Scotch Corner is an important junction of the A1 and A66

A66 road

The A66 is a major road in northern England which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria...

 trunk roads near Richmond, North Yorkshire

Richmond, North Yorkshire

Richmond is a market town and civil parish on the River Swale in North Yorkshire, England and is the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. It is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and serves as the Park's main tourist centre...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It has been described as "the modern gateway to Cumbria, the North East and Scotland".

Geography

The A1 leads north towards North East England

North East England

North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

 and Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The A66 leads north west towards Penrith

Penrith, Cumbria

Penrith was an urban district between 1894 and 1974, when it was merged into Eden District.The authority's area was coterminous with the civil parish of Penrith although when the council was abolished Penrith became an unparished area....

 and the M6 motorway

M6 motorway

The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...

. There are also two other exits from the junction: the A6108

A6108 road

The A6108 road is an A road in North Yorkshire, England. It runs from Scotch Corner passing through Richmond where it meets the A6136 road to Catterick and entering the border of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, then it enters Leyburn at a junction with the A684 road to Bedale and Hawes, it...

 towards the Yorkshire Dales

Yorkshire Dales

The Yorkshire Dales is the name given to an upland area in Northern England.The area lies within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire, though it spans the ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Cumbria...

 and Richmond

Richmond, North Yorkshire

Richmond is a market town and civil parish on the River Swale in North Yorkshire, England and is the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. It is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and serves as the Park's main tourist centre...

 and a minor road to Middleton Tyas

Middleton Tyas

Middleton Tyas is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is located nearby to Scotch Corner.-History:The name Middleton is of Anglo-Saxon origin and it means middle-farm or middle-settlement...

 and Croft-on-Tees

Croft-on-Tees

Croft-on-Tees is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. South of Darlington, it stands on the opposite side of the River Tees from Hurworth-on-Tees and is situated on the A167. The bridge over the Tees between Croft and Hurworth marks the boundary...

.

Etymology

The name originates from being the junction where travellers to eastern Scotland (via A1 and/or A68

A68 road

The A68 is a major road in the United Kingdom, running from Darlington in England to the A720 in Scotland.From Darlington, the road runs north, bypassing Bishop Auckland, and running through West Auckland, Toft Hill and Tow Law, past Consett and Corbridge...

) are separated from travellers to western Scotland (via A66

A66 road

The A66 is a major road in northern England which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria...

 and M6 motorway

M6 motorway

The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...

/ A74(M)/M74).

History

The route now called the A66 was once 'the winter road' from Scotch Corner to Glasgow, by way of Carlisle. 'The summer road' runs from Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle is an historical town in Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is named after the castle around which it grew up. It sits on the north side of the River Tees, opposite Startforth, south southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne, south southwest of Sunderland, west of Middlesbrough and ...

, along Teesdale

Teesdale

Teesdale is a dale, or valley, of the east side of the Pennines in England. Large parts of Teesdale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - the second largest AONB in England and Wales. The River Tees rises below Cross Fell, the highest hill in the Pennines, and its...

 to Alston, Cumbria

Alston, Cumbria

Alston is a small town in Cumbria, England on the River South Tyne. It is one of the highest elevation towns in the country, at about 1,000 feet above sea level.-Geography:...

, then through Brampton, Carlisle, Cumbria

Brampton, Carlisle, Cumbria

Brampton is a small market town and civil parish within the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England about 9 miles east of Carlisle and 2 miles south of Hadrian's Wall. It is situated off the A69 road which bypasses it...

 to Gretna, Scotland. Particularly for cattle droving, the shorter route was advantageous when passable. The Summer Road is one of the most spectacular routes in England.

The Romans

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 were responsible for building the first roads to meet at this point and the site of the original junction is just a few hundred yards away from the modern day intersection. In AD 71 the Romans took control of the North when they defeated the Brigantes

Brigantes

The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...

, a Northern Celt

Celt

The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

ic tribe at the Battle of Scotch Corner.

The location remained significant as a staging post with an inn

INN

InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...

, subsequently becoming a roadhouse

Roadhouse (facility)

A roadhouse is a commercial establishment typically built on a major road or highway, to service passing travellers. Its meaning varies slightly by country.-USA:...

 in the early days of motorised travel. The £8 million Scotch Corner diversion opened in 1971, which created a grade separated

Grade separation

Grade separation is the method of aligning a junction of two or more transport axes at different heights so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other transit routes when they cross each other. The composition of such transport axes does not have to be uniform; it can consist of a...

 junction on the A1.

Facilities

Scotch Corner is marked by a transport cafe, a large hotel: The Scotch Corner Hotel established in 1939 and built on the site of a mid-16th century inn, two pubs and a Moto Hospitality

Moto Hospitality

Moto Hospitality is a company which operates 58 motorway service stations across the UK.Moto is owned by a consortium of shareholders including Australian Pension Funds and European and New Zealand Infrastructure Funds and is asset managed by Macquarie Investment Bank...

 service station built in 1980 with an attached Travelodge

Travelodge UK

Travelodge Hotels Limited is a private company operating in the hotels and hospitality industry throughout the United Kingdom. Branded simply as Travelodge or Travelodge UK, it is the second largest in the budget hotel sector and third biggest hotel chain in the UK by number of bedrooms...

 motel

Motel

A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...

. The Moto offers the usual services such as Costa Coffee

Costa Coffee

Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse company founded in 1971 by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. Since 1995 it has been a subsidiary of Whitbread, since when the company has grown to over...

, Burger King

Burger King

Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...

. W H Smith

W H Smith

WHSmith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...

, and an Esso

Esso

Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...

 filling station

Filling station

A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...

.

Transport

Scotch Corner is one of the stops on Megabus

Megabus (United Kingdom)

Megabus is a UK coach service operated by Stagecoach Group. It started in 2003 and as of February 2010 operated 19 UK coach routes serving 41 destinations in England, Scotland and Wales. Some services link with Megatrain services which are also operated by Stagecoach...

's M20 route.

Location grid

External links

• Scotch Corner Page detailing the history of Scotch Corner

The Scotch Corner Hotel Website - http://www.scotchcornerhotel.com/