Retro Strip Maps
M1 - Aldenham to Crick
Prepared by A. Beaton
The M1 in 1959
The M1 was the first lengthy section of motorway opened in Britain (together with its spurs, the M10 and the M45). It opened in 1959, about a year after the M6 Preston Bypass opened. Initially, it ran from a roundabout on the A41 at Aldenham (the present junction 5) to Crick (present J18).
As you will see, a number of the junctions have changed over the years. For example, in those days, junction 5 was a roundabout motorway terminus - now it is a complex double grade-separated roundabout. The M25 is missing. J9 has no roundabouts. J15A is missing.
The M1 in 1967
By 1967, the motorway had been extended as far north as junction 28, and as far south as the A1 at Junction 2. Junction 5 looks much like it does today, except that the A4008 link to Watford wasn't yet built. Junction 9 has gained an extra slip road and at junction 19, the M6 is shown as projected. No sign of the A14!
At Junction 21, the M69 is missing. Further north, at junction 24, there is no sign of the A42, and the A453 is shown as Projected.
The Old Map Site Home Page
Copyright © 2005 - 2006 Simon Davies
Maps Copyright © 2005 Alistair Beaton