time. Needless to say the bus service at the time, was harder to fathom than winning the lottery jackpot.
@@darren25061965 I know, I got caught out twice. Leeds CC is bankrupt and North Yorkshire DC too poor, so short of a lorry taking it out completely I doubt it will ever get widened.
Great video as usual. I know the A616 Stocksbridge bypass isn't a motorway but you really need to do a video on it, maybe a Halloween special next year. You'll understand why when you Google it :)
Pissing from a Motorway Bridge I suppose is better than jumping from one. Though really there's plenty of space either side "away from prying eyes"... A good vid cheers.
Thanks Jon, travelled this motorway on numerous occasions, and I'm amazed you've managed a 6 min video from it's diminutive length. Also it wasn't boring! 😊
Never knew that about that bridge. lol. I’ve cycled over that bridge many times too. Brilliant vid Jon. Didn’t know the A66(M) had that much of a story behind it. Really enjoyed this one.
That's so funny, I just drove on the A66M at about the time you upload this today! I did think it an odd stretch of motorway. But guessed it was something to do with preventing non motorway traffic from joining the A1M. I wish I'd known about the bridge story. Would've made a good anecdote for my wife as we passed under it.
Omg yey. So good to see you do one close to home xD not many choices of motorways near me xD but would be good to see the a66. That... Split Middlesbrough xD see what u can dig up about that
2:52 That is the laugh of a man who got away with piddling off a motorway bridge and no-one can convince me otherwise.
😂😂😂😂 agree!! For a moment I thought he was going to demonstrate said action 😉 hilarious!
"Is it raining dear?"
"No it's pi$$#g down" 😂
@@rodhili3946 😂😂 I'm gonna use that !
I had thought maybe Jon knew about this as he was involved - but it turned out the perpetrator has blond hair, was wearing a grey T shirt and was driving a black, coupe style car …
Not a Saab.
I marvel at how Jon turns something as boring as fuck into an amusing and informative video!
The guy on the bridge wasn't taking the piss, he was giving it!!
Just to clarify which county this motorway is in: Darlington itself is County Durham, but the A66(M) is fully within North Yorkshire. The river Tees is the boundary. That means that as you leave the motorway at the roundabout and cross the bridge over the river, you will cross into County Durham.
Doesn't that make it the only motorway completely within North Yorkshire?
@@circadianizzy I believe so, yes
Maybe it's a sort of Yin/Yang thing that North Yorkshire has thousands of miles of very interesting single track roads and is also host to a short, featureless, and boring motorway ?
@@Kevin-mx1vi Got to keep that Cosmic Balance....
@@circadianizzy the other weeks A64M?
The fact that the A66(M) has no noteworthy features is itself a noteworthy feature...
Brilliant logic. Brilliant video.
"The previous method was to plane up the old surface, chuck it into a truck and send it off to wherever it goes..."
The government uses it as filler to bulk up institutional meals served at prisons and care facilities, NHS hospitals, the Home Office's workers cafeteria, military bases, etc.
Primary school dinners, care homes, meals on wheels too!
@keiththorpe9571 Don't go giving them ideas!
@@SportyMabamba
I was always suspicious of rock cakes at school.....
They put it in the pie's at motorway services
I admire John's commitment to research and filming, taking it must be several hours to produce a video just a few minutes long, condensing the points of interest down to something that's succinct, informative and entertaining. No padding whatsoever in Secrets of The Motorway.
For a short section with no junctions, that was really interesting. As a Civil engineer, the resurfacing method caught my attention. John looks rather cold, I appreciate the commitment to the cause.
I'm no sort of engineer mate but I found it interesting too. a 10 year lifespan is no biggy for us in Herts, our main roads are so busy the surfaces would struggle to last 10 years if they were made of diamonds. Funnily enough though we had a local busy road re-surfaced by rolling a pre-fabricated tarmac surface on, very fast it was, a kilometre of road was done both ways in 2 days. Didn't last though, has had to be repaired repeatedly before being resurfaced again this year, though this year's resurfacing was a cheap job so it'll probably wear out again in a few years flat, it's already started cutting up a bit and it's only been down since summer.
@@darthwiizius apart from the main wearing area (under the tyres) the big problems are the side gutters and the central seam joints which seem to move, allow in water which freezes and blows the road surface, what can be done about that?
@@highpath4776
Yeah, when we had the wet drought year once everything dried out the road surfaces round me all sank and broke up because the water had washed out all the aggregate under the surfaces. Took a lot of work to repair and I snapped a spring on my hot hatch before they did. The centre seam issue I've seen down my road, when they finally resurfaced the end of the road the centre quickly opened up, it's been re-done again and seems to be holding up this time after 2 years, though we haven't had a hard winter in that time.
@@darthwiizius- build a tram way or railway? 😂
@@highpath4776stop letting them lay it in the rain or frost! They used to be rained off in the 70s and 80s
My dad, when he was young used to live in that old toll house on Blackwell Bridge, with his Uncle.
Having seen it from the drone footage, it's bigger than what i thought.
I'm interested if you have any details! Did he own it? Is it still a residence?
When I saw the toll house in the video I couldn't help wondering who would choose to l live in such a busy situation - when you're not collecting tolls.
wow thats cool! It's a strangely laid out property!
@@AdrianNelson1507
It was in the 1930's when my dad lived there and kit was a rented property. All i know is that his uncle gave him a revolver from WW1 to shoot anybody that broke into the house! Totally different times then.
Can't imagine living in a house that backs, literally, onto a highway.
I really appreciate that you're freezing your bloody ass to give us our weekly SOTM episode. Thanks sir! (Also, that laugh was wicked sweet awesome!)
I second this! Thank you, Jon! 😁
Nice one, thanks for watching!
@@AutoShenanigans Also, do other viewers sit there waving back at you during the outro or is it just me? 😆
@@David_D.- I’m not telling you what I’m waving 😂
@@Mark1024MAK 😲😂
Excellent research into the things that are more interesting than a motorway with no interesting features at all. Lovely drone shots of frozen fields.
They did do a good job of blackwell bridge! :)
Oh nice i caught up! Didn't watch the videos for like 6 months, because i prefer binging multiple videos at once, and then forgot about it, but now - 5 binges later - i am back up to date :)
A similar machine was used by South Lanarkshire Council in the early 2010s to resurface many miles of country roads in Clydesdale. Many of them have needed major repairs or patching since. A couple of thousand years of road design can’t be replaced by penny pinching.
Yes...the roundabout at the end of the A66M is rather large, especially as the only other road onto it is the former A1, which has very little traffic on it. There again, its actually a fun roundabout to whizz round on a motorbike!
Yep 👍 practiced a few knee downs on that roundabout myself many years ago 😂
@@PatrickTimmins Its the combo of a fast right hand bend around the roundabout, followed by the flowing left to cross the Blackwell Bridge that makes it fun!
John bulldozes through all the rules of film-making with a cheery wave and a laugh.
Top stuff.
totally agree his rule breaking and photographic technique is absolutely criminal, that bridge shot about a minute and a half in had a really overexposed sky by being at the wrong side of the bridge. I feel I have no option but to report him to the old bailey, and I mean David.
There are rules?
That is a nice bridge, and I'm relieved that they maintained its appearance rather than going for the cheap-but-fugly concrete abominations so common today.
Very apt reference to relieved as Jon had quite a laugh about the man who relieved himself 😮
The Trucker's Drag Strip...! Many, many times I thrashed the arse off an artic along there to get ahead of the tortoises for the long climbs ahead.
For a long time there used to be a "No Sign" at the start of the A66(M) at the Darlington end, most likely orginal to the motorway opening. It disappeared sometime in the mid 2010s....
The A66 around Teesside is a pretty interesting road in general, especially the Middlesbrough area. You've got a huge free flowing interchange between the A19 and A66, with numerous other sliproads for access dotted around. You could probably make a whole series of videos about the A66, A174 and unbuilt roads around Teesside (including the briefly planned Tees Tunnel!) .
iirc initial plans were to continue to the road across the bridge as a dual carriageway right to its end, but the road around Darlington falls apart resulting in a relatively long freeflowing section from Middlesbrough awkwardly turning off onto a sliproad from a roundabout to a number of single carriageways and roundabouts.
We[[ you got me totally stumped with the end credits music.
Let me know if you work it out
@@hks-lion No I have given up
Great video! Like to see roads local to me, with mentioning the old signage, I believe the A66(M) was the last motorway to keep the original "No stopping, No U-turns" sign, I think you can still see it on streetview in 2009 or so!
Hell yeah my home town gets a mention, thanks John.
The theme from Harry. Excellent local choice!
Very true comment John, regarding the attitude in the 1960s of blasting or demolishing old structures and replacing them with some hideous concrete monstrosity. The bridge widening preserved a lovely old structure.
Hi Jon, have you ever thought of doing a side-bar series on the many 'mum & dad/family run' transport cafes that were lost due to these new by-passes & route changes?
I used to find their food quality could be judged by the state of their parking area; the more water filled moon craters to negotiate, both in-vehicle & on foot before you even got to the building, the better - it showed they were busy & people will suffer such things for 'good' food.
Many a long mile was trundled, just fantasizing about my next carcinogenic feast of doom! : )
Ah yes, the transport cafe at the northern end of the A49... Still alive as far as I know!
Great Idea! The long-lost Budgie's Restaurant/ (then 'Phil's Café') on the London-bound A1 just after Hatfield. IIRC, they had the name painted on the slate tiled roof. The building's still there but now a private residence.
I’ve used this road on many occasions while visiting family and it becomes a welcome distraction from 150 miles of boredom from leicester via M1/A1 as you peel off the A1, the sweeping bends provide you with a little more engagement and after the roundabout, the sweep over the tees bridge up the hill to Blackwell is a pleasant end to the journey.
Can't believe you managed to stretch that out to 6 minutes. Well done !
This was fascinating. Despite being a Norwich local; I drive this road regularly and I had no idea about the bridge, the toll house or the reasoning behind the lack of northbound slip roads! I'm going to keep my eyes open the next time I'm in Darlo to look out for these tid-bits ;)
Same with many spurs like that. The only people who'd want to use the A66(M) to go north along the A1(M) are people who live close to the end of the A66(M). For anyone else, it would be quicker to take a more direct route to the northbound motorway.
A few years back I got stuck on the QEII Bridge due to a fatal accident near the toll booths or site of (can’t recall if they were still there) we were stuck for several hours and I spotted one bloke having a piss over the side of the bridge.
Thanks for my request auto shenanigans! ❤
For several years, Dolomite was also very useful for Triumph
Nice one! Should have popped in for a cuppa - learnt a lot about the local area and love that bridge…. Must get out more….
We need motorway enthusiasts like you here in canada!
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Love the history lessons, and your sense of humour. Please keep it up.
So the Bridge will be from now and ever be known as the golden shower bridge !!! the A1 used to run through Grantham and Stamford here in Lincolnshire but was re-routed before my time around these towns . The A1M in my neck of the woods is further south past Peterborough . I guess they got some thing right back them as can you imagine all that traffic passing through those Market towns !!! . On a Bridge much like on a ship always check for wind as you don't want splash back , but don't worry about the traffic below . After all it you have a convertible you knew the risks when you bought it 🤣.
My local motorway as a child. I have pondering what secrets it would behold since the Ax(m) features began. As ever I was so far from disappointed…(no spoilers). Thanks again Jon
boring fact - the A1(M) A66(M) junction is a visual reporting point for light aircraft entering Teeside airport control area.
There's also a Brick Mallard a bit further down the A66: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Train
That's a pretty neat artwork, especially because it uses local-ish materials.
Wow thanks for sharing this
Nice! Was it only me (half-asleep and very-trustingly not reading the link text) that was expecting a large duck made out of bricks?! 🤣
@@oliverghunter That would be a crazy idea tut! (walks away mumbling😏 yeah I thought that too, but I'm not admitting it).
I need this series compiled into a DVD of all the UKs motorways ... put that on and i'm happy
In case I've never said this before.
I bloody love you. Gorblessya!
Love from Liverpool UK
Great video John, very interesting,love the sandstone bridge and toll house 👌, glad you left the outtake in😂.
Looked a bit cold there John, great episode again. About a boring bit of road I'll probably never drive on.
Lovely drone shots. Thanks for going out in the freezing cold!
A66M, a bloody marvellous spur motorway. 👏👏👍😀
I first saw that sort of resurfacing in the early 1990s in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The road was blasted with heat, scraped, heated some more and laid back down. It was a slow moving very large machine. After, the road was like new.
You did really well with what turned out to be an interesting, yet boring bit of motorway - well done - more, more, MORE!
Finally you've visited my local excuse for a motorway 😂 great video and thanks for the mention on the end ❤
This is the best video I've ever seen about anything
Good job once again J 👍👍👍
Pissing on passing cars 😂😂😂 cheeky...
Another fantastic episode Jon.
Really enjoyed this one Jon and the humour in the middle!
What are you standing next to at 5:54? Not sure if giant pipe or abandoned 60s tube transport? lol
Not sure, a water pipe of sorts!
HAHA 1000/10 for using the Harry soundtrack at the end lol !
Thanks!
for a motorway this short with nothing on it this was a pretty brilliant video. Thanks!
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Literally round the corner from me, never expected a video about it but you proved me wrong! A good watch 😊😊
I also remember about that urinating incident 😂
Some random bloke pissing off of a bridge, onto traffic below. It's an enduring image, isn't it?
Your corpsing is perfectly valid on this occasion, John. I'd have expected nothing less. 😆😆😆
Missed opportunity possibly. If you had continued to Darlington and around the east side you could have videoed your farewell hand wave from the brick Mallard. That is Mallard as in steam engine rather than a duck! Worth a Google.
Somebody totally needs to build the duck version nearby.
Perhaps they could call the brick duck the 'Mallard Imaginaire' excuse the french, it's a play on the French playwright Moliere.
Thanks
My aunty and uncle used to live in Darlington and we visited those roads many time !
Really good stretch of road to give the bike or car a good blast
I admire your dedication to these videos. When it is going from location to location and appears smooth. There must have been a lot of travel in-between those cuts.
Hi Jon, hope you well, another great motorway fact, I know there is no junctions apart from it's end but as always plenty of local fact of it's area. Have a good week catch you soon take care👍
Great video ! I was surprised when you said the Toll House was now a private residence - I guess that would be somewhere you really need to " get used to the traffic " A whole new meaning to motorway on your doorstep. (*_*)
I couldn't live somewhere like that, but there are a lot of houses very close to major roads. BTW, it's not literally a motorway on their doorstep -- it's just the A66(not-M) at that point.
I lile the A66M because coming off the A1 you can get a good speed on and slamming on before the roundabout is always fun:)
Oh Thank you John from someone who was born in Darlington and Darlo is in County Durham. Lots of things about the area around the road I was unaware of especially the "Weeing over the Bridge", begs a question, why the middle of the bridge? Very funny. Thank you again.
Another good watch enjoyed 😊😊
Please do the M10 (A414)
The A66(M) is quite a short spur motorway since it was built when the A1(M) was built and extended to allow traffic to avoid Darlington as what you have explained in the video. Never knew that the A1 went through Darlington before the A1(M) Darlington bypass was built.
Love the history element of the videos, especially given many are in parts of the country I don't venture or know much about
That was a really good one Jon. A lot of interest facts crammed into just 2 miles there.
Beautiful sky behind you at 01:32 👍🏻
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Nice. Been waiting for this episode as a Darlo lad! The junction only connects to the south as there was originally meant to be another link road between the A66 East of Darlo and A1 to the north of the town, but the project was cancelled. Plans are resurfacing though so maybe soon!
Another good vid...you look cold!!
One of your best young fella. It was nice to see the surrounding area stuff.
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Im that old i remember seeing this part of the A66m being constructed and seeing the Blackwell bridge being widened
Another great interesting video, who would of thought motorways would be so interesting? Thank you,👍👊.
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Just loved it when you started giggling re the "Piss Artist"
love your videos. your channel is doing very well very quickly! look at all those supporters at the end!!! that is alot!
Would have been handy to have that guy on a couple of bridges the other week when I had frozen wiper jets.
Is it me or there is smoke coming out of John at the beginning? Is John on fire? 🔥🔥🔥
Now that was awesome !!
Awesome!!! 👏👏
B R illiant sir. Look forward to my sunday mornings. Thank you. Great music taste btw
What’s the music at the end?
Super interesting to see some roads discussed that I regularly drive on.
It's interesting to know what they did with the Blackwell Bridge. Someone should tell North Yorkshire CC to do the same on the A65 at Coniston Cold. A similar bridge, they use the "listed" excuse for doing nothing yet the bridge has been hit so many times very little is original. Perhaps the inevitable fatal accident will prompt them into doing something.
Same with Harewood Bridge just north of Harewood House between Leeds and Harrogate. Although I guess as it is the boundary bridge neither side wants to pay for it.
@@therealunclevanya That bridge (A61) was closed for 6 weeks for remedial works recently, unfortunately the boffins at the council also authorised roadworks to a major junction on the diversionary route at the same time. Needless to say the bus service at the time, was harder to fathom than winning the lottery jackpot.
@@darren25061965 I know, I got caught out twice. Leeds CC is bankrupt and North Yorkshire DC too poor, so short of a lorry taking it out completely I doubt it will ever get widened.
Another classic xx
Came across your RUclips by accident must say I really like.
Very informative
First time I've watched a video that included a geological report on the subject matter! :)
Great video as usual. I know the A616 Stocksbridge bypass isn't a motorway but you really need to do a video on it, maybe a Halloween special next year. You'll understand why when you Google it :)
Don't look at your passenger seat...woooooo😂
Thanks for a great video yet again
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Pissing from a Motorway Bridge I suppose is better than jumping from one. Though really there's plenty of space either side "away from prying eyes"... A good vid cheers.
3:05 I'm with you there!
I like that they kept the classic design of the bridge.
Mordern bridges are a bloody eye sore.
Wow so cold there.
Thanks Jon, travelled this motorway on numerous occasions, and I'm amazed you've managed a 6 min video from it's diminutive length. Also it wasn't boring! 😊
Wicked sweet awesome
Wicked, sweet, awesome
Glad you kept it together talking about the fella taking a piss off the bridge, most people just break down laughing, oh, wait, never mind... :P
Never knew that about that bridge. lol. I’ve cycled over that bridge many times too.
Brilliant vid Jon. Didn’t know the A66(M) had that much of a story behind it.
Really enjoyed this one.
That's so funny, I just drove on the A66M at about the time you upload this today! I did think it an odd stretch of motorway. But guessed it was something to do with preventing non motorway traffic from joining the A1M.
I wish I'd known about the bridge story. Would've made a good anecdote for my wife as we passed under it.
Omg yey. So good to see you do one close to home xD not many choices of motorways near me xD but would be good to see the a66. That... Split Middlesbrough xD see what u can dig up about that