Secrets of The Motorway - M25 Part 1 

'The project will cost £317 million pounds, and when it's finished, it will make no difference at all' 😂😂 ' The Roman artefacts are lovingly positioned next to the toilets' 😂😂 Keep on keepin' on Jon

Quick, build some more motorways! We can’t let this series end!

Junction 9 was built in the fashion it was so as to support the Leatherhead by-pass which runs parallel to the M25 and was built by Surrey CC at the same time as the motorway. The land had been reserved as it was originally going to be used to complete the extension of the Chessingto South railway branch to Leatherhead.

Finishing the 'secrets of the motorways' project with the highway to hell!

I love the ending where you pause for cars passing :)

Hi Jon. Another great video as always. Once you've finished Secrets of the Motorways you can continue the series as there are still the motorways of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as numerous A roads(e.g. the A14, the A55, the A38 Devon Expressway).

I think...regardless of how they got there...most people who end up in Tunbridge Wells would wonder 'what's gone wrong' 😂

Richard Stilgoe from That's Life (BBC 1) played the piano on the bridge over J3 which stood as a bridge for several years. It was called Bridge Over Troubled Mortar and was broadcast around 1975.

Another thing that's still in place at Wisley towards the east end of the runway is the Ockham VOR. This is an air traffic control radio navigation beacon, one of 4 that designates the final holding points for planes going into Heathrow. If you've ever come into Heathrow from the South West, you will have passed over this and probably circled over it (they actually turn 180deg at this point and then fly back for 1 minute before doing another 180 to head back to the beacon). Not sure how long it will be there, since ground based navigation is being replaced by GPS.

Would really appreciate you going back to some of the first ever motorways in the series and covering them in the increased detail that has developed here. M1 again please!!

The Junction 10 improvements are essentially for safety. North bound on the A3 fast traffic encounters a slip road from Ripley, a layby with traffic turning out of Wisley RHS, and a slip road to the M25 on a blind left hand bend. This makes it the most dangerous motorway junction in the country, with accidents every week. Of course, slowing traffic to 50mph would probably do the job nearly as well.

I loved in Cobham, went to school in Easy Horsley, so watched the stretch between J10 and J 9 being built for years.

What do you mean "only motorway we've got left"? There's a whole island just to the to the west of Britain full of quirky motorways to explore

I am amazed the video shows traffic actually moving on the M25

One of my abiding memories of the 1980s was an episode of Channel 4's "Treasure Hunt" around Surrey (as I was still living at home in London at the time), which started with Anneka Rice standing on a hill, overlooking the "ongoing construction work" for the "new" M25. Ah, the memories, simpler times...

Happy new year, Jon - thanks for the never-ending stream of stuff I didn't know I needed to know.

Hi Jon, I hope you’re good. I’ve just watched episodes 1 and 2 of the M25 series. Absolutely brilliant, very well researched and chuffing funny. Thanks for making.

The Map Men are still going here on RU-vid, their ringways video continues to accumulate millions of views. Great video as always and keep up the great work!

I've now got a long wait until you get to J28, which is where I have the pleasure of joining this wonderful motorway. By then they might have finished the "improvements" which include a new exit after the current one (going clockwise), which will then take you back on yourself and onto the A12 just before the current junction - meaning when the Brook Street roundabout gets snarled up, you will now have twice as many opportunities to get caught up in the traffic it causes...

I hope in the next episode you mention about the light aeroplane that landed on the section near Thorpe Park just before it opened.

Just love your dry sarcastic humor. Perfect!

"The bullshittery that's going on around junction 10" is the best explanation that I've ever heard of what is happening there. Brilliant mate. 👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿

Interesting from end to end 👍😀

Damn, the proposed motorway at leatherhead would’ve made my house a motorway view. Glad it’s not, and instead it’s very peaceful with only the faint sound of the M25 if the wind blows a certain direction.

This is the one I've been waiting for. Well done Jon, mammoth project.

As a regular user of that section of the M25 I have to disagree with you about the J10 upgrades, my understanding is (along with your pic) is that the each direction will get a dedicated lane turning left, so in effect bypassing the roundabout, that'll certainly help. That said, there's no provision like that for turning right! Anyway, interesting video as always 🙂.

Excellent video, as always. Your first pronunciation of Darenth was spot on by the way.

Interesting and funny. Thanks Jon.

Thank you John!

I remember Top Gear doing an interview with Bob Geldof, he was a construction worker on the M25 before his music career took off.

It was so nice to see Reigate J8 in this sweet video so lucky to live just down the road from it thank you 😊

First time here, the way you speak is great its relaxing and funny :)

When the M25 has been dealt with, looking forward to "Secrets of the B Roads!"

stuff like this is alluring and fascinating

What are you going to do now you're running out of motorways? There must be a load of similar auto-related bollocks you can cover. You do it so well!!

Gotta love the dripping sarcasm John.

3.33 if you are not paying attention.. I almost had a massive off there in 89 for that very reason. Coming back from Heathrow “missed” the turning but went for it. Panic breaking across the chevrons car got loose and spun. Luckily it was 11 at night and there were few cars only damage was to a slightly damaged alloy wheel but massively damaged underpants 😂

The only crash I've had was driving up Reigate hill on the M25. The lorry I hit bent the 'stalk' with the rear lights on back and and told the police he'd get the cracked light changed when he got back to his yard. He was asked to stay on the hard shoulder until he got up to speed - he looked at the hill (which is less steep than the long slip road) and said he'd try to before the traffic joined after the junction! This was in early 98. I'd been driving week days from Junctions 7 to 11 for over 2 years, watching the widening works progress slowly eastwards before this. My wife didn't like being called by the police at 7am, so we moved closer to my work in mid 98 ... 😊

I got a fu****g speeding ticket going over that bridge for the first time just in time before Christmas whilst doing a 200 mile journey from Sheffield. Happy New Year indeed.

08 01 24, Used to commute to N London via A1M , 2 lanes, & A1, 3 lanes. Remember on the older 3 lane A1, circa 1929, traffic seemed to move faster & have fewer road works than the newer slower A1M, circa 1975.

Its horrible to see how the country is sliced up with awful noisy dirty roads and traffic .

Quick reference to Pratchett and Gaiman with their description of the M25 in 'Good Omens'.

Brilliant video. Brilliant series BUT you are travelling West to Croydon from Dartford surely?

I remember well the original slip roads at J10. Initially the M25 terminated there and traffic had to transfer to the A217. A good way to get to North West London and even the M1 as I recall

As someone who just moved from Scotland and the M8 to West Horsley and have to contend with J10 of M25 every shift... Thanks for that... Then again no works being ongoing should be smoother than current experiences

Jay Foreman has a really good video about the ringways project in his Unfinished London series.

Also I’m surprised you were allowed to film with the drone at wisley airfield, cause the security told me I couldn’t when I once was flying my drone round there. And yes the A3/M25 junction is a fucking pain to navigate right now, and will be until 2025 earliest!

Another superb video!

'A proper shotshow of an orbital motorway,' or as I call it, 'The Magic Roundabout.'

Top work john

Brilliant video again! Coming off the M23 onto the M25 at jct 7 is like doing a dance with death 😅 As some others have mentioned, would be good to do the motorways of Northern Ireland; theres a veritable treasure trove if idiocy and incompetence in that particular rabbit hole

What about an episode on the new A30 in cornwall. 5* as always Jon👍, thanks.

07:00 I love VC10's having travelled to the Far East and back twice in them in the 60's and 70's sitting backwards. Beautiful over engineered aircraft.

With this series ending, we can all now look forward to, "The Secrets of the Cycle Lanes." Klaus Schwab would be so proud o' ya!

Ahh, the magic roundabout. Save the best til last!!

Brilliant episode Jon

I don't know how tongue in cheek your comment about taking a tractor through the Dartford tunnel is, but I did it a few times about twenty years ago in my old John Deere 4455, with a top speed of about 18mph. Although I couldn't get anywhere near that speed on the long drag up out of the tunnel coming home with a very laden trailer behind me.

my suggestion is either do former motorways or a roads next in the secrets of

If you want to see true roundabout motorway intersections, look at E6.01 in Malmö, Sweden . It's a small detour from the current E6/E20 and an older routing of that major motorway extension of the English M62 towards Russia (there's a few bits of A road in Sweden and Estonia, plus a cancelled ferry across the North Sea, but the E20 number persists)

So after all this time watching the channel you finally arrived at my closest motorway exit. Worth the wait 🤣🤣🤣

Could do a whole series on the GNR ; Wolfie Cooper wrote a book about it. Shows what a road geek I am, despite already having a copy three people have bought me other copies for birthdays or christmases :) Appalling road junctions have always interested me. Plenty of material there. Our own "Postwick Hub" (just outside Norwich) appears to have been designed by Pig Farmers.

IM BLESSED I LOVE THESE SERIES FINNALLY IS THE M25 (ps buld more motorways we cant let IT end)

You are sooooo right about ‘more lanes’🙄

A roads next? I'm also looking forward to your 2,500 episodes in your "Secrets of the 'B' Roads" series. Though joking aside maybe a "Secret 'C' Roads" series first maybe?

What a great series, Thanks

Brilliant as usual. What's next on the agenda? ..... I have scrolled to the bottom of the comments and nobody has piped up with what show the music is from? Ear worm grr

He's still gotta go back and do the M5 in more detail as he jumped over a HUGE chunk of it

Yay! Here's to the weekend 🎉

For your next series, A roads that should be Motorways but they won't pay to upgrade them!

By 1987 they were widening it by Heathrow.... proper nightmare as I recall

Thanks

Bloke at 4:42 thinking "🤨"

Not sure how well the new J10 will work. Having a longer roundabout will mean i creased speeds making it harder to pull out onto the roundabout. The most effective way to increase capacity is to reduce speed on the roundabout which sounds counter productive but works.

Beyond this last junction shown we get to the noisiest section of motorway in the UK, the ribbed concrete mess that was laid down when the M25 was built and will drive you insane in a Roller let alone anything else. Pity anyone living anywhere near there as the noise must border on illegal in this day & age.

loving this series John ! did you miss Cobham services ? ! lol

dude, you are a legend

Since you're coming to the end of 'all the motorways', I must ask if you've covered NI. We only have an M1, M2, M5 and M22 since I was a toddler , and more recently the short M3. Oh and there's the A8(M) hill too.

J9 was diverted away from the Fetcham Gap following pressure from local influential people namely amongst others a prominent Civil Servant in the then government not wanting the thing to go too near his house and hence devalue it - this also preserved the view despite the noise...

Nice. I hope you and your drone are going to wave from the place where "the New River" crosses the M25 just west of Junction 25 (Waltham Cross). I don't think I've ever been in a more scary place in life!!! 🤓😃 And it's a public path!!!!

Awesome Video

With you coming to the end of the motorways I assume your planning your “Secrets of the A roads” series ?

Thanks for the video, I fund your content fascinating.

As a regular victim of the Wisley Interchange (Jcn 10/A3) I can confirm that it is utter dogs eggs.

2:15 The first pronunciation is correct - the River Darent is what gives Dartford it's name (Darent+Ford)

Does the private residence, the ex-station house, really have access to the M25? Who is allowed to raise that boom, really? Little forbidden secret exits/entrances are always so fascinating to me

Check it out, is that the Supermarket Sweep theme tune at the end? 😂😂

Hello John. Happy New Year to you and all that read this post :)

Fantastic as ever, even more so because of the M25's familiarity. Before you run out of motorways, did you do the M10? (may it rest in peace)

"...and when it's finished it will make no difference at all" - 🤣

The joy of junction 10. 😢

You still have the M1, M2 and M3 in Northern Ireland

Thank you bloody sweet awesome video 😂

The series can continue, but in a controversial stylee, Northern Ireland? Would cost a bit, and I’m not sure film/drone stuff is allowed ….but it’s a thought. Loved every vid, even the short ones

Jon - how can we be coming to an end? I detect a disturbance (yes I should have used this reference last week) to my usual Sunday evenings.

From J27 to J 4 the M25 is actually one lane. How ? The slow lanes don't go all the way round like at J25 i t will take you off to Enfield. So all the trucks and vans on lane 4 jump into lane 3 , lane 3 also has the faster trucks ands vans so they jump into lane 2 with the passenger cars which only leaves the overtaking lane that can be solely used for passenger cars . Junctions like J25 , J21, J21A J22 , 15, 14 etc make huge parts of the M25 3 lanes with 2 lanes being occupied by trucks and vans.

I hear pretty much every part of that motorway every day on radio 2’s traffic bulletins 😆🧱👍🏽

Britain's busiest motorway is one expensive metropolitan controlled access beltway I've ever seen.

Just seen you featured on a VidIQ video for ultra-niche channels :)

If only they'd built the North Cross Route. The M40/A40, the East Cross Route, and the A2/M2 are all decent. Decent enough that the trundle along the Euston Road and Commercial Road and all the street names I've forgotten is often a less stressful option between Oxford and the Medway towns than the M25 past Heathrow.

What about best driving roads in the UK next? Or best views from roads?