Up close, Stott Hall Farm looks every bit the classic countryside farmhouse, complete with quaint stone walls and a cosy hearth straight out of a storybook. Listen closely, however, and you'll hear not the gentle lowing of cows, but the fierce roar of the M62, which splits and loops around the one-of-a-kind family home on either side, before merging once more a few miles on. The motorway, which links Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, is in complete juxtaposition to the old-world charm of Stott Hall Farm, which has become somewhat of a landmark for those travelling around the North of England.
Naturally, the house has raised some questions, with many baffled as to why anyone would choose to live sandwiched in the middle of the motorway, regardless of how pretty the property may be. Over the years, legends have spread between northern travellers as to the origins of the home, and one in particular has taken root in the public imagination. It's long been widely believed that farm owner Ken Wild had point blank refused to sell up after plans for the six-lane carriageway were drawn up in the 1960s, with the makeshift island built as a compromise and tribute to his stubborn nature.
However, this version of events isn't exactly true, and the owners themselves have previously explained the reasoning behind this well-loved geographical quirk...
Ken was living there at the time with his wife, Beth, and their flock of sheep. But rather than being a rebel who was taking a stand, Ken was nothing of the sort. A documentary, filmed almost 20 years after the motorway was completed, has revealed the truth about why the farm is in the middle of a motorway.
Filmed in 1983 and released a few years ago by the British Film Institute (BFI), Clegg's People explains why the road could never have been built on the farm. According to journalist Michael Clegg: "A geological fault beneath the farmhouse meant it was more practical for engineers to leave it rather than blast through and destroy it. Outside the noise is relentless but inside it's as peaceful and cosy as any farmhouse.
" Ken and his wife Beth moved into the farmhouse in 1934 and always insisted the motorway didn't bother them - although Beth did admit it made cleaning harder as the sheer number of cars speeding past created a lot of dust. Heartbreakingly though, the couple did witness a few fatal crashes while they were living on the farm. But the nearest they came to disaster was 4.
20 am one morning when a 32ft lorry ended up overturned in their yard. Thankfully, "the driver climbed out through the windscreen. He wasn't hurt at all".
Just over a decade ago, sheep farmer Paul Thorp and his wife, Jill Falkingham-Thorp, bought the farm, and they now live there with their son, John-William. They look after more than 900 ewes and 20 Angus cattle, which can be seen grazing on moorland beyond the motorway. They completely renovated the home, which dates back to 1737, and Jill has always insisted it's no different to living anywhere else.
"Traffic is very close," she told the Manchester Evening News . "But it's always windy here, which takes the pollution away. Students from the University of Huddersfield took soil and air samples and actually pollution is surprisingly low.
We have treble glazing and it's no different to living anywhere that has a road." The only thing that can be a frustration is the constant noise, which Jill says she's 'sensitive' to. But she stressed she loved living in her unusual home.
"A lot of people say it's bleak and like Wuthering Heights but I don't see it like that. I think it's beautiful." Appearing on Channel 4's show 'The Pennines: Backbone of Britain, Paul said: "To get an opportunity to take on a farm this size were once in a lifetime, so it's my home now.
It's just everything." He added: "It's just like any other farm really. You've got to know your land, know your job and plan around it.
The only thing is we've got six lanes of traffic through ours. It throws up its challenges, it's very unique." Referring to the traffic, he added: "The mind boggles as to where everybody is going.
I just cannot get me head around where everybody's going every day." Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.
com.
