Hacker News Reader

Comment by dash2 | Hacker News Reader

I'm trying to think if there are any iconic roads in Britain, the way that Route 66 is in America. Ireland has the N17 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32-WdYOeJLk). The M1 is pretty famous - it runs up and down the country like a spinal column - but I can't think of any songs. The M25, which goes round London, is known for its traffic jams and gave Orbital their name (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV-hSgL1R74).

View on HN

How about the A303 ( https://youtu.be/I5g8qlIDUVI )

As featured in the programme "A303: Highway to the Sun" [0]

[0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0116ly6

I question whether a Kula Shaker song can make a road iconic... :-D

It's not iconic in the same way, but Watling Street is certainly iconic from a historical perspective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watling_Street

Look back a little, and before the M1 we had the Great North Road https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_North_Road_(Great_Britai..., which I think comes much closer to "iconic" status.

And yes, it appears in songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH1buq3Ks0I

GOOD GOD, Sting! This is even worse than Kula Shaker. Hmm, OK, that's quite a decent song.

Britain's longest road, the A1. Very scenic in places, and can be wild in winter. The BBC even made a series about it [0].

Apropos of the Wikipedia article and out of general interest, any HN'ers closer to the zone 2 roadsign shown than me? (just off the A281 at Partridge Green).

[0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08qhgf3/episodes/guide

Oh, I recognise that sign! Driven past it a few times, though it's not a regular route for me. But I'm not quite as close as Partridge Green.

I'm not sure they are quite capturing the epic glamour I long for. "Episode 8. Traffic officers track down pedestrians taking a dangerous path alongside the carriageway...."

Not one road, but the NC500 is a famous and popular route.

Perhaps the Cairnwell Pass that has a double hairpin bend that predates the American Revolution

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairnwell_Pass

The A689 is the only coast-to-coast road (more or less) - Hartlepool to Carlisle. It runs through the North Pennines and is very scenic in the middle (albeit a little desolate).

Replying to myself here. Someone pointed out that there are plenty of streets in English pop: Penny Lane, Abbey Road, Baker Street...

M62 Song by Doves is a good one

A13 Trunk Road to the Sea by Billy Bragg is another one.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com