Secrets of The Motorway - M5 

Hello, How the devil are you!? The M5... finally... there has been a lot of requests for this one. As the M5 is so bloody massive, there's an almost 100% chance I've missed that thing you know about. Filming took two days for this episode, you might notice the sudden change from late afternoon to early morning 😂 Anyway, thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed the video.

The M5 is a convenient place to store holidaymakers from the Midlands during the summer.

As someone who likes driving, maps, abandoned infrastructure, aerial views of Britain, obscure historical trivia and presenters with a self-deprecating sense of humour, your content is now one of the highlights of my week. It looks like it's a full-time activity so I hope you're able to turn it into a profitable business. All the best to you, mate.

Nice. As a regular user and former denizen of Devon, the river Exe is pronounced simply, 'X'. The site of the horrific fire is often shrouded in thick fog, such that I once had to slow to 30mph. The worrying thing is that apparently the majority of people can see clearly in thick fog and continue to drive at 80mph. Also worth a mention and possibly visit is the relatively new Glocester Services, between junction 12 & 11a, that features a farm shop and is relatively unique in not being run by one of the large companies.

Cool to see you mentioned the RAC building. Spent 4 years working there, couple of fun facts for you; 1.) the meeting room is rarely used, it moves a hell of a lot in the wind (even has a wind speed gauge) 2.) lovely, spacious building to work in with lots of natural light, also boiling hot in the summer even with the sun shades down, can be cold in the winter unless the heating was on full blast. Also very noisy, not ideal when trying to talk to a customer. 3.) Glass panels have a tendency to fall out on occasion 😅 Still one of the nicer places I’ve worked in.

Surprised that you didn't mention the split level carriageway between Jct 19 and 20, Always found that a unique part of driving the M5. I have been stuck in standstill traffic before and the difference in elevation is even more pronounced when you get out the car and look over the barrier.

*TOP TIP:* JUNCTION 30; If you need fuel and food, don't stop at the Moto services, you WILL be charged extortionate motorway prices. Instead come off the roundabout onto the A379, then turn right into Tesco Extra! Its not even 5 minutes away from the roundabout. Get fuel and get a Clubcard meal deal sandwich!!

The start of ‘How the devil are you? Have you had a good week?’ are the most comforting words now known to me.

"How old? Well old." - that's how I feel at times! 😄 Thank you for another fab video, sending sunny greetings from South Africa! 👋🇿🇦

I could listen to this guy talk about absolutely anything all day. Love it

Road over canal over another canal - chef's kiss.

The sliproad between J28-29 was the former access to the "Cullompton Bypass" which was one of the first parts of the M5 to be built. The B3181 is the old A38. And the correct pronunciation of Michaelwood is "Mickelwood," although that's been lost in the sands of time!

The split level bit from the start of the video is one of my favourite motorway views in the country,

You missed the camels at Bridgwater, gutted.

just south of the willow man is humphrey the camel, a well known landmark. He was absent for a few years but is now back. But the hedges have grown a bit and he is partially obscured. the whole bridgwater section was infamous for the smell from the nearby cellophane factory, now since closed. north of junction 22 off to the west is the brent knoll hill fort also between clevedon and portishead is the somewhat interesting two-tiered section as the motorway hugs the side of a steep hill

You missed the funky stretch just before the bridge at Bristol where the carriageway splits onto two levels.

Whoops! Being a local, the river Exe is pronounced Ex, as in the letter X, not Exey. Excellent prezentation as always and very interesting.

I live pretty close to the wonderful "interchange" you showed at Oldbury, with the Motorway, Railway and BOTH Canals - three centuries of transport history in one place!

I have never been to the UK, I didn't know about a lot of these motorways until watching this series, I have lived in Poland for my entire life, and don't even care that much for motorways, why am I enjoying this so much? I don't know, but it's fun!

You missed something between J8 and J6. The bridges over the motorway are extra large with a wide grass strip being obvious. This is a legacy of when that part of the M5 was widened from 2 to 3 lanes in the 1980s. They used a technique called "parallel widening" where, in effect, they built a new carriageway alongside the existing ones, moved all the traffic across whilst they then widened the other carriageway. What was left was abandoned and buried ! You can see this at the secret junction you mentioned between J8 and J7 where the bridge is much wider than expected on the northbound side!

Could have done the split level bit between Avonmouth and Clevedon, also does the part running across the Somerset levels count as the lowest Motorway in the UK.

That Police entrance between J28 and J29 is the remains of the A38 Cullompton bypass, which was built on the line of the M5 and ran from a point near Diggerland, past Cullompton with a junction that is now J28, before ending at that Police entrance.

I have so many memories of this motorway, including those annoying queues in the summer and Bank Holiday. But besides that, the M5 is one of my favourite motorways in the country.

Fun M5 fact: The game Dear Esther describes a crash on the M5, and at some point you are walking along the carriageway approaching junction 19 (and the Welcome Break services).

I haven't been down the M5 for a few years and it's heart breaking to see what's become of Willow Man! 😥

The RAC headquarters is shaped in honour of the Wankel engine, which has helped to keep them busy for decades.

Love the Asda petrol station tip. Interesting fact, we stumbled across it purely by accident last weekend while coming home from Birmingham. Decided to pull off to go into town to look for cheaper fuel, and there it was! Hey presto. Loving the videos, keep them coming.

I’m not quite sure how I’ve found myself watching secrets of the motorway but that’s the joy of RU-vid I guess. Regardless your videos are brilliant! Really impressed by how informative, concise and entertaining your delivery is, you clearly put in a lot of work. Keep it up!

Considering I am a 16 year old who doesn't have any interest in roads and the secrets they may be hiding this video was oddly entertaining from the content to the comedy, definitely subscribing for more

We have gone over the Avon bridge loads of times. If my husband was in the works van whilst it was empty and going over that bridge there are some strong cross winds there, and he would be fighting to stop it veering into the wrong lane whilst his arse took chunks out of the seat. All very familiar. Not far from the Avonmouth junction, there is another junction where you can turn off into the Cribbs Causeway retail centre. The traffic there gets insane and around Christmas it turns into a giant car park with lots of people sitting there for literally hours trying to get out of the retail park and onto the motorway. Deepest joy!!! This is why On-Line shopping was invented. It's a hellish place.

Still fantastic, thank you 👍

S.O.T.M. is the highlight of my Sunday! (I don't get out much)

But... but... you missed Gloucester services! Grassed over roof, awesome farm shop produce, spicy cured sausages such as beer sticks, and a butchers' counter with a window behind through to the cold room! Fab episode. You must check out Gloucester services next time you're over that way, its one of the nicest services around.

Another interesting video once again! This series really is entertaining yet factual. Thanks for making them.

Drove the length of it today on the way back from Cornwall to Birmingham and despite that I still want to watch another 10 minutes of it, such is the lure of this series. Great work as ever!

I love that motorway bridge above the railway bridge above the canal bridge above the canal!

The M5 is my favourite motorway...driving on it means I'm travelling down to Cornwall for my holidays!!! Sedgemoor services is my all time favourite service station. Michaelwood and Exeter are dear to my heart too! And oh my godness...The Mike & Angelo theme music!

I have only started to use the M5 a few years ago since my son and his family moved to Bristol as far as Cribbs causeway or the Portbury intersection. On one trip the traffic was backed up to I junction 13 so joined the A38 the traffic was stationary when I passed under the M5 at 16.

Skipping Gloucester services?? 😱 And the odd Junction 11A? And the upgrades planned on Junction 10? And the project to rebuild the Stroudwater canal under the motorway near Junction 13?

As a child I remember seeing a lot of the M5 being built and then we used it regularly once it was open. South of Worcester landmarks I used to look out for were the derelict traction engine near the M50 junction, the ruined stone house (long since gone) on the left when driving south somewhere near Gloucester, a small yard of derelict cars on the left when heading north somewhere between J13 and Bristol and the scrapyard near Churchdown. Fr several years there was also a Mk IV Zephyr estate parked (looking somewhat derelict) visible from the southbound carriageway somewhere near there, too. Plus the old airfield, with its control tower, that I can't even see nowadays! More recently the camel and elephant - which seemed to be visible in the eighties.

I have no idea why I am following you other than your dry humor and sarcastic entertainment peppered with historical interest. I look forward to it! I am in the USA and will probably never drive these roads in the UK. Love it, crack on!

Not mention of the split high/low part?

Thank you, John / Jon. It is enjoyable to see the modern roadways and their precursors.

Good stuff I like the way it starts off with 12th cent bridges over beautiful villages and the other end its birmingham ..... just birmingham

River Exxy!? Ummmm...bad start!

When I was at Uni in the late 70's, I read an article about the Avonmouth Bridge. Someone worked out that the amount of paper produced by the computers in its design, was enough to wallpaper the bridge completely...road surface and all!

My only regret is that when I travelled the motorways, I was always heading much further north and I used to see lots of places that I would have liked to stop at and visit, but it wasn't practical. Thank you for bringing us these little pearls about points on the way. I rarely drove through the M5/M6 interchange without delay (even at night), but I remember one bright spark sprayed on the bridge " Congratulations you have reached the M5/ M6 interchange, now get out and ****ing walk because it will be quicker". Thanks and happy motoring!

Loved the choice of Mike and Angelo music!

YOU MISSED OUT Humphrey the CAMEL AT Bridgwater

I live about half a mile from the M5. I can hear the traffic on it in the evening and at night time. Was waiting for this one!

John, another cracking video, I really like your delivery and dry humour !

The M5 is so long this could’ve been a 2 parter :)

FYI, it's the river Exe and it's pronounced 'X', not 'Ecksee...'

Cheers John!

You missed one of the more hilarious design aspects of the M5 from its earlier days where, having travelled on a three lane carriageway through the Gloucestershire and Worcestershire countryside, on approaching Birmingham, our second largest city, it narrowed to two lanes. This was not finally resolved until the mid 90s. There are still bits where there are no hard shoulders thanks to this. Also, if you are going to look at significant sites within sight of the motorway, Glastonbury Tor was surely worth a mention.

Loved this, next time I am on the m5 stuck in a never ending jam I will be sure to look out for these

I remember seeing the Willow Man in his prime when he was installed in the field. Back in the early 2000's the houses weren't there and all that surrounded the sculpture was fields, cows and a local farm. A bit further down from the willow man another sculpture once featured which was a camel looking over the hedge. This disappeared when the housing estate engulfed the farm and surrounding land.

The J2 Asda! Been my favourite ‘services’ for 15 years! Love this channel.

Do you know that the Weston super mare junction was built unusually wide because it was planned to have a southern version of the M32

I’m a worker at Michaelwood services, just a few days after this video was posted the bridge was opened

The famous (it is to me) Humphrey the Camel at M5 marker post 191/8, street view dated Sept 2022. On his own and set back in the field. Used to overlook the fence and was a lot easier to see. I remember seeing a banner celebrating his 21st birthday, and I bet that was about 20 years ago.

Love it when you say.."Not my job mate" known the world over as. One man one job a real 90's expression.

I used to travel from Birmingham to Taunton to go back and forth from uni regularly back in 2005-2008 and Willow Man was always a good indicator of where I was on the journey! It's sad to see it falling into that state now.

You forgot two points of the M5. First being the construction of Wynol Viaduct the split level section high above the Gordano valley. Also junction 20 clevedon originally built to be a motorway regulation junction only where the southern tip of the Bristol ring road should of met it.

You missed the camel(s), near the Willow man. Always used to be my reference before the Willow man came along.

This answered a handful of questions I've always had about these local landmarks. Also the fact you must've gone into part of Bridgwater for part of this video is very commendable.

The river Exee!

Wicked, Sweet, Awesome - yet again! You thoroughly deserve the 100K - I hope you get there soon 👍

At 06:07 into the video on the right of river is the ancient maritime village of Pill… the village where john Cabot’s Matthew left in 1497 and where the founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley visited and wrote “a place famous for generations to generations, even as kingswood itself, for stupid, brutal abounded wickedness” Also the Wurzels second home which they loved so much they wrote a song about it… it’s called Pill Pill I love thee still.

Another brilliant video, John - cheers!

Once again you don't disappoint. I honestly never realised that our motorways held such secrets. Another most excellent excursion into a world of wonder.

Yay, nearly new bridge time 🎉

Just thought I'd add Junction 11A which is (I believe) the only junction of its type on the M5. It connects the M5 directly to the A417 which is a corridor that cuts through the Cotswolds and eventually turns into the A419 which meets the M4 at Swindon. This means it's a busy link for those going from the Midlands and north west down to the south coast. Junction 11A is a weird one as it features one slip road being like those used in cloverleaf junctions, whilst the others feed around it to their relevant destinations. It's designed to bias traffic coming from the M5 Southbound onto the A417 East while biasing traffic coming the other way from the A417 east onto the M5 northbound. Traffic can't go from the M5 Southbound to the A417 west, those drivers must use junction 11 for the A40 or continue going east on the A417 before looping back at the junction before Birdlip.

I was really looking forward to the M5 one being that I grew up in Exeter, but also because my father was involved with surveying the split level section south west of Bristol. It’s an absolute nightmare for traffic in holiday season these days but it’s still got a lot to offer if you know where to look. Thanks as always for a great video.

I love your videos and humour John. The one thing I like about the bridge over the Avon is you can walk or cycle across it and the views are magnificent .

Great vid as always Jon. If you carried down the Exeter ship canal to where it goes into the river you will find a hotel, another lock and the cup of tea you were after

There's a weird thing about the number of the M5. Most of the other UK motorways are numbered according to the number of the main trunk road they run alongside. The A1 runs London to the Northeast, the M1 runs a few miles to the west, in a very similar direction. The M4 runs from London to South Wales, very close the the A4 trunk road. The A3 and M3 both run southwest from London. Not gonna lost every trunk road but get a UK road map and you'll see what I mean. Meanwhile, the A5 runs from London to North Wales, passing through the West Midlands just north of Birmingham. Whereas the M5 runs from South Birmingham to the southwest, in a direction at right angles the the A5. They don't come within twenty miles of each other, whereas most other motorways cross their trunk road counterparts many times. If they'd numbered the M5 according to its closest trunk road, it would be the M38, as the A38 runs southwest to northeast from Plymouth, through Exeter and Birmingam.

Spot on vlog John so interesting keep coming 👍 John

Willow Man was one of the things I looked for when I was 5ish years old, heading down to the south coast to see my grandparents, commenting to my mum whenever we passed, now 20 years on I feel a roadtrip coming on, thankyou for reminding me of this and another great video!

Brilliant been waiting for this one too as I live in Exeter 😀😀😀😀😀

Jon I really do enjoy your videos, however, I realise I'm being a bit pedantic but being a pedant it comes easily!! What you referred to as Exeter SHIPPING canal is in fact the Exeter SHIP canal. What you referred to as the river EXEE is in fact just the river X. I know it's not important but you need to be told!! Keep up the good work

Only recently found these videos. But I thoroughly enjoy them. I love roads generally but I do love my motorways. Whether driving on them or learning about them!

That was, indeed, wicked sweet awesome.👍

Would have loved to have learned more about the strange slip road layout southbound at junction 21. Rumour has it that was designed this way to allow a flyover to connect with a planned motorway spur direct into Weston super Mare. I believe this spur was shown on an atlas sometime in the 1970’s but, there is no other information that I can find. Further up the M5 at junction 20 (Clevedon), there was supposed to be another spur motorway connecting to Long Ashton as part of a planned ring road type system like that what was planned for London. Apparently, the unusually large central reservation between junction 20 and 21 Southbound was to allow for 4 lanes to take into account this spur to Long Ashton that was never built.

Absolute belta of an instalment, love the humour and the tangents you go down, I can imagine you have a combination of known facts, quick wiki searches, proper investigations, surprises found while on site and rabbit holes explored when prepping for these videos. I watch with my 8 year old son (we’ve watch all instalments). With this level of quality, facts and humour you will have no issues reaching the 100K subscribers!

Great vid once again. So glad you're getting the views and subscribers you deserve mate.

Was only driving the M5 J1 - J12 today and thought isn’t it about time you did the M5 - and you have - cheers!

Great content as always!

Thanks for making my Sunday John.

Another very enjoyable video, thanks for all your efforts!

Thanks for this one. Have been looking forward to an M5 video as this is the motorway we use the most as we live near Exeter. Never knew about that led tower near Weston Super Mare and thanks for the tip about the ASDA near J2. A great presentation with nice touches of humour. 😀

I don't know how you could not mention the Wynhol Viaducts at Gordano, where the road splits in 2 and you can get under it. Also along the Avonmouth Bridge there is also a footpath along the M5 you can walk along, next to one of the entrances to the footpaths on the Somerset side there's some sculptures of a hammer and spanner, they were put there to commemorate the bridge widening in 2000. There used to be a footpath on both sides, one was removed for the widening. Part of the old walk way to the footpath on the other side can still be walked along on the Somerset side. I think it would also have been worth talking about Junction 11a, for being such a mess.

Next to J11 at Cheltenham and Gloucester there is a bridge that connects two sides of a farm that the motorway cuts through. Sometimes you can see the cows being herded across!

I've had a great week thanks John!

Your videos are great…thank you so much 👏😃👍

Excellent 👌🏼 I’ll be on the M5 on Monday on my way down to Exeter area. I’ll keep my eyes open for these objects you’ve kindly showed us

You mention the cheaper fuel near jct 2. At one time the major supermarkets published booklets with the locations of their stores. You could find many of them within half a mile or so of a m/way jct and they make for a much cheaper food and fuel option. The booklets have long gone but I still check for suitably positioned stores before making long journeys and of course you can pre programme you sat nav to highlight thenm. One case to point out a Tesco just on the town side of M6 jct 43 which is nicely positioned between Southwaite Services and Gretna services.

The river Exe is pronounced “X” and Clyst St. Mary is pronounced “Clist” - hope this helps…. Great to see you in the South West!

That was a non stop breathless trip, nice one!

THANK YOU JOHN