Stott Hall Farm

Or otherwise known as 'that-farm-in-the-middle-of-the-M62'. Just been to and from Manchester's Trafford Centre on a Christmas shopping trip, and passed the farm twice within 24 hours and felt compelled to google it to find out more.

Built in 1737, it stood for over 200 years in hilltop windswept loneliness before the motorway arrived in 1968. The future of the farm looked as bleak as the Pennines, with officials bulldozing and relocating dwellings in the path of the highways onslaught. However due to the fear of landslides on the steep hill, the motorway carriageways were split and thus Stott Hall was saved.

It's become an unlikely landmark on the motorway and according to tenant farmer Paul Thorp it's often used as an unofficial service station for people struggling for petrol. Can't imagine what it's like living there - Working hard in the fields doing a rural job, then to come back home with all this urban noise and disturbance. The M62 has been going strong for 40 odd years and won't let up until Judgement Day, so there's going to be no break in the 24/7 traffic buzz for farmer Thorp just yet.