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sabre-roads.org.uk
SABRE
@sabre-roads.org.uk
From the A1 to the V12, the members of SABRE (the Society for British and Irish Road Enthusiasts) explore the history and future of the British and Irish road networks.

Why not join us?

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk
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The opening ceremony brochure for Westway and the West Cross Route from July 1970. “Guests will be invited to […] proceed with a police escort to Westway where the Minister will be invited by the Leader of the Council to cut a ribbon on the westbound carriageway and to declare the new roadways open”
December 26, 2025 at 10:14 AM
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The UK pioneered changeable road signs of all types - we gave the world the matrix signal, but we also had a go at all sorts of other novel ideas. Take a tour of some of the wildest ideas of the 60s, part of our Mixed Signals long read. www.roads.org.uk/articles/mix...
New signs for new ideas
While the headlines were still full of fog worries, and the Ministry of Transport was mainly preoccupied with emergency warning signs on motorways, local authorities were tasked with keeping the…
www.roads.org.uk
December 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM
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The gradual replacement of age-expired gantry signs on the M60 has begun, but no consideration has been given to updating information to reduce overload of destinations.
December 23, 2025 at 7:49 PM
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Fancy a stroll on a motorway? Before the M621 opened to connect Leeds with the motorway network you could do just that. #leeds www.roads.org.uk/blog/walk-m621
A walk on the M621
Fancy a stroll? In 1972, the City of Leeds was about to open its new South East Urban Motorway and proudly showed off the achievement with a "walkabout" event.
www.roads.org.uk
December 22, 2025 at 5:08 PM
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For this week's #MapMonday, you can discover the OS London Two Inch Ministry of Transport maps from 1922, and see just where the A1, A2, A3 etc all meet at "point zero" in London. Or not...

buff.ly/BAr8iFr
December 22, 2025 at 6:00 PM
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Just published - we're slowly losing something we didn't know we had: a street light designed just for London. I've taken a deep (and deeply geeky) dive into the history of an everyday object that was designed not to be noticed. #london roadsorguk.substack.com/p/london-in-...
December 18, 2025 at 6:41 PM
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The UK's highest numbered motorway is too narrow to have hard shoulders, too short to fit in a lay-by and has a junction named for a toll plaza that doesn't exist. The oddball M898 is full of surprises. #glasgow www.roads.org.uk/motorway/m898
M898
The highest-numbered motorway in the UK is a tiny spur that connects the Erskine Bridge to the motorway network west of Glasgow.
www.roads.org.uk
December 15, 2025 at 5:08 PM
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In the 1950s the man in charge of Oxfordshire's roads didn't like the UK's road signs, so he invented his own. The Ministry hated them - first because they weren't allowed, and second because they were better than the real thing. www.roads.org.uk/articles/oxf...
Oxfordshire Signs
This is the story of one man at Oxfordshire County Council who pre-empted the development of modern road signs - much to the annoyance of the men from the Ministry.
www.roads.org.uk
December 14, 2025 at 3:03 PM
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From the 1936 catalogue of the Tipton electrical manufacturing company of Revo. "Typical" street lighting installations inc. some v Thirties seaside stuff as well as the old Marble Arch layout in London. @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social @sabre-roads.org.uk @roads.org.uk @lccmunicipal.bsky.social
December 7, 2025 at 4:03 PM
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And you can see the route of what we lovingly call the PNLR right here on SABRE Maps:

www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/index.p...
December 5, 2025 at 5:56 PM
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Some of London's urban motorways were built. Some were planned but spades never hit the ground. And some were so vague, so ethereal, that we still don't even know what they were called. Take a journey with us on a road that's little more than a ghost. www.roads.org.uk/ringways/nor...
Possible North London Radial
Filling a gap in North London's road network, and potentially relieving two of London's existing major roads, this elusive motorway proposal never got beyond the ideas stage.
www.roads.org.uk
December 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
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On this day 67 years ago (1958): the M6 Preston Bypass opened. Once the solution to a major bottleneck, Britain's first motorway remained busy and has since been extensively rebuilt, now forming a key part of the national motorway network.
Picture credit: roads.org.uk
December 5, 2025 at 9:30 AM
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We like to mention sometimes that we have the world's largest freely available repository of relevant Ordnance Survey OpenData #maps - and there's still future plans to bring more. However, as we also periodically ask, we are missing some mapping from our archive.
December 3, 2025 at 6:02 PM
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Transport is full of terminology. Do you know your Pegasus from your Pelican? Could you point out a refuge or a repeater if you saw one in the wild? Don't worry, if you're lost in jargon our dictionary can help. www.roads.org.uk/dictionary
Dictionary
A comprehensive glossary of the terms used by those discussing British roads. Some are engineering terms, some were created by road enthusiasts, some have multiple meanings; all are defined here as…
www.roads.org.uk
December 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
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A suitable sign for the onset of winter. A 'pre-Worboys' direction sign at Chilton Moor, Co. Durham, as seen in Jan 1963, a bitter winter, by Ed Fulton on Flickr. Chilly & atmospheric for a child of the '60s! @showmeasign.online @roads.org.uk @sabre-roads.org.uk

flic.kr/p/2mJWwxV
December 1, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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Our collection of road sign fonts has been fuelling people's imagination for 20 years. If you haven't downloaded them yet, maybe now's the time to make your own road sign? www.roads.org.uk/fonts
Fonts
Download and keep the distinctive lettering styles used on UK road signs for free.
www.roads.org.uk
November 29, 2025 at 3:20 PM
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Westminster's council has spent several years trialling "3D" zebra crossings, in the hope the optical illusion will cause drivers to slow down. The artwork is nice but would you be fooled? We paid a visit to the first one when it had just opened. www.roads.org.uk/blog/3d-zebra
November 27, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Happy Birthday M50!

You can read more about it on the SABRE Wiki: www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/M50
November 28, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Voiceover: they really weren't.

If you want to learn more about traffic lights generally, then may we humbly suggest the SABRE Wiki: www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/Traffic...
November 27, 2025 at 7:37 AM
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You can drive London's North Circular today, but it would have been a different road if sixties planners had their way. Take a look at the plans that would have fitted it in to a city-wide network of motorways. #northcircular www.roads.org.uk/ringways/rin...
North Circular Road
1960s plans to upgrade the North Circular Road to form one of London's motorway "Ringways" would have seen it change out of all recognition.
www.roads.org.uk
November 24, 2025 at 5:08 PM
A massive fascinating new map of the Lancashire Road Plan published today on SABRE Maps, with accompaning articles on the SABRE Wiki. Have at it! buff.ly/a0ruuuS
November 24, 2025 at 9:04 PM
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Hopefully everyone has enjoyed the last three weeks when we've brought you roads plans from London, Glasgow and Manchester. So, tomorrow, we'll bring a fourth major roads plan to life - but this time instead of being a conurbation plan, it's that for a county. But which one?
November 23, 2025 at 8:10 PM
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Conwy is home to an impressive array of bridges and tunnels, many of them on (or formerly on) the A55. The Conwy Tunnel itself isn't the most glamorous but it's probably the most used. An unusual arch commemorates its opening and frames a view of the town. #conwy
November 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Our Maps team (@maps.sabre-roads.org.uk) uploaded a georeferenced scan of the 1962 SELNEC Highway Plan a few days ago.

Now we're joining in on the act, with the full text of the list of all routes proposed so that you can cross-reference with the map:
www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/SELNEC_...
Making sure you're not a bot!
www.sabre-roads.org.uk
November 22, 2025 at 9:53 PM