Opening of M6

Opening of M6
Opening of M6
Opening of M6
iBase ID
344544
Reference identifier
DDX 3746-2-3470
Title
Opening of M6
Place
Accrington
Personal names
James Drake
General notes
Harold MacMillan who was Prime Minister at the time, is shown speaking at the opening of the M6 motorway at Preston. The motorway at that time was the stretch between Junctions 29 and 32 today. The motorway was the first to be built and opened in Britain and was designed by a former pupil of Accrington Grammar School, Sir James Drake, County Surveyor.

This image was kindly provided by Garth Dawson's family, who also retain the copyright. It has been made available in Red Rose Collections by volunteers as part of the Keeping East Lancashire in the Picture project. If you want to tell us anything about it, or share it more widely, please use the Comment and Share buttons above.

User feedback -

The person to the right of H MacMillan is not J Drake.
There is a similar photograph to this in 'Images of Chorley' (ISBN 1 873626 82 7 p100. Published by the Chorley Guardian, it may well be included in the George Birtill collection.)
The 'Images' photo has three people on the podium including on the right, James Drake, County Surveyor AND Bridgemaster. 10 years after this opening ceremony I started work for James Drake but I'm not sure he was actually aware of my presence in the organisation.


02/12/2025.
Medium
Negative
Colour
Monochrome
Year of image
1958
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Subjects
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