AT 410 MILES, the A1 is the UK’s longest numbered road, connecting London and Edinburgh. For much of its length, it follows the old coaching route of the Great North Road between London, York and Edinburgh, except for stretches where it has bypassed villages and towns.
Some sections have been designated motorway and the road between the M25 and A696 (near Newcastle) is part of Euroroute E15 from Inverness, in Scotland, to Algeciras, in southern Spain. Coaching inns were the original service stations, and some survive in towns bypassed by the A1.