The Man Who Lives in the Middle of the M62
The story goes that when they were building the M62 motorway
through northern England, one homeowner refused to sell his
property, forcing the motorway to be
split either side of his home. The story became ingrained in
the history of the area, and John Shuttleworth even http://www.last.fm/music/John Shuttleworth/_/The Man Who Lives on the M62
wrote a song about it.
Interesting I thought, and then in a spectacularly disappointing
move, Wikipedia swiftly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M62_motorway#Wild_Farm debunked
this claim as myth. It seems that the owners, Ken and Beth
Wild, have lived and worked here since 1971 (Ken is a
sheep farmer), and the road actually forks around the farm to
negotiate the hilly terrain.
Boo! Wikipedia, eater of time and destroyer of legend, curse
you, and all who write for you! Here’s a http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/features/2003/m62.shtml BBC
article about the couple with a video clip (and despite the
sunny image Google provides, this looks like an absolutely
miserable place to live).
Thanks to http://blog.nevstokes.com/ Nev Stokes
and Cookie Monster.