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LondonRascal

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3 minutes ago, Siddy said:

On your way down you could do a circle tour of the North Yorks Moors, we do a round trip from Leeds as a drive out but you could come off at Scotch Corner A1/A66 services and right to Richmond head for Aysgarth, Hawes down to Ingleton then to Malham, Grassington. Then either Skipton (canal there) then Keighley - Howarth way (bronte's & steam railwat) call at Bingley Five Rise and your heading back towards M62 or A1 via Leeds.

Don't stop in Bradford as the highway code doesn't apply there and they'll like your car.

Watch them camera van on the A1/A19 they were out in force on Wednesday more than normal.

Very nice Siddy! But you have missed Tan Hill, Swaledale and the Buttertubs. As a South Coast sort of guy even I call it God's country. You also need a few hours at Malham and Gordale Scar.

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So today's little trip was Edinburgh to Aberdeen. While the rest of the country baked, up here it has been warm, humid but not overly bad - just as I like it.  That said when I arrived in Aberdeen (which I only decided to go to after a trip to see the Forth Railway Bridge) the weather turned, cooler and by early evening thunderstorms and rain were the order of the day.

What I have decided is as much as I love Scotland, the roads within cities are in shockingly bad condition. Edinburgh was bad, Aberdeen has some impressive holes and even the general condition sees patch upon patch upon patch and a pitiful regard to re-painting road markings. Still, it was a short driving day with only 131 miles covered.

As for what is next, well I could go further up and even head to the Highlands, but I have decided to head west and south. I am not sure if I will be heading back tomorrow or not - and if not where things will take me next.  So far my destinations have all been worked out in the morning, in the car using Google Maps..

Anyway, here is today's little (well maybe not so little) video diary.

 

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On 29/06/2019 at 14:59, ChrisB said:

Very nice Siddy! But you have missed Tan Hill, Swaledale and the Buttertubs. As a South Coast sort of guy even I call it God's country. You also need a few hours at Malham and Gordale Scar.

Sorry Chris lol I was giving the taster/planning tour but a nice drive for us leaving Leeds it a nice round trip, I forgot if coming back down the A19 and like fish and chips then Seaton Sluice above Whitle Bay called Harbour View, large Haddock were they break it's back to get it in the box it's unreal and where I now go if staying up at our Newcastle office.

Kaz came out with a classic a few years back near Hawes how do they keep the grass short out here, well you see them white things called sheep not only do they stand in the middle of the road but eat grass. No hope.

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Well - good for everyone - but no more videos to have to suffer, because although I filmed a little it was not much mainly because I set off from Aberdeen just after 10:00am with Brundall as my destination.

Waze told me it would take about 8hr 55 minutes. I therefore proposed to work to the same rules HGV drivers need to with breaks, either 15 minutes totaling 45 minutes in no more than 4hrs 30minutes, or a single 45 minute break. I set off with the timer running and when it went off, would find somewhere to stop.

My first issue was on the A90 when I hit heavy traffic - this was some two miles away from major roadworks, so in all it took an age to get through this area a crawl. This put my time back a lot, and I ended up stopping at Cairn Lodge Services on the M74 about 20 miles south of Motherwell. It was quite a the find, lots of interesting products to buy in their shop and the eatery serviced local farm produce or food from Scottish producers.  Break over and back on the road.

I carried on the M74, which then later became the A74(M) and very scenic this was too - better than my trip up using only the A1. I skirted around Carlisle on the M6 and had some wonderful views of the Pennines. At Penrith it was a turn off and along the A66 which took me all the way to Scotch Corner where I joined the A1.

Once on the A1 the traffic was heavy but moving well, far more impatient drivers encountered and those who have no concept of lane discipline. My next break came at Darrington - BP Petrol Station, with reasonably priced fuel considering right off the A1. I  brimmed the tank in Aberdeen and now I had 1/3 left so £69.00 of super unleaded in, a stop for the toilet and following which, a pretty short slip road back on to the busy main A1 which was not fun at all, but I was at least back underway.

The jounrey was then pretty boring I picked up the A17 in the Newark-on-Trent area and took this all the way to the A47. My final stop was at just outside Swaffham, at the BP/McDonald's off the roundabout there - this was just for a Car Wash because they have their top wash on offer for a fiver here, and it is very good and got rid of all the squashed flies and general road grime a journey like this brings.  Wash done, it was the home straight to Brundall.

It took 9hrs 38 minutes and was 512.6 miles long, I felt good - well my legs were pleased to be able to move about but had no back pains, was not feeling tired and was pretty happy with how the little adventure had gone. Indeed now thinking about another this time just heading south west and seeing where I end up.

Some figures:

Brundall to Bridlington 214 Miles

Bridlington to Edinburgh 271 Miles

Edinburgh to Aberdeen 135 Miles

Aberdeen to Brundall 512 Miles

              Total Millage: 1,131

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

I carried on the M74, which then later became the A74(M) and very scenic this was too - better than my trip up using only the A1. I skirted around Carlisle on the M6 and had some wonderful views of the Pennines. At Penrith it was a turn off and along the A66 which took me all the way to Scotch Corner where I joined the A1.

This was our route to and from Glasgow/Greenock last weekend.  My little Aygo struggled in places with the hills but wow what scenery.  Fuel cost us £80 round trip.

 Did you see the camels at the farm going across the pennines? No one believes me!   The A1 stretch is the most dull, never ending boring journey and then the last bit is the A14 road works which took forever with the 40mph restrictions for mile after mile.  Interesting experience having done this journey twice in the last two months but I hate long car journeys and the endless hours sitting in the car basically  wasted two days of my precious annual leave so want to fly up there next time.

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2 hours ago, Lulu said:

This was our route to and from Glasgow/Greenock last weekend.  My little Aygo struggled in places with the hills but wow what scenery.  Fuel cost us £80 round trip.

 Did you see the camels at the farm going across the pennines? No one believes me!   The A1 stretch is the most dull, never ending boring journey and then the last bit is the A14 road works which took forever with the 40mph restrictions for mile after mile.  Interesting experience having done this journey twice in the last two months but I hate long car journeys and the endless hours sitting in the car basically  wasted two days of my precious annual leave so want to fly up there next time.

Seen the camels many times, they are on the left after the first range of hills from Scotch Corner. There are also Lamas At the Lama Karma Cafe just before you get to Penrith. Also near there is a BP station, much cheaper than filling up on the M6 /M74...

Edinburgh spent all it's money and then some, on the tram system. If you have to go into Edinburgh, use the park and rides and get the tram / bus . The tickets are about  £5 for all day, any bus and tram..The Parking in Edwins borough is expensive..

Some times I choose to use the A 696 or 697 across the hills to the A68 then the Edinburgh bypass. It's a nice scenic route not much slower, but every straight once in Scotland, has a camera, you've got to be very carefull going down hill...

 

Just beginning to plan my next trip up to see my Parents, sisters, nephews, nieces, great nephews and nieces etc..

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3 hours ago, Lulu said:

This was our route to and from Glasgow/Greenock last weekend.  My little Aygo struggled in places with the hills but wow what scenery.  Fuel cost us £80 round trip.

 Did you see the camels at the farm going across the pennines? No one believes me!   The A1 stretch is the most dull, never ending boring journey and then the last bit is the A14 road works which took forever with the 40mph restrictions for mile after mile.  Interesting experience having done this journey twice in the last two months but I hate long car journeys and the endless hours sitting in the car basically  wasted two days of my precious annual leave so want to fly up there next time.

I went across the A66 six times a week when I was working, sounds like the alpacas have grown into camels unless they really have some now, there were also some ostriches somewhere but then you could see a lot more from a high lorry cab

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  • 2 weeks later...

Although I did not share it here - perhaps should have - I have been traveling about once more. Going back down 'memory lane visiting some places I last went to as a child on holiday some 28 years ago. Firstly I drove from Norwich to London, and booked into a hotel near Heathrow Airport. They are well priced, have lots of comfort and features and gives easy access to the M25/M4.

The following morning it was off to Weymouth. I love the place, it now also has extra relevance to me as was the first harbour we came into when bringing Independence up to Norfolk. I was amazed to find the average cost of B&B accommodation in Weymouth was over £100.00 for a night. I therefore opted for another stay in the Maritime Hotel on Portland, a 4 star hotel for £43 a night? Hmm I stayed here before and it was pretty poor and miss-managed, so was going in eyes wide open but was not expecting the doors to be broken to get into the hotel, no lift working, no air con working, curtains that were held up with zip-ties, no bath towel - just three hand towels, a broken hair drier, a missing remote for the television....Yeah it had really gone down hill.

But it was within sight of Portland Bill so I had an early night and was up before sunrise and made a decision. Pack up and get the hell out, so note written to the management, key left at the unmanned reception I was locked in the hotel - literally. Only thing for it was out the fire escape, round to the car park and drive to the Bill. But now the sun was rising, me and four others were there, the other three seemed pretty pro photographers with masses of kit - I just had my iPhone and it was lovely.

Where to go now I thought? Well, nothing for it but to hit the road and so I did just that and headed to Beer, in Seaton, to Peccorama. This was a massive huge big deal to me when we first went there back when I was 10. Narrow gauge steam trains in the gardens, crazy golf, model train layouts you name it. It was heaving back then, we visited it again when I was 12 and it was just the same but now I was among just a handful of people, mainly adults. The place had not changed other than the trees and so on had matured a lot more. The displays were the same too the crazy golf though has less holes as a new Café has been built. It was nice though, but I was not loving the the narrow single track roads with high sides of vegetation and kamikaze  locals who would come around a bend then have to screech to a halt because surprise surprise another car was there. Almost lost the drivers wing mirror so such a person but the countryside was lovely and it was bringing back all sorts of memories so time to tick another off the list.

Just outside a small village of Bow, was a country house that formally was a Hotel. It was called Nichols Nymet House - run by a couple in their 80's and that was back in 1988. It was also the location where I first drove, a Montego, 1.6 Saloon down their driveway with my dad. I am not sure if it is still a hotel, there is a large caravan park next to the main house and the house is looking in need of repair and re-painting, but I had to stop and had a little 'talk' to my Dad about where I had come and I am sure he would have been proud. Steve Wright was on Radio 2, it was sunny and life felt perfect. Taunton was the overnight destination..

I stayed in the Holiday Inn, it was like an upmarket Travelodge - but had air-con and a nice room. The bar was not overly priced and it was nice to have a couple of cold beers and go over past times and thoughts in my mind. I noticed that Wales was not too far away, so tomorrow I would head to Newport and then tick off the Hotel where I stayed and which was back in the day the best I had ever seen, brand new built on an industrial estate and since being sold to Hilton, they sold it on and it is now the Coldra Court Hotel - I did not stay here, they want £6.00 a night to park the car, but availed the use of the toilets. It has changed, but not much. When I was last there, all those years back, they would loan out Sony Walkman's - you know with the big over ear foam headphones - I had one, I was over the moon an actual Walkman, and the tape they loaned me with it was a Genesis album.

Well back in the car and Chepstow was the next stop off, we used to come here to Stuart Crystal's factory outlet, housed in a former Boarding School. Now this has long closed down and the school is being converted into flats. Cheapstow was lovely as ever, the Wye Valley and so on so I took a short trip to Tinton and the Abbey ruins. Waze however got me there by one of its 'back road special's' which one day will see me getting unstuck, but it cut 10 minutes off the trip but took me down some seriously steep and narrow lanes with so much grass growing up the middle of the road it was hitting the engine under-tray of the low slung SLK.

I took in the Abbey, from outside anyway, bought some bits in the Abbey Mill's shop and then drove to Tinton Station, which is lovely, quiet and has been going - well since the 1990's and again has changed little. Hmm now what? Where could I go, where should I stay..? I had a look at the map and decided London was not so far away, 2hrs 23m Waze said, so it was London bound once more back to Heathrow.

Another impromptu little road trip complete.

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I was there myself in May only I stayed in Purbeck. I looked at that Hotel on Portland as I originally was going to visit our old family home at the Western end of the Chesil Bank. From what you say thank god I did not.

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The 2012 Olyympics have certainly given the old naval harbour a shot in the arm with new developments etc.

As an aside if anyone is ever cruising that area you will always get a warm welcome at Castle Cove Sailing Club near where The Fleet ( the lagoon behind Chesil ) exits . Their hospitality is legendary  and they have visitor moorings.

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1 hour ago, ChrisB said:

As an aside if anyone is ever cruising that area you will always get a warm welcome at Castle Cove Sailing Club near where The Fleet ( the lagoon behind Chesil ) exits . Their hospitality is legendary  and they have visitor moorings.

Our son is a member of Castle Cove and keeps his racing dinghy there. I've only been there a couple of times but it looks to be a well run club in a lovely spot.

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  • 1 month later...

Good bye old friend.  My Citroen DS5 auto.

She was a really nice car, lovely and comfortable, quiet, economical on a long run, and for me, looked a million dollars. BUT, it had the gearbox from hell.

They were billed as "automatics", but in reality was a conventional 6 speed manual, but with automatic selection by solenoids (or so i was told) and they were very problematic, and terrible around town. My regular mechanic was right, It was bloody awful, and getting worse, so she had to go.

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The Citroen was a diesel 1.6, but was quick, but lacked a little acceleration at motorway speeds when loaded with 4 adults and luggage. The Mazda is a 2ltr petrol auto, which has a much better gearbox, and a lot more power. The down side is she`s nowhere near as economical as the DS5, plus the DS5 was only £30 road tax, the Mazda is £145.  Horses for courses as they say.

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21 minutes ago, Poppy said:

I'm now on my 2nd DS5 but a six speed diesel manual. GREAT cars.

I love the comfort and performance, as well as the economy  - and pulling a 1300 kg caravan is no problem.

Had i have bought a manual, i would`nt have sold it. The only things i did`nt like about the main car were the visibility is a bit restrictive in certain areas, and the lack of a place for a spare wheel, but i just took a bit of extra time looking, and had a spare wheel loose in the boot.  The interior of the DS5 was much more welcoming, but the M6 is a better car to drive, though the DS5 was more comfortable.  I only got rid because of the bloody awful gearbox.  I still say they were one of the best looking designs ever done. The roadholding of the Mazda is much better too.

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If I was ever so rich and you would need very deep pockets to firstly buy, run and maintain a true DS. Then the DS23 pallas Decapotable is my dream classic car.

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Sometime about 1995 Judith and I attended a "Posh Do" in East Sussex with her parents. Jane Clark the Widow of the Politician Alan but then his wife came in hers and my allegiance changed from E type Jaguar to Citroen.

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The head honcho at the garage I used to use always said there were three makes of car to avoid, and three you should buy. The avoid list, Renault, Citroen and Vauxhall, the buy list Ford, Mazda and Honda.

When I come to change the CRV a Mazda 6 is high on the list of options.

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1 hour ago, Paul said:

The head honcho at the garage I used to use always said there were three makes of car to avoid, and three you should buy. The avoid list, Renault, Citroen and Vauxhall, the buy list Ford, Mazda and Honda.

When I come to change the CRV a Mazda 6 is high on the list of options.

The hard part is that so many cars are now based on others it’s hard to know what car you are really buying under the badge and therefore brand you trust! For example all Vauxhall’s are now Peugeot, lots of low end Mercedes stuff is full of Renault, some Nissan stuff is Renault powered. Once Toyota started rebranding Peugeot stuff I shed a tear! I know it’s been the way for some time now but every time I hear a surprising tale of unreliability it usually makes sense once you know the true origin of the failed item.

 

as for Auto gearboxes. The good ones are fantastic compared to a few years back but the cheapo CVT stuff is horrible. I owned an Audi A5 for all of three months after getting sick of the characteristics of the gear box. Such a shame as it was an otherwise nice car. Changed it so an S5 with the DSG box. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Paul said:

The head honcho at the garage I used to use always said there were three makes of car to avoid, and three you should buy. The avoid list, Renault, Citroen and Vauxhall, the buy list Ford, Mazda and Honda.

When I come to change the CRV a Mazda 6 is high on the list of options.

Magna`s had a pre reg one in metalic red, with a light and dark grey interior. It had 12 miles on the clock, and was down to £25.000. If had`nt put some money away in a fixed term account, i would have been tempted to go for it. If you`re interested Paul, it was Magna Mazda from Canford Cliffs in Bournemouth / Poole. They`ve probably still got it. They also had a dark metalic blue one in the show room. Both looked absolutely stunning. The only other problem with the red one was it`s a manual box, and these days, i prefer an auto.

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4 hours ago, Poppy said:

Should be - it's a Mondeo under the skin.  I've never had a problem with roadholding on the DS5s, bothe have been on Michelins.

I think the Mondeo, Mazda 6, and Jaguar X type, were all built on the same chassis. As for the DS5, it was ok, but the rear end would skip out on bumps etc, but that may have, as you say, been down to tyre choice.

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