MT 95/726

Chiswick-Langley: general. Includes 10 photographs depicting: M4 motorway: construction at Chiswick, Brentford and Boston Manor. ...

Date range	1962-1963
Location	National Archives (see all files stored here)
Catalogue	See entry
File base	Series MT, subseries MT 95

This file is truly delightful. It is likely to bring a smile to your face, probably because it contains the sort of thing that makes trawling through dusty archive documents worthwhile. The thing in this file that makes your day might actually have nothing to do with its subject matter.

Context

You don't get much less misfiled than this in the National Archives. This file contains five photographs of the eastern section of the M4 under construction, including both on the ground and aerial shots. You can easily see the famous "ironing board" J2 under construction, and how the M4 was plugged into the existing Chiswick Flyover.

There's a bunch of other stuff in here, including various technical drawings of the viaducts, but the pictures alone make this file worth investigating. The paperwork includes answers to Parliamentary questions about the project, discussion about a site on the route being used to store topsoil by a firm of contractors, etc.

There are also a number of plans in a folder at the back, including several showing what we'd now call haul routes for heavy plant during the motorway's construction, plans for the roundabout at the end of the airport spur, and a drawing of a proposed car park adjacent to the Great West Road.

People with camera copies

Ritchie has copies of the photos. Chris Marshall also has copies of the photos.