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| The M1 appreciation course | The M1 appreciation course |
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| By Stephanie Holmes BBC News | By Stephanie Holmes BBC News |
| There's more to motorways than Tarmac, tailbacks and tepid coffee served at tourist prices. To prove it a lecturer took a minibus of students on a day-long tour of the M1. | There's more to motorways than Tarmac, tailbacks and tepid coffee served at tourist prices. To prove it a lecturer took a minibus of students on a day-long tour of the M1. |
| Many people suppress feelings of mild dread at the idea of spending any time at all on a motorway. Few struggle with secret yearnings for the over-lit service stations areas that dot their routes. | Many people suppress feelings of mild dread at the idea of spending any time at all on a motorway. Few struggle with secret yearnings for the over-lit service stations areas that dot their routes. |
| Certainly, most would not choose to spend half their weekend thundering down the M1 - the road leading 193 miles (311 km) out of London - without the promise of, at least, arriving somewhere else. href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/magazine_enl_1225450388/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/magazine_enl_1225450388/html/1.stm', '1225450499', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=700,height=572,left=312,top=100'); return false;">M1 in 1959 BC (Before Congestion) href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/magazine_enl_1225450388/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/magazine_enl_1225450388/html/1.stm', '1225450499', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=700,height=572,left=312,top=100'); return false;" >Enlarge Image | |
| But, according to David Lawrence, who is equipped with a PhD on motorway service areas, it was very different in the not-so-distant past. | |
| As the shiny super-roads opened in the 1950s, "they became playgrounds for the fast and rich, rubbing shoulders with the newly affluent and motor-borne middle and working classes," says Mr Lawrence. | As the shiny super-roads opened in the 1950s, "they became playgrounds for the fast and rich, rubbing shoulders with the newly affluent and motor-borne middle and working classes," says Mr Lawrence. |
| "When the first motorways opened," he adds, "service stations were incredibly glamorous, modern venues which people would visit simply for the thrill of driving up the motorways." | "When the first motorways opened," he adds, "service stations were incredibly glamorous, modern venues which people would visit simply for the thrill of driving up the motorways." |
| As part of the London-based alternative education institute, the School of Life, Mr Lawrence is taking a small class of travellers, who have paid £95 each for the privilege, on a journey up and down the spine of England's motorway network - the M1. This is a trip into the familiar, to reveal the unknown. | As part of the London-based alternative education institute, the School of Life, Mr Lawrence is taking a small class of travellers, who have paid £95 each for the privilege, on a journey up and down the spine of England's motorway network - the M1. This is a trip into the familiar, to reveal the unknown. |
| Commerce and culture | Commerce and culture |
| He conjures up pictures of 1950s motorway service stations with staff whose sky-blue suits match the faux leather stools, neon light gleaming off the steel and Formica. | He conjures up pictures of 1950s motorway service stations with staff whose sky-blue suits match the faux leather stools, neon light gleaming off the steel and Formica. |
| While many might dismiss both motorways and their rest stops as inconvenient conveniences, Mr Lawrence wants us to view them fascinating microcosms of modern life. | While many might dismiss both motorways and their rest stops as inconvenient conveniences, Mr Lawrence wants us to view them fascinating microcosms of modern life. |
| "They are these strange concentrations of commercialism, branding, people, architecture and design," he says. "They change quite rapidly, becoming wonderful platforms to see how perceptions of popular and commercial culture are made, and erased, in rapid cycles." It is sometimes when you are on the road, that some of your best ideas come, that allow you a new perspective on your life Alain de Botton, writer It isn't all about the shopping, either, though you could be fooled into thinking otherwise as you wander amidst the bewildering array of items on sale - from milkshakes to Mars bars, via electric massage chairs and padded corduroy slippers. | |
| It's not just service areas that are the subject of this day-long lesson in motorway culture. There's the 193 miles of unbroken Tarmac that connects Staples Corner in London with Hook Moor in West Yorkshire. | It's not just service areas that are the subject of this day-long lesson in motorway culture. There's the 193 miles of unbroken Tarmac that connects Staples Corner in London with Hook Moor in West Yorkshire. |
| Mr Lawrence enthusiastically points out how clumps of trees, varying gradients and curving embankments were incorporated in the original design of the road, which opened in 1959, to offer a subtly stimulating driving experience, or to prevent you falling asleep at the wheel. | Mr Lawrence enthusiastically points out how clumps of trees, varying gradients and curving embankments were incorporated in the original design of the road, which opened in 1959, to offer a subtly stimulating driving experience, or to prevent you falling asleep at the wheel. |
| The way we adopt a grin-and-bear-it attitude to motorway traffic jams reveals much about British culture, he suggests. | The way we adopt a grin-and-bear-it attitude to motorway traffic jams reveals much about British culture, he suggests. |
| "It's like something out of JG Ballard novel - all these people in their steel and glass bubbles, prepared to put up with moving at an incredibly slow pace just to ensure privacy," says Mr Lawrence, who actually does not own a car - preferring to get about with a combination of public transport and folding bicycle. | "It's like something out of JG Ballard novel - all these people in their steel and glass bubbles, prepared to put up with moving at an incredibly slow pace just to ensure privacy," says Mr Lawrence, who actually does not own a car - preferring to get about with a combination of public transport and folding bicycle. |
| 'Just passing through' | 'Just passing through' |
| Writer and philosopher Alain de Botton, who meets this class of itinerant scholars at the Welcome Break, Newport Pagnell, is another unlikely fan of the service station. | Writer and philosopher Alain de Botton, who meets this class of itinerant scholars at the Welcome Break, Newport Pagnell, is another unlikely fan of the service station. |
| For him, the squat concrete buildings, harsh neon lighting and bland pop tinkle that tries, in vain, to strangle the drone of cars has a poetry all of its own. | For him, the squat concrete buildings, harsh neon lighting and bland pop tinkle that tries, in vain, to strangle the drone of cars has a poetry all of its own. |
| M1 FACTS One of first motorways to be opened in the UK, in 1959193 miles (311 km) in lengthMajor north-south route20m tonnes of earth and rock excavated to build road5,000 road builders brought to work on double-decker busesCanteens needed every 2.5 milesConstruction cost in 1959, £50m "They are the sort of places that most people think of as nightmarish," he says, sitting at a table near the hot food counter. | M1 FACTS One of first motorways to be opened in the UK, in 1959193 miles (311 km) in lengthMajor north-south route20m tonnes of earth and rock excavated to build road5,000 road builders brought to work on double-decker busesCanteens needed every 2.5 milesConstruction cost in 1959, £50m "They are the sort of places that most people think of as nightmarish," he says, sitting at a table near the hot food counter. |
| "They are lonely, but in a nice way. They are ugly but in a fun, interesting way. There is a special quality about them." | "They are lonely, but in a nice way. They are ugly but in a fun, interesting way. There is a special quality about them." |
| It's a quality, he points out, has inspired artists like Edward Hopper who returned repeatedly to the empty warmth of road cafes and petrol stations in paintings like Gas and Automat. | It's a quality, he points out, has inspired artists like Edward Hopper who returned repeatedly to the empty warmth of road cafes and petrol stations in paintings like Gas and Automat. |
| There is also a relief, Mr de Botton suggests, in surrendering to the embrace of loneliness in such a synthetic environment, where the feeling is almost a communal experience. | There is also a relief, Mr de Botton suggests, in surrendering to the embrace of loneliness in such a synthetic environment, where the feeling is almost a communal experience. |
| "It is a wonderful place to indulge that side of you that is lonely, that is sad, that is passing through. It's like listening to a very sad Leonard Cohen song. In a way it is grim, but it is also redemptive." | "It is a wonderful place to indulge that side of you that is lonely, that is sad, that is passing through. It's like listening to a very sad Leonard Cohen song. In a way it is grim, but it is also redemptive." |
| And, mingling with the heavy smell of fried food, there may also be just a whiff of romance. | And, mingling with the heavy smell of fried food, there may also be just a whiff of romance. |
| Where better, Mr de Botton asks, to feel that pang of desire than spotting a potential love interest across the food hall of a motorway service station - isolated, vulnerable and even unhappy. And flat broke from the cost of an over-priced full English, one supposes. | Where better, Mr de Botton asks, to feel that pang of desire than spotting a potential love interest across the food hall of a motorway service station - isolated, vulnerable and even unhappy. And flat broke from the cost of an over-priced full English, one supposes. |
| "That unhappiness, far from being off-putting, can actually be a peg on which your feelings of love can hang," he suggests. | "That unhappiness, far from being off-putting, can actually be a peg on which your feelings of love can hang," he suggests. |
| Altar to speed | Altar to speed |
| Love has oft blossomed in venues on the edges of motorways. In the 1960s, for example, the Ace Cafe - with its prime spot at the centre of a knot of motorways - gave teenagers a place to meet, listen to music, and, crucially, flirt.Ace cafe owner, Mark Wilsmore, has recreated a slice of motorway hey-day | Love has oft blossomed in venues on the edges of motorways. In the 1960s, for example, the Ace Cafe - with its prime spot at the centre of a knot of motorways - gave teenagers a place to meet, listen to music, and, crucially, flirt.Ace cafe owner, Mark Wilsmore, has recreated a slice of motorway hey-day |
| The man who brought the biker cafe back to life, recreating a venue where English breakfasts are served round-the-clock to hungry, leather-clad men and women, is 51-year-old Mark Wilsmore. | The man who brought the biker cafe back to life, recreating a venue where English breakfasts are served round-the-clock to hungry, leather-clad men and women, is 51-year-old Mark Wilsmore. |
| "It may sound corny but this space is as much about England as Windsor Castle, Tower Bridge or Stratford-upon-Avon," he says proudly. | "It may sound corny but this space is as much about England as Windsor Castle, Tower Bridge or Stratford-upon-Avon," he says proudly. |
| "This is almost a place held in as much esteem as Mecca and the Vatican. For those who love speed - who love wheels, rubber, tarmac and petrol engines - it's the high altar of speed." | "This is almost a place held in as much esteem as Mecca and the Vatican. For those who love speed - who love wheels, rubber, tarmac and petrol engines - it's the high altar of speed." |
| And, if the motorway is some kind of destination in its own right, then maybe we can all be pilgrims, spiritually inspired while moving at speed. | And, if the motorway is some kind of destination in its own right, then maybe we can all be pilgrims, spiritually inspired while moving at speed. |
| "It is sometimes when you are on the road, that some of your best ideas come, that allow you a new perspective on your life," muses Mr de Botton. | "It is sometimes when you are on the road, that some of your best ideas come, that allow you a new perspective on your life," muses Mr de Botton. |
| Mr Lawrence agrees. | Mr Lawrence agrees. |
| "We can still have adventure, even in our compressed and condensed society. That is the one thing that only the motorways can give us - the unpredictable unknown." | "We can still have adventure, even in our compressed and condensed society. That is the one thing that only the motorways can give us - the unpredictable unknown." |
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