About 3000 men worked on the initial 55 miles of motorway peaking to 5000.

The nearness of the motorway influenced the location of the new city of Milton Keynes.

GFX Hartigan agreed to supply Laings with 200 tons of gravel per day.

The first 55 miles of motorway was completed in 19 months.

John Laing and Son won the £15 million contract to build the M1.

The building of the motorway was the biggest engineering operation carried out by one firm in Britain.