Life in the village by the M62 where one issue has residents divided
Some find it 'strangely relaxing' - but others can't stand it
09:46, 11 Oct 2025
View 3 ImagesOutlane resident Mark Earnshaw(Image: Yorkshire Live)
Residents of a West Yorkshire village just metres from one of the country's busiest motorways are divided on one issue: the noise.
Mark Earnshaw has lived a stone's throw from the M62 for a long time. He's lived so long in Outlane that he can remember when the M62 was built and opened, Yorkshire Live reports.[1][2]
The retired courier, who is 70, has always lived in Outlane, a village which can trace its history to Roman times and these days straddles the Kirklees Calderdale boundary.
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Perhaps surprisingly, the din of the motorway, with its heavy lorries and frequent accidents, doesn't bother Mark, although he jokes that he has taken to talking rather loudly.
"Outlane has everything going for it," says Mark.
"We are on the main bus route, and down the road you have Salendine Nook for a supermarket and Post Office. It's about a mile away and you can walk it if you are fit.
"There is good shopping in the village and we have a general store."
Although he says Outlane "is not quite as good as it used to be", he's happy with village life.
There's a chippy and a curry house, a florists, a general store, a pub and more.
View 3 ImagesNew Hey Road, Outlane
Like many Outlane locals, Mark has an opinion about the M62. The motorway was built in stages, with the Huddersfield section opening in 1970 when Mark was a teenager.
"I have lived next to it since it was put up. I don't bother about it," he said.
"Incomers can't stand it.
I talk loud because I was born next to the motorway."
Mark says he's heard of people buying or renting a house in Outlane but then moving out soon afterwards.
"They can't stand the motorway - and then they are gone."
And he warns that Outlane can be chillier as it is several hundred feet above sea level. "Down in Lindley it's two coats warmer," he laughs.
One of his neighbours, Philip Schofield, isn't too fussed about the M62 but is more concerned about New Hey Road, the main road through Outlane which he says is dangerous due to "idiots and boy racers."
The route through the village is 30mph. Philip, and others, have campaigned for road safety improvements.
Philip says: "Eighteen months ago someone came round the corner at about 90mph and crashed. He got out and walked away.
His car was a write-off. I have lost about 13 wing mirrors."
He's happy to live in Outlane, despite his road safety worries. And he says the M62 isn't an issue.
"It never bothers me.
I go in my garden and never think about the motorway. You just get used to it."
However, one of his neighbours had to move out because of the traffic noise. "She lasted six months.
View 3 ImagesJust how close the village is to the motorway(Image: Google Maps)
"She had to move out because she could hear the motorway in the back bedroom. In the front bedroom she could hear New Hey Road.
She worked as a nurse and couldn't sleep."
Villagers love the network of footpaths in the village which can take walkers around Outlane Golf Club and out towards Scapegoat Hill and Golcar, or down towards Elland. There's also a florist, a bowling and social club, and The White Swan pub.
Carolyn Thompson Smith, who can hear the M62 from her house, said she found the hum of the motorway "strangely relaxing".
"I listen to the hum of the motorway and find it restful," she said. She loves meeting up with fellow dog walkers and says she finds "solitude" in Outlane village which cannot be found in busier places.
The mum of four added: "It's a nice little village to raise children."
Danny, who has lived in Outlane for over a decade, says he likes the area and feels that "people keep themselves to themselves."
He doesn't mind living near the motorway and said: "It's white noise to me.
I would rather have it than not have it.
Article continues below"I miss it when it's quiet.
If there's an accident, and the traffic has stopped, it pricks your ears up."