Woman from house in middle of M62 motorway said the noise 'grates' on her
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If you're familiar with the M62, then you'll probably be familiar with the farm house that sits slap bang in the middle of its lanes.
The house forces the lanes of motorway apart before they rejoin further away, and I can pretty much guarantee that everyone who passes it thinks the same thing - 'what must it be like to live there?'
Well, why don't we we ask someone who's done exactly that?
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Married couple Jill Falkingham and Paul Thorp, and their son, John-William, made Stott Hall Farm their home after its previous owner, Ken Wild, passed away.
It was Ken who refused to move from the home when the M62 was being built, and it was eventually saved when it was determined that the land was too steep to hold the motorway.
Paul moved in to the home in 2008, and welcomed Jill one year later to work together as sheep farmers, caring for hundreds of ewes as well as some cows on the hills around the motorway.
Speaking previously about her experience at the home, Jill admitted it was 'seriously dated' when they first moved in, but it's since been transformed into a family home which just so happens to sit in the middle of a massively busy road.
It might be some people's worst nightmare, but Jill claimed that living at Stott Hall Farm isn't really that different to life near any other road.
The family took steps to minimise disruption from the cars, vans and lorries passing by, with Jill explaining: "We have treble glazing and it’s no different to living anywhere that has a road.”
Jill said her husband had absolutely no issue with the sound of the traffic going past, though she admitted she couldn't help but notice it.
“The noise does affect me as I am quite noise sensitive," she explained. "Paul is fine with it but it does grate on me. It’s the sort of thing that if you are having a bad day the noise is the last straw. But it’s not going away.”
In the grand scheme of things, Jill said the M62 was actually 'the least of [their] challenges' due to the land the farm is built on.
"The grass doesn’t grow because we are so high up and it’s so cold," she explained, but the farmer was still very satisfied with the unusual home.
“A lot of people say it’s bleak and like Wuthering Heights but I don’t see it like that," Jill said. "I think it’s beautiful.”
