The Monday Photo

Until about 1981 this narrow twisty lane was part of the main road from Olney to Wellingborough; the A509.

The lane just leads up to a farm now, but imagine driving along here on a dark winter’s rush hour evening in the 1970s, with the ineffective headlights of the time. You’d be struggling to see as car after car and articulated lorries came towards you through the rain.

Nor would I want to be broken down on this road with my bike parked where it is now; there’s barely enough room for a lorry to get by.

The two trees behind the woodpile In the background show where the old road turned sharp right. An even sharper bend can still be seen now about a third of a mile away behind the camera.  It’s on the far side now of the much straightened A509.

Like many main roads this one has been an important route for a very long time, and was once the Newport Pagnell to Kettering turnpike, which opened in 1754.

In 1979 work on the Newport Pagnell bypass began, and the project went far past the town, bypassing Sherington and Emberton too. Work at the Emberton stretch was going on in 1980 and I think that the straightening of this stretch of road at Warrington was done as part of the project in 1980 or 1981.

You might know of a funny little piece of road left over from road improvements; why don’t you see if you can work out what the original road layout used to be?