ENTHUSIASTS of the M40 motorway in High Wycombe will be able to get their hands on a special Christmas calendar.
A group of regular motorway commuters have launched a 'must have calendar for 2023, featuring landmarks of the famous motorway.
The wall calendar features photographed notable sights, including the Stokenchurch Gap near Princes Risborough and the less celebrated line of pylons, now christened Pylon Alley, between Banbury and Oxford.
Michael Lee and Jim Thornton came up with the idea during one of their many trips along the full length of the M40.
To make things less boring, the pair decided to challenge themselves to find a full 12 month calendar’s worth of landmarks that any M40 commuter would recognise for themselves.
Michael Lee, co-founders of Motorway Vistas, the company behind Landmarks of the M40, said: “It wasn’t easy picking the right 12 images. We wanted ones that most M40 drivers would recognise but were also viewable from the drivers eyeline.
"That’s why we shot all the images from the car as it felt like cheating to photograph something miles away to the left. We’ve had loads of people asking us to do calendars for other motorways and if this one is successful, we will set up a poll so people can vote on which one to do next.”
The calendar has provided the pair of commuters a "renewed love and admiration for the British landscape."
“Our printer said to us when we picked up the first run 'That is the oddest thing we’ve ever printed! I’m quite proud of that comment.', Jim Thornton said.
"You want to make something truly original and we’ve done that. Like most of the British Isles, if you look hard enough, the M40 turns out to carve its way through a wonderland of history in all its eccentric British glory. Doing the research on the landmarks has given us a renewed love and admiration for the British landscape, and the M40 in particular.
"And yes, we hope that the hundreds of thousands of M40 users feel the same and snap it up."
Angie Allgood, MD of Motorway Vistas: “We’ve already been getting so much interest even before we’ve fully launched. We’ve had people lucky enough to receive a pre-launch copy begging for more copies.. it’s definitely got “Secret Santa gift for colleagues” written all over it.
"But it’s also the perfect present for long suffering commuter chums or just, you know, genuine motorway geeks. Let’s face it, it’s way more interesting than any calendar with dogs or historic gardens!”
The calendar is available to buy online for £7.99 + P&P at motorwayvistas.com.
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