History in the marking as M62 sites win protection
THE Queen has witnessed sweeping social and cultural change throughout her reign – which might not render the opening of the M62 in 1971 a particularly significant milestone.
But the two commemorative plaques marking the official launch of the transpennine motorway are among six historic sites that were given protected status to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.
The sites were chosen to reflect important social, technical and cultural developments that peppered the Queen’s 70-year reign. All six were given listed status by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and have been visited by Her Majesty, often with the Duke of Edinburgh, as part of a royal tour.
The other listings include the first church built in Birmingham after the Second World War; the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch, London; the 19thcentury Imperial Hotel in Stroud, Glos; the art deco Sun Pavilion and Colonnade in Harrogate, North Yorks; and the Hampshire Archives in Winchester, formally opened by the Queen in 1993.
The M62 was launched by the monarch at Huddersfield station in October 1971. She described it as a “tribute to the endeavour and tenacity of all concerned”.
Cutting through the Pennine hills and moorland peat had proved a mammoth task, with one seven-mile stretch taking seven years to construct.
Reaching a summit of 1,220ft across the Lancashire-yorkshire border, it became the country’s highest motorway.
Two plaques on pyramidal marker stones were constructed in commemoration of the achievement, one on each side of the M62, marking the boundary between the two counties.
In place of county names, the markers display the red rose of the House of Lancaster and the white rose of the House of York, and were built with local Pennine aggregate and stone.