Keep being asked what you want for Christmas? Or maybe you’d just like to treat yourself. No problem: here’s our pick of road-related Christmas treats for 2021.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll have no idea what to suggest when people ask what you want for Christmas. And what I never get are roads-related presents. But they are out there, if you know where to look - so, if your Christmas shopping isn’t done yet, here’s some present ideas for the road fan in your life. (Even if the road fan in your life is you… go on, treat yourself.)
Let’s start with some books.
Unbuilt
Here at Roads.org.uk we have a fascination with grand plans that never came to be - our extensive coverage of London’s Ringways is testament to that. How about a whole book of such things?
Unbuilt by Christopher Beanland is a very beautiful hardback book full of colour illustrations and fascinating stories of dreams that never became reality. Some are buildings that never made it to construction; others are whole cities, like the never-built Warwickshire new town of Civilia or Albert Speer’s plans to reconstruct Nazi-era Berlin into a new world capital. And many, of course, are transport projects, from the everyday (Sheffield’s original Minitram concept, or the first floor walkways once planned to link up office buildings in Leeds) to the fantastic, like a fixed crossing of the Bering Strait.
And yes, of course, the Ringways are in there too. How could they not be?
Find it wherever you buy your books, RRP £25.
The story of the B1222
Spaceplay specialise in art prints and ornaments that celebrate brutalist architecture across the UK, and as part of their collection of miniature sculptures, you could own your own little Pennine Tower - cast in concrete, no less - to show off to your baffled friends and family. It’s an edition of just 200 so don’t wait if you want to get hold of one.
Available direct from Spaceplay, £30.
Lost destinations
Liverpool-based art studio Dorothy have a whole collection of beautiful prints in their Lost Destinations series, all celebrating unique and often forgotten landmarks, design icons and brutalist buildings from across the UK, which either go unrecognised or which have even been destroyed.
In amongst famous places like Manchester’s Hacienda nightclub and the twin towers at Wembley (which were, incidentally, designed by Owen Williams, who was also responsible for the concrete bridges gracing the A82 across Glen Coe and the original section of the M1), you’ll find prints of Spaghetti Junction, Stockwell Bus Garage and, yes, the Pennine Tower at Forton Services.
Available direct from Dorothy, £30-£35.
Leeds: Motorway City of the Seventies
As a child of Leeds it would be unforgivable to miss this one out. In one of the less successful attempts at establishing an air of civic pride and purpose, back in the 1970s Leeds adopted the slogan “Leeds: Motorway City of the Seventies”, and had those words included in its postmark, stamping it onto all outgoing mail.
Today it sounds like the most improbable slogan imaginable, but it also says something about how motorways were perceived in their early years, how northern cities desperate to find a future beyond their grimy industrial roots pinned their hopes on regeneration plans that were heavy on plate glass and concrete, and how much the associations that go with the word “motorway” have changed in half a century.
If you have a little bit of that nostalgia and fascination for a simpler time, when a “motorway city” was something that might have been a cause for celebration, then you might want to get yourself something featuring Leeds City Council’s decidedly brutal and modern logo from that era. The Modernist are selling just that. The car and window stickers have sold out (though you can sign up to receive an email when they’re back in stock), but the enamel pin badges are even better and are still on sale. Get them while they last.
Buy direct from The Modernist, £8.
