Roadside Britain

Here in Britain we’re not usually prone to celebrating the ephemera of pop culture. We usually leave it to the Americans to mythologise the flotsam and jetsam of things, to wax lyrical about road maps and street signage.

But photographer Sam Mellish is about to publish a book and exhibit a touring collection of photographs that does just that for the roadside culture of these islands.

From lay-by burger vans, formica and vinyl clad roadhouses to theme-park-like tourist attractions, Sam has documented the little bits and pieces of folk art that make up the type of British culture that you usually ignore – or rather, streak by at seventy miles per hour.

We’ve all got our favourite transport cafe – and most of us loathe the corporate rip-off motorway services that blight the network.

Sam rediscovers the beauty in the lost moments.