Editing M1 motorway (section)

===First section, 1959===
[[File:Toddington - M1 Motorway under construction 1725951 0d6f8279.jpg|thumb|left|Looking north from B579 bridge at [[Chalton, Bedfordshire|Chalton]]. Former cement works at [[Sundon]] to the right (May 1958)]]
The first section of the motorway, between junction 5 ([[Watford]]) and junction 18 ([[Crick, Northamptonshire|Crick]]/[[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby]]), opened on 2 November 1959, together with the motorway's two spurs, the [[M10 motorway (Great Britain)|M10]] (from junction 7 to south of [[St Albans]] originally connecting to the A1) and the [[M45 motorway|M45]] (from junction 17 to the [[A45 road|A45]] and [[Coventry]]). Parts of the [[Hertfordshire]] section were built using [[steam roller]]s.<ref>{{cite web
 |title       = Tri-tandem roller 45655 of 1930
 |url         = http://www.therobeytrust.co.uk/Stocklist%20tri-tandem%20roller.htm
 |publisher   = The Robey Trust
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722134904/http://www.therobeytrust.co.uk/Stocklist%20tri-tandem%20roller.htm
 |archive-date = 22 July 2011
}}</ref>

The M1 was officially inaugurated from [[Slip End]] (close to Luton), celebrated by a large concrete slab on the bridge next to the village,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slipend.co.uk/Info/Local%20History/images/The%20Slab.jpg|title=The Slab|access-date=20 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207112302/http://www.slipend.co.uk/Info/Local%20History/images/The%20Slab.jpg|archive-date=7 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> with inscription "London-Yorkshire Motorway – This slab was sealed by the [[Harold Watkinson, 1st Viscount Watkinson|Harold Watkinson]] M.P. – Minister of Transport – Inauguration Day – 24th March 1958". It was relocated, during widening works in 2007–08, to the eastern side of junction 10.

[[File:Chalton - M1 Motorway under construction.txt 1725911 0aaeb0d3.jpg|thumb|left|Looking north from a similar position south of Toddington services (July 1959)]]
This section of the M1 broadly follows the route of the [[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5]] north-west. It started at the Watford Bypass ([[A41 road|A41]]), which runs south-east to meet the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] at Apex corner, and ended on the A5 at Crick. The M10 spur motorway connected the M1 to the North Orbital Road ([[A405 road|A405]]/[[A414 road|A414]], a precursor of the [[M25 motorway|M25]]) where it also met the A5 (now renumbered here as the [[A5183 road|A5183]]) and, {{convert|2|mi|km}} to the east via the A414, the [[A6 road (England)|A6]], which subsequently became part of the M25.

A £1.5&nbsp;million contract was given in May 1958 for the most southerly section, from Aldenham to Beechtrees (the M10 junction), for two lanes of [[reinforced concrete]], to open in November 1959.<ref>''Luton News and Bedfordshire Chronicle'' Thursday 22 May 1958, page 3</ref> There was immense flooding on this section in July 1958.<ref>''Luton News and Bedfordshire Chronicle'' Thursday 3 July 1958, page 1</ref>

Although the whole of the first section opened in 1959, it was built in two parts, with the northern part (junctions 10 to 18) being built by [[John Laing plc|John Laing]]<ref name="archive"/> and the southern part (the St Albans Bypass) being built by [[Tarmac Limited|Tarmac Construction]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.org/motorway/m1eastamat.htm |work=Motorway archive |title=list of material held by Northamptonshire CC |access-date=20 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126112253/http://www.iht.org/motorway/m1eastamat.htm |archive-date=26 January 2008 }}</ref>

The headquarters of the Laing project was on Wolverton Road in Newport Pagnell.<ref>''Wolverton Express'' Friday 20 November 1959, page 1</ref> The motorway was opened by Ernest Marples at the [[Pepperstock]] Junction (junction 10), previously a motorway spur, now the A1081.<ref>''Coventry Evening Telegraph'' Monday 2 November 1959, page 1</ref> The two motorway projects, the St Albans Bypass and the Pepperstock-Crick section met at Luton.

On the opening of the M1, the first person to reach the Birmingham end of the new section of motorway was anaesthesist Eric Plumpton (Dr Frederic Salkeld Plumpton, 1933-2016) in his [[Triumph TR2]], travelling 23 miles from [[Upper Heyford, Northamptonshire]] in 14 minutes (98.5 mph average speed) at about 10.10am.<ref>[https://rcoa.ac.uk/obituary-dr-frederic-salkeld-plumpton Eric Plumpton, first driver to reach the M1 north end]</ref><ref>''Coventry Evening Telegraph'' Monday 2 November 1959, page 1</ref> The northern end of the M1 and M45 opened at 9.56am.<ref>''Rugby Advertiser'' Tuesday 3 November 1959, page 3</ref>