Spaghetti Junction

Yes, Unilocal,I actually am a fan of Spaghetti Junction. Firstly, it’s called Spaghetti Junction. That’s awesome. What other stretches of motorway are named after pasta shapes? Secondly I love the twisty, windy randomness of it — again, most bits of motorway are boring straight lines. Thirdly, it’s amazing from underneath. Which most people aren’t going to get to see, unless you got involved with this:
Spaghetti Junction has inspired a whole range of slightly guerilla art projects e.g.


to name but a few.
Who knew that a section of motorway could be so inspirational?

It’s probably one of Birmingham’s most famous landmarks, but despite it’s size you can’t really marvel at it in anything other than in pictures. The reason for this is that, for 99% of people, you only see Spaghetti Junction when you are actually part of it — using one of it’s arterial roads to get on or off the motorway. Since the M6 toll road was built around a decade ago, which allows drivers to completely miss out the busy stretch of the M6 around Birmingham when travelling long distances north or south, a few fewer will now get to see it.
You can take a stroll along the canal and stand underneath the thing, but even then the sheer size of it means that you won’t be able to appreciate the majesty and complexity of this amazing bit of mid-​20^th Century engineering. Take a look online, or at YouTube videos to see how it all pans out, and next time you pass through Junction 6 of the M6, you’ll know exactly what it is you’re travelling on.