A5 road

The A5 is a major road running for about 243 miles from London to the ferry port of Holyhead. Part of it follows the route of the Roman Iter II, later known as Watling Street, while other sections were rebuilt in the 19th century as Telford’s Holyhead Road. Between Weedon in Northamptonshire and Oakengates, the modern A5 diverges from the old Watling Street to pass near Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. North of Towcester in Northamptonshire the road runs alongside the Grand Union Canal and the M1 motorway through the Watford Gap. Telford’s Holyhead Road was Britain’s first major state-funded road project since Roman times, authorised by the 1815 Holyhead Roads Act. It was designed for fast stagecoach travel with a maximum gradient of 1 in 17, and many original features survive in Wales. A 1998–2000 survey found about 40% of the original road and its ancillary structures still intact under the modern A5. These include distinctive toll houses, milestones, sunburst gates and a weighbridge at Lon Isaf. The route was later classified as the London–Holyhead trunk road in 1937. Northamptonshire’s stretch of the A5 leaves Milton Keynes as a dual carriageway before becoming single carriageway north of Towcester. It accompanies the Grand Union Canal and crosses the M45 motorway near Rugby. The road passes close to the remains of the Rugby Radio Station and continues towards Lutterworth, where it alternates between single and dual carriageway. Further on it runs between Nuneaton and Hinckley, offering views of the surrounding countryside and occasional glimpses of the canal alongside.