Petrolheads Unofficial guide to Scotland
Discussion
I have been fiddling around on Google Maps putting a guide together for driving routes in Scotland, and I suddenly thought we could pool our knowledge and come up with a really great unofficial guide.
It could include good sections of road, photos, places to stay and eat, cool stuff to see (car related or not), scameras and speed trap locations, known hazards - all that kind of stuff. It would mean that anyone could access the map and plan a great route, with all the information we have all gleaned over the years and 1000's of miles of driving at their fingertips. If anyone is interested, please let me know, and I will send you a link so you can add to the map.
It could include good sections of road, photos, places to stay and eat, cool stuff to see (car related or not), scameras and speed trap locations, known hazards - all that kind of stuff. It would mean that anyone could access the map and plan a great route, with all the information we have all gleaned over the years and 1000's of miles of driving at their fingertips. If anyone is interested, please let me know, and I will send you a link so you can add to the map.
)Maybe another thing to include are roads that look/where good and now are deathtraps!
I was going long the Bearsden Craighat road. God it was awful the road looks like a half constructed jigsaw and is really busy. Oh yeah and Every corner has a "DANGER GENTLE CURVE" sign and there are dangerous corners on that road but because of the over sign posting you or somebody else coming the other way could be caught out by it!
Sorry I'll stop ranting now.
I was going long the Bearsden Craighat road. God it was awful the road looks like a half constructed jigsaw and is really busy. Oh yeah and Every corner has a "DANGER GENTLE CURVE" sign and there are dangerous corners on that road but because of the over sign posting you or somebody else coming the other way could be caught out by it!
Sorry I'll stop ranting now.
agent006 said:
Luckily my favourite route hasn't made it into any of these insta-traffic guides yet.
yes, am I the only one a bit uneasy with the increased publicity our favourite roads are now receiving - this can only lead to one thing - increased police presence. I was particularly unhappy to see the telegraph article the other week.Rest assured guys - the police already know your favourite roads. The reason I know this is that I have a freshly retired traffic officer working with us at the moment, and there is nothing the man doesn't know about what "keen drivers" get up to in Scotland. The idea of the map is to give everyone the heads up on any potential dangers or hazards as well as some good roads. The idea that some of these roads are "secret" is preposterous - you all know about them, and has anyone seen an increase in "sporting" traffic or police cars on these roads yet? And how did all those german bikers found out about Scotland? As regards speed cameras, by law the police have to notify drivers of a speed camera location. You may have noticed the camera signs everywhere - they are not there as a hoax - the police are legally obliged to put these signs up to give advance warning to drivers that there is a speed camera location ahead.
Many years ago, I started surfing in Thurso, and way back in the day we all worried that the place would get overcrowded by visiting surfers once the waves made it into the surf magazines and onto the telly. 18 years later, and the waves are still pretty much empty, and thats the way it will be on our roads. Your average southerner will head south into Europe anyway - remember from London people still need to drive 300 miles just to hit the border - much easier to jump on the Eurostar or a ferry.
Many years ago, I started surfing in Thurso, and way back in the day we all worried that the place would get overcrowded by visiting surfers once the waves made it into the surf magazines and onto the telly. 18 years later, and the waves are still pretty much empty, and thats the way it will be on our roads. Your average southerner will head south into Europe anyway - remember from London people still need to drive 300 miles just to hit the border - much easier to jump on the Eurostar or a ferry.
I just spent about 2 hours in Waterstones looking for books about driving roads.
They had books on visiting every country and city you could name.
Books about all sorts of cars, design of cars, drivers and bikes.
But not one guide to great roads in Europe.
I am happy to be involved in this idea.
Lets face it, it will only be those already interested in such things that will pay attention to it.
They had books on visiting every country and city you could name.
Books about all sorts of cars, design of cars, drivers and bikes.
But not one guide to great roads in Europe.
I am happy to be involved in this idea.
Lets face it, it will only be those already interested in such things that will pay attention to it.
Was just thinking about this again and I think the reluctance to divulge some of our favourite roads comes from:
Who is the intended audience and more importantly what is the potential distribution and what control is there over that? If you, or any regular of PH or the Scotland forum, wanted to meet up or know about any road that I could share pertinent knowledge on then I'd gladly give that information, I have done so in the past, and will still continue to do so. However to broadly distribute/publish favourite routes in a more formal and permanent format with no control so that it could come to the attention of the members of loudnovaboys.co.uk would concern me. If you are able to vet the access to the map then this is a non-issue but if it is publicly available and no moderation is possible then there is an issue in my eyes. This is my main concern and if that can be allayed I'll gladly share 'my' roads.
BTW:
Plod may know where the hooners go but most of us know where they go. I could guarantee that if I did the Moffat loop or round Strathyre, the A83, the A85 or up through Glencoe on a Sunday I would encounter Mr Plod. On the other hand I can drive a 200mile route on a Sunday and near as dammit guarantee I wouldn't*. So no, my route isn't secret, nor would I be so preposterous to think it was, but I do know that the likelihood is that plod is going to be on the well known routes on any given hooning Sunday.
Neither will I encounter a speed camera sign for 95% of that route.
The distance to travel here is not that great when you consider it. The Moffat loop, obviously, is on the border as well as some of the other roads I love are down that way. Admittedly to do Gairloch and Wester Ross from Bracknell would require some commitment but many already make that kind of journey across to the 'ring on a regular basis. Not from just Bracknell either.
Who is the intended audience and more importantly what is the potential distribution and what control is there over that? If you, or any regular of PH or the Scotland forum, wanted to meet up or know about any road that I could share pertinent knowledge on then I'd gladly give that information, I have done so in the past, and will still continue to do so. However to broadly distribute/publish favourite routes in a more formal and permanent format with no control so that it could come to the attention of the members of loudnovaboys.co.uk would concern me. If you are able to vet the access to the map then this is a non-issue but if it is publicly available and no moderation is possible then there is an issue in my eyes. This is my main concern and if that can be allayed I'll gladly share 'my' roads.
BTW:
Plod may know where the hooners go but most of us know where they go. I could guarantee that if I did the Moffat loop or round Strathyre, the A83, the A85 or up through Glencoe on a Sunday I would encounter Mr Plod. On the other hand I can drive a 200mile route on a Sunday and near as dammit guarantee I wouldn't*. So no, my route isn't secret, nor would I be so preposterous to think it was, but I do know that the likelihood is that plod is going to be on the well known routes on any given hooning Sunday.
Neither will I encounter a speed camera sign for 95% of that route.
The distance to travel here is not that great when you consider it. The Moffat loop, obviously, is on the border as well as some of the other roads I love are down that way. Admittedly to do Gairloch and Wester Ross from Bracknell would require some commitment but many already make that kind of journey across to the 'ring on a regular basis. Not from just Bracknell either.
- If you want to verify this with your ex-Plod let me know maybe I'll end up eating humble pie or maybe I just know of a great route and can look forward to seeing/overtaking some wonderfull machinery on it one day
Edited by naetype on Monday 11th February 14:58
northo said:
Thurso
Home for me! So yip wholeheartedly agree with not wanting to see busy roads up there. The amount of times a quick run up from Inverness has been completely buggered by tourists towing or following caravans etc. Folk would love to go charging past on the duallie or straight sections up to Tore, then suddenly get into the twisty bits around Golspie/Helsmdale and Berriedale Braes and appear to shit themselves and end up holding back all the folk they overtook.Back on topic, please send me the link, would be interested to have look and contribute what I can. There's times it feels like there's a "which route around Scotland" or "where in the highlands should we go" type thread almost every week in the scotland/GG/P&P forums. If you hadn't already done your google maps thing, then a wiki of useful info would have been good on here.
Thanks for the contributions so far for the map. It is not listed publicly, so you will need to contact me if you want a copy.
As regards our police man, he has had many bikes and an R32 golf, and I can testify (wrong word to use probably), that he knows all the good routes that I have been using over the years. Like the rest of us, a lot of these traffic guys are petrolheads too. That said, he always says that his job as a copper was to deter people from speeding in preference to catching people speeding - a pretty fair view.
As regards our police man, he has had many bikes and an R32 golf, and I can testify (wrong word to use probably), that he knows all the good routes that I have been using over the years. Like the rest of us, a lot of these traffic guys are petrolheads too. That said, he always says that his job as a copper was to deter people from speeding in preference to catching people speeding - a pretty fair view.
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