Building the M1 (Archive footage)

We had a fantastic response to last weeks blog post on the "Old School" machinery training topic, with my inbox overflowing with messages about it, so I thought I would re-invent a blog I did some years ago on the old platform, featuring a classic video about the construction of the M1 motorway.

The film which was entitled Major Road Ahead was produced in 1958 by the John Laing Film Unit, to document the action during the building of what was Britain’s first ever motorway, the iconic M1.

The film features some classic old machines from the likes of Caterpillar, Euclid, Ruston Bucyrus and International to name a few.

A wide variety of machines are included in the film including dozers, dumpers, dragline/cranes, graders, motor and towed scrapers, rollers and much more, in an intriguing all our yesterday's style.

It's well worth 18 minutes of anyone's time, and not a Hi-Viz jacket in sight, just the traditional donkey jacket that were the norm in those days!

How did we ever manage to survive on site without all of today's PPE!