Inside the M62 house built in the middle of six lanes of traffic
As motorists approach Stott Hall Farm between Greater Manchester and Huddersfield, the surrounding lanes of the M62 diverge to encircle the property before reconvening further along the route. Myths have swirled around the solitary whitewashed building and its adjacent fields for years. Constructed during the 1960s, local chatter suggests that when the six-lane motorway received the green light, the then owner Ken Wild stubbornly refused to sell up.
Legend has it that this left planners with no choice but to devise a motorway that skirted around the homestead, reports the Mirror[1]. Ken shared this home with his wife, Beth, and their sheep herd. However, the image of Ken Wild as a defiant challenger to the development of the motorway is far from accurate.
A documentary shot two decades post construction shatters the myth; the footage, released by the BFI and titled Clegg’s People, uncovers the real reason the farm is enveloped by the highway. The programme’s host, Michael Clegg, clarifies: “A geological fault beneath the farmhouse meant it was more practical for engineers to leave it rather than blast through and destroy it. Outside the noise is relentless but inside it’s as peaceful and cosy as any farmhouse.”
Ken and his wife Beth had moved into the farmhouse in 1934 and always insisted the motorway didn’t bother them. Although Beth did admit it made cleaning harder as the sheer number of cars speeding by meant it could get very dusty. Heartbreakingly though, the couple did witness a few fatal crashes while they were living on the farm.
But the nearest they came to disaster was 4.20am one morning when a 32ft lorry ended up overturned in their yard.
(Image: DAH Sports Images)
Beth explained: “The driver climbed out through the windscreen. He wasn’t hurt at all.” Eleven years ago, Jill Falkingham bought the house along with her husband Phil, and the couple moved in with their son, John-William. They completely renovated the home, which dates back to 1737, and Jill has always insisted it’s no different to living anywhere else.
“Traffic is very close, but it’s always windy here, which takes the pollution away. Students from the University of Huddersfield took soil and air samples and actually pollution is surprisingly low. We have treble glazing and it’s no different to living anywhere that has a road.”
The only thing that can be a frustration is the constant noise, which Jill says she’s “sensitive” to. But she stressed she’d loved living in the unusual home. Jill expressed her differing opinion on the local perception, saying: “A lot of people say it’s bleak and like Wuthering Heights but I don’t see it like that.
I think it’s beautiful.”
(Image: PA)
References
- ^ the Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Our Yorkshire Farm returning to TV despite Amanda and Clive split (www.examinerlive.co.uk)