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In January 1962 motorists travelling across the Pennines at Scammonden were puzzled to see what looked like target boards set up at intervals on the roadside. The press was called in to tell the public what they were. They were the first visible signs of an upheaval, which was going to alter the landscape for ever. A plan to construct a motorway from Lancashire to Yorkshire crossing the Pennines at 1 ,500ft above sea level was off the drawing board and the time had come to test which was the most favourable route. The West Riding County Council had accepted an invitation from the Ministry of Transport to do the investigation. They worked in conjunction with the Met Office and set up a series of nine weather stations at various points. At each station they put three visibility markers spread at a distance of 110, 220 and 440 yards, they also put instruments for recording maximum and minimum temperatures and depth of snowfall. Local people living in isolated places on the moors were asked to help by making regular readings, which the experts could later interpret. Low cloud, whirling mists and high winds were hazards, which had to be taken into consideration.

In October 1962 a full scale mock up was made near the Brown Cow Inn, a half mile stretch of motorway was built to test materials which would stand up to the effect of snow, ice and other climatic conditions. Research carried out before the M62 was ever started was unique and had not been done anywhere in the world. It included not only how to overcome drifting snow and intense wind pressures but things like fencing which could not be scaled by sheep which graze on the moor for most of the year.