'We live under a busy motorway - it's not for everyone but we love it'

22 April 2023 , 16:09

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Gabrielle Gillings, pictured with sons Lennox and Keane wouldn't live anywhere else (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)

Living under a motorway might be many people's idea of hell, but for two families in Wales it's not a problem.

In fact one couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

Their homes sit under the M4, which runs on 45ft-high concrete pillars over the town of Port Talbot.

The giant flyover, which was built in 1966, became known locally as "road on top of the town".

Among the current residents is Joanna Care, who lives in the house she was brought up in with her husband Ritchie and their four-month old daughter Evelyn, reports WalesOnline.

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Joanna, her sisters and their friends would spend most days playing under the flyovers, often riding their bikes and making ramps.

Joanna and Ritchie Care with their daughter Evelyn (WalesOnline/Rob Browne)

On Christmas Day, they'd all meet in the same spot to show off their new bikes and skateboards.

"This is where I've always lived. It's never been a negative thing for me," she said.

Joanna said her parents lived there when the road was built and would have had to give permission for the construction company to build in their garden.

Joanna Care with sisters Rebecca and Rosalind playing under motorway in the mid-90s (WalesOnline/Rob Browne)

"I don't think anybody would have been particularly happy about it. The garden at one point used to go down to the river," she explained.

Although the near-constant traffic is barely audible inside the house, it's much more apparent from the garden.

Joanna says she's got used to the noise, although her husband Ritchie hasn't.

Gabrielle's son Lennox plays with a ball in his garden (WalesOnline/Rob Browne)

Ritchie grew up in a quiet area by the beach and finds the traffic noise makes it difficult to sleep properly. He wakes 4am most mornings when the lorries start trundling past overhead.

Meanwhile, a bit further along the road lives Gabrielle Gillings with her two sons, Lennox, 6, and 21-month-old Keane.

Gabrielle, a healthcare support worker, has had her home for six years and before that lived on the other side of the bridge in Felindre, where she grew up and where her parents still are.

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Washing hangs in a garden under the flyover (WalesOnline/Rob Browne)

She said she realises the noise would most likely annoy those new to the area, but as she's always lived near the motorway she isn't bothered it.

"I wanted to still live in this area and I wouldn't want to move away from here. For me, this is just the norm and I enjoy living here," Gabrielle added.

The road, which saw 200 homes knocked down to accommodate it, helped cut down the travel time from Cardiff to Swansea by 20 minutes.

Branwen Jones