The M4 motorway in Port Talbot runs above Narelle Cowan's back garden and protects her sheds and her daughter's toys from the elements. The elevated road also gives her and neighbour Aimee Lipley a dry, shaded space beneath one of the UK's busiest motorways, which carries about 75,000 vehicles a day on the main route between London and south Wales.
Both women say they have adapted to living beneath the concrete structure, which hangs about 45ft (14m) above their plot and forms part of the town's long-standing road network. The section is a relic of the 1960s freeway building boom that followed the surge in postwar car ownership.
What is it like to have a motorway in your garden?
There are many examples of motorways built close to homes in the UK's biggest cities such as London, Birmingham and Glasgow, but few are as stark as in Port Talbot, where the M4, which opened on 22 July 1966, cuts the Welsh industrial town in half.
“I call it my free gazebo,” said Aimee. “I love it under here, when it’s raining you can walk to the shops without getting your hair wet.”
The two-lane carriageway in the sky was one of the first sections of the M4 and remains a visible reminder of the era of large-scale road building. It passes through the narrow strip of land between the hills and the sea at Port Talbot, sweeping over back gardens and running close to homes.
“I’ve got three pillars of the M4 in my back garden, I use one to help hang my washing line up,” said Narelle.She said it is convenient because the motorway covers the back half of the garden, leaving her a dry area and acting as a sunshade, which has been especially useful in recent weeks.
The 34-year-old mum-of-one told the BBC she does not really notice vehicle noise, especially when music is playing and they are enjoying themselves.
“The M4 is like a background murmur, you get used to it,” added the property developer. “I call it ambience.
“I know some wouldn’t want a motorway in your garden but it doesn’t bother me or my neighbours, we’ve got a lovely community and many have been around here for years and years. We love it.”
This stretch of the M4 is also a congestion hotspot that can frustrate drivers, but many crossing the 4.25 mile (6.8km) section between Cardiff and Swansea may not think about the people living almost underneath them.
Under the section initially built as the Port Talbot bypass - before the M4 was bolted on at either end - the main noise is the rushing of the nearby River Afan.
“We do get a lot of rubbish in our garden from people throwing things out of the vehicles on the overpass above,” added 39-year-old Aimee, who has lived in the shadow of the M4 for eight years.She said they find cigarette ends and can see what people are eating, including what crisps they have.
“We get to see what people are eating, sometimes you get cigarette ends and it’s interesting to see what crisps people are eating.”
“Yeah we hear the river and the road directly outside our house more than we’ve ever heard the motorway,” said Aimee.
“It’s almost like the noise of the motorway is kept up there above us.”There is an area about 80ft (24m) wide running through the town that provides a man-made concrete canopy and a unique shelter from the elements.
“Kids can play underneath the M4 even when it’s raining because they’re protected,” said Aimee.
“I had a childhood playing underneath the motorway. It’s somewhere safe for the community.”
Homes were demolished, chapels flattened and communities displaced in Port Talbot when Wales' first stretch of motorway was built at a cost of more than £5m. The scheme was imposed over the town with no compensation for affected locals, although it was widely welcomed because the old A48 main road through Port Talbot could not cope.
Port Talbot was a congestion blackspot and a logical choice for Wales' first motorway, according to history professor Martin Johnes. The A48 snaked through the town on a route dating back to horse and carts and had to cross a railway that was shut for three hours a day, causing tailbacks of several miles.
“Port Talbot was a congestion blackspot and a logical choice for Wales' first motorway,” said history professor Martin Johnes.
“The A48 snaked through the town on a route that dated back to the days of horse and carts and had to cross a railway which meant it was shut for three hours a day causing tailbacks of several miles.
“The result was that for a five-and-a-half mile stretch on the A48 the average car speed was 18mph.”
The opening of Port Talbot's steelworks in 1951, which went on to become Europe's largest by the 1960s, and the building of Sandfields housing estate worsened congestion on the main A48 through the town. It took 13 years from the Port Talbot bypass being commissioned in 1953 to opening in 1966, when it cut journey times between Bridgend and Swansea by about 20 minutes.
Swansea University professor Johnes wrote, external that Wales' national newspaper the Western Mail produced a six-page supplement to mark the Port Talbot bypass' opening and called it a £5m miracle that would end the stop-go misery.
Historians recall the scheme, known locally as the road on top of a town, was seen as a symbol of progress by many, although some suffered. One side of the terraced row of houses on Llewellyn Street was demolished and replaced by the motorway, leaving the remaining side staring at either a huge concrete embankment or pillars propping up the M4.
“Residents of Llewellyn Street had a petition protesting against plans to build a bypass and demolish 125 houses in their street but one side of the terraced was demolished for the road.”
The space under the M4 in Port Talbot where the one side of Llewellyn Street terraced house once stood was the opening scene of the Welsh cult movie Twin Town, starring Rhys and Llyr Ifans as the Lewis “twins”. Some people felt the M4 had ripped the heart out of the town and broken a community, contributing to calls for compensation for disaffected locals.
Seven years later, the 1973 Land Compensation Act became law. That meant governments had to compensate people if public works such as roads and aerodromes affected the value of property. It also made it expensive to build so close to homes, so contractors now often find cheaper routes away from urban areas.
While that may be little consolation to communities around old urban motorways, bypasses like the one at Port Talbot are less likely to be built now.
In some parts of Port Talbot, the M4 dominates cul-de-sac streets where the motorway cut roads in two. Many authorities have enforced a 50mph speed limit, which is another thing that irritates motorists.
Both Aimee and former lorry driver Narelle say the 50mph limit on the M4 above their back gardens has reduced vehicle noise, while official data shows pollution has dropped to below the legal limit.
Cutting speed on the M4 was imposed after the UK and Welsh governments were taken to court because Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels exceeded legal limits around several stretches of road, including at Port Talbot. Breathing air with high levels of NO2 can irritate airways, cause coughing, wheezing or make it difficult to breathe, and worsen diseases like asthma.
In 2018, the Welsh Government spent more than £5.6m creating five 50mph zones at sites like the M4 at Port Talbot, paying for pollution monitors, speed cameras and signs. Since the limit was introduced, NO2 levels have dropped below the legal threshold.
Other factors such as vehicle efficiency and more people working from home have also helped, but analysis shows the limits had the biggest immediate change, external. Narelle said they occasionally could smell stuff in the air, but she believed that was from the steelworks rather than the M4.
“Occasionally we could smell stuff in the air but I think that was from steelworks, not from the M4,” added Narelle.
“We don't smell it any more, I guess that's because the blast furnaces have gone.”
Aimee said living there had also helped her buy a home.
“Where we are has allowed us to get on the property ladder as the house with a driveway and garage is more affordable here than in another part of town,” added Aimee.
The imposing concrete embankments of the M4 still dominate some streets in Port Talbot, serving as a reminder of the motorway's impact on the town's layout and housing. For the residents who live beneath it, however, the structure has become part shelter, part landmark and part everyday background.
Key Facts
- The M4 in Port Talbot opened on 22 July 1966 and carries about 75,000 vehicles a day.
- The elevated section hangs about 45ft (14m) above gardens and runs through the town for 4.25 miles (6.8km) between Cardiff and Swansea.
- Wales' first stretch of motorway cost more than £5m and took 13 years from commission in 1953 to opening in 1966.
- In 2018, the Welsh Government spent more than £5.6m creating five 50mph zones at sites like the M4 at Port Talbot.
- NO2 levels have since dropped below the legal limit, according to official data.
