for enabling me to travel from Blackburn, Lancashire to High Wycombe in 3hrs yesterday afternoon, spend a couple of hours seeing my cousin in hospital there, then 3hrs to get back.
No drama, no worries or fuss. Straight clean run both ways and came back just after 10pm pretty relaxed.
The time taken for the journey was exactly what the AA traffic route planner had said.
Thank you to all concerned!
Stu
PS. Of course, I would not have attempted this on a Friday
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I had lovely runs 2 weekends ago to and from Stansted Airport too. Including the way there being on a Friday morning across rush-hour.
To be honest, I'm a bit worried this might be the first sign of the coming of the apocalypse or something.
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Isn't it nice when something works as it should.
Is there ever a quiet time on the M25 though. The last time I used the northern section was a sunday afternoon thinking it would not be busy and at times I either crawled or came to a halt due to sheer weight of traffic.
I have avoided it since.
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Sunday afternoon on the M25 seems to be heavy because of all the "going to visit/come back from granny/IKEA/etc".
Also I tend to think that Sunday traffic in London is worse than other days because there is I believe an attitude among those who have cars that "I should take it out and give it a bit of exercise" if it has been sitting all week outside the house so means alot of people making probably not necessary trips to just put some miles on it.
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Sunday afternoon on the M25 seems to be heavy because of all the "going to visit/come back from granny/IKEA/etc". Also I tend to think that Sunday traffic in London is worse than other days because there is I believe an attitude among those who have cars that "I should take it out and give it a bit of exercise" if it has been sitting all week outside the house so means alot of people making probably not necessary trips to just put some miles on it.
The wet Sunday trip to Lakeside/Bluewater? Took us twenty minutes to get off Thurrock services en route Dover 'cos exit crosses the flow into Lakeside. Got the ferry with 10 mins to spare.
Services at South Mimms are much better all round.
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"Services at South Mimms are much better all round"
And even better (and cheaper!!) is to use the Sainsbury's/Starbucks etc at London Colney - the next junction!
Phil
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I regularly do a similar journey, although I start a bit further south than you.
What route did you take - 3 hrs is *very* good going for that journey under any circumstances? I just looked it up on the AA website and it says 4 hrs, not 3, and that's using part of the M6 toll road.
I hope you took note of the Spec's speed cameras at various points?
If you'd needed to get to High Wycombe at, say, 10.00AM and wanted to leave at, say, 3.00PM, (as is typical for meetings) then it probably would have been a totally different story.
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Ah you are indeed correct. Sorry, I thought when I looked it would take 3 hrs.
Well the distance is around 200 miles, and it's motorway all the way, so averaging 70mph for 3 hours would allow me to cover 210 miles in that time. Ok so there's the roadworks around J15 of the M6 so 40mph there and 70/75 everywhere else.
Route was M61/M60/M62/M6/M6 Toll/M42/M40.
I have been driving 16 years and have not received any points in that time. My licence is like my conscience - clean!
It would have *most definately* been a different story if I had to be in Wycombe for 10 and leaving at 3. To get there for 10am, I'd have had to leave at 5:30am no doubt.
cheers,
Stu
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Motorways and dual carriageway roads are great ~ provided that you don't live within about a mile of one. Whenever there is a move to dual an existing road I can't help feeling sorry for the people who are going to be affected by the noise.
--
L\'escargot.
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Hi Stu,
I also live in blackburn and would have thought a better route would have been M65/M6/M6 Toll/M42/M40.
I suppose where in Blackburn you are starting from.
I once did Fareham (near Portsmouth) to Walton Summit Nr.Preston in exactly 4 hours... Years ago on a quiet Sat AM.
Regards,
John R @ Home
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Ops...
I suppose [it depends on] where in Blackburn you are starting from.
Regards,
John R @ Home
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We had to do a jaunt down to Blyth services (Nottinghamshire) from Northumberland the other month.
Sister fell ill on her way from viewing a house near Cambridge, so I drove my dad down in the Polo so he could drive hers back!
A round trip of about 310 miles was done in just over 4.5 hours. Quite merrily popped along at 70, all the way, only having to slow for roadworks. Brilliant.
But then again, this was between the hours of 11.30pm and 5am!
If only the roads were like that all the time, not just at obscure times. Its amazing how efficient things are when motorways and dual carriage ways work like they're intended too. You save time and petrol, and like you say, it?s far more relaxing. (I got about 47-48mpg, despite the fact the 4 speed 'box means 70= 4000rpm)
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Been doing the rounds of universities recently, taking daughter to interviews. Wokingham to Nottingham, Cardiff and Birmingham all completed in last two weeks. Cardiff was early on a Sat and was a great run - easy, M4 pretty much all the way. Nott & Brum both entailed leaving here in the early week day rush hour. Delays were mainly on the roads around the motorways, not the motorways themselves - getting up to the M40 @ High Wycombe and especially heading 7 miles into Brum in the A38 from the M42.
I do a fair bit of driving and I know we were lucky - but I would agree that our motorway network is fundamentally good, when it's working. (When there are problems it can escalate sooo quickly though)
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