Good roads - Brough (Cumbria) to Consett
Discussion
Hi All,
I do a fair bit of work in the North East, and living in the south Lancs / Merseyside area, it's always been 3 possible ways to get there.
1. For anything slightly North or North West of Newcastle, up the M6, and across the A69 (or if feeling a bit energetic - over the hartside).
2. M62 then A1M. Very boring and dull. Very steady though - best route for economy. BUT normally can add an hour to my journey if doing at rush hour.
3. M6, A66 (via Kirby Stephen), then A1M. My preferred route and pretty much an easy one to do as usually quiet with decent places to stop if nature requires or if i need a brew!
However, a few weeks back i was leaving a meeting in Whickham, nr Gateshead and for the first time in ages decided to have a look at my old road map (remember them?). There was a blatent route from Whickham to Brough which cut out a lot of road. So i got my tomtom out and tried to see if it would suggest it. I put Whickham to my home via Consett and nothing! It was telling me to go Whickham > Consett > back to A1M and then home.
So i went for it.
Road was excellent. Good fun to drive. Lots of cattle grids and plenty of sheep and some potholes to dodge but good fun.
What surprised me though was that it took me 1 hr 17 mins to get from Whickham to Brough (just off the A66), and was 50 miles according to the trip computer. So i stopped and programmed it into my sat nav. From Brough to Whickham, the sat nav was suggesting A66 to A1M and then North.
Get this though - tomtom said 1 hr 23 mins / 74 miles!! Ok, i know tomtom tends to drive at 50 mph, so assume it could be done in 1 hr 15m maybe, but still - a good road and i made a bit of £££ by cutting out the additional 24 miles required. Soon builds up over a week. Economy-wise, average journey of 160 miles dropped from 49.8mph on the way there, to 45.3 on the way back. So all in all, not too bad.
Have done it a few times since - both there and back.
For those interested, road is:
Brough > B6276 towards Middleton in Teesdale > Lots of country roads > Joining on to B6278 > Stanhope > B6278 again > road splits and take fork right towards Waskerley > Castleside > Consett.
Careful though - last time i did it was on a North bound trip and i met a police 5-Series in Castleside who looked like he was heading moors-bound for some blue light action!
I do a fair bit of work in the North East, and living in the south Lancs / Merseyside area, it's always been 3 possible ways to get there.
1. For anything slightly North or North West of Newcastle, up the M6, and across the A69 (or if feeling a bit energetic - over the hartside).
2. M62 then A1M. Very boring and dull. Very steady though - best route for economy. BUT normally can add an hour to my journey if doing at rush hour.
3. M6, A66 (via Kirby Stephen), then A1M. My preferred route and pretty much an easy one to do as usually quiet with decent places to stop if nature requires or if i need a brew!
However, a few weeks back i was leaving a meeting in Whickham, nr Gateshead and for the first time in ages decided to have a look at my old road map (remember them?). There was a blatent route from Whickham to Brough which cut out a lot of road. So i got my tomtom out and tried to see if it would suggest it. I put Whickham to my home via Consett and nothing! It was telling me to go Whickham > Consett > back to A1M and then home.
So i went for it.
Road was excellent. Good fun to drive. Lots of cattle grids and plenty of sheep and some potholes to dodge but good fun.
What surprised me though was that it took me 1 hr 17 mins to get from Whickham to Brough (just off the A66), and was 50 miles according to the trip computer. So i stopped and programmed it into my sat nav. From Brough to Whickham, the sat nav was suggesting A66 to A1M and then North.
Get this though - tomtom said 1 hr 23 mins / 74 miles!! Ok, i know tomtom tends to drive at 50 mph, so assume it could be done in 1 hr 15m maybe, but still - a good road and i made a bit of £££ by cutting out the additional 24 miles required. Soon builds up over a week. Economy-wise, average journey of 160 miles dropped from 49.8mph on the way there, to 45.3 on the way back. So all in all, not too bad.
Have done it a few times since - both there and back.
For those interested, road is:
Brough > B6276 towards Middleton in Teesdale > Lots of country roads > Joining on to B6278 > Stanhope > B6278 again > road splits and take fork right towards Waskerley > Castleside > Consett.
Careful though - last time i did it was on a North bound trip and i met a police 5-Series in Castleside who looked like he was heading moors-bound for some blue light action!
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