Hi my name is Andrew Shanahan and I’m writing a book about the M6. My huge thanks to the TruckNet mods for letting me post something up about this and get some views and thoughts.
Basically, I’ve lived within hearing distance of the M6 all my life and I’m probably a bit obsessed with it. My wife thinks I should see someone about it. I’ve been a journalist for twenty years and recently went full-time writing fiction and my second book is called 232 Miles Of. If you want a bit of background about me then you can take a look at Hello Shan
It’s going to be 19 short stories, which all have some link to the M6. As part of it I want to try and get some feedback from people about their feelings towards the M6. I don’t mind if they love it or hate it or if it just bores them, I just want to know what it means to them. I’m also interested if they have any stories or secrets about the M6 that they’d like to share.
I thought TN would be a good place to start researching! If anyone wants to share some thoughts then I’ve set up a form that people can fill in over here, you can fill it in completely anonymously if you prefer.
Fifty years ago I used to travel the M6 north once a month to visit my parents,leaving home around 6.30am Sunday morning, lunch and tea with them, then home Sunday evening. The journey from South Wales to Whitehaven used to take around five hours.It was a great road to drive. Now the same journey takes seven or eight hours, and is an absolute misery. In our family it is now called the “M-bloody-6”, and we avoid it as much as possible. Is that what we call “progress”?
I look forward to the book.
Uncleskid:
Rowley010 should be along soon to tell you all about his exploits on the M6 should get more than one book out of him
Yep, as I’ve said before, when it comes to a guy who only does 200 mile radius trips in a truck, and only on the M6, he’s had more adventures than Rupert Bear , he’s a trucking legend on here.
Btw…o/p are you asking us to write the book for you?
I’ll need to consult my agent to discuss commission and royalties.
joe royal:
Om nom?
Are you 12 or want to come across as 12?
Wtf does ‘om nom’ mean exactly?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
it refers to the noises you make after having purchased your chinky takeaway in penrith and reached tebay after a suitable time has lapsed to enable you to rip off the lid,chuck it out the window,and shovel it in like a pig at a trough…om nom.says it all.
yorkshire terrier:
Well when your north of Preston from then until the end heading north is the best stretch of motorway in England in my opinion,
Got to agree with that ^^^^ particularly the part through the valley south of Tebay, even though I can’t get my bloody radio to work there!
That bit’s called the ‘Lune Gorge’ apparently, river, railway and motorway criss crossing each other between the hills. My best bit too, although once past Lancaster it’s all pretty good.
I was once told there is a book that details everything you can see from the M6 and a history of it . No idea what it’s called but I’ve heard of it several times and if I recall correctly it was mentioned by Sally Traffic on Radio 2 a couple of times .
