Motorways in UK: M1 – London-Leeds

Nicknamed „The Gateway to the North“, M1 motorway links London to Leeds. It was the first inter-urban motorway from the United Kingdom.

M1 passes through ten counties: Greater London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

M1 is 193 miles long (311 kilometers) and it forms a part of the unsigned European route E13. Most of this motorway was opened between 1959 and 1968. The southern end was extended one decade later, in 1977. The northern end was extended much more recently, in 1999. 

The M1 Crick to Berrygrove section, opened in November 1959, was the first dual three-lane section in UK.

Tinsley viaduct, opened in March 1968, was the first two-level viaduct in Great Britain.

Also, the first motorway service area in United Kingdom was the Watford Gap Service Area, on the same day as the M1: 2^nd November 1959. The Watford Gap Service area was operated by Blue Boar and started to offer full catering facilities in September 1960. 

The second M1 Service area, opened in August 1960 and operated by Motorway Services Ltd, was at Newport Pagnell.

You can find here a list of services on the M1:    http://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/M1