Trip - Essex to Yorkshire - Avoiding A1M?
Discussion
Taking into account Friday pm traffic I`d go straight up to Wetherby, then:
A659 to Pool A658 over river Wharfe, 1st L on Farnley Park, B6451 Farnley, to Norwood - twisty & stone walls ..... then pick up A59 & have a look at the golf balls. No cameras or you`ll be in trouble! A59 all the way, good scenery. Watch for the new N Yorks mobile speed cameras esp on A59.
You`ll avoid dragging across Harrogate which is a real pain.
A659 to Pool A658 over river Wharfe, 1st L on Farnley Park, B6451 Farnley, to Norwood - twisty & stone walls ..... then pick up A59 & have a look at the golf balls. No cameras or you`ll be in trouble! A59 all the way, good scenery. Watch for the new N Yorks mobile speed cameras esp on A59.
You`ll avoid dragging across Harrogate which is a real pain.
OpulentBob said:
Next friday, leaving Essex about 1pm, can't be in Yorkshire (Skipton/Gargrave) before 6pm or I'll be waiting in the cold, dark, rain.
Anyone know any half decent roads - not necessarily after the fastest but something interesting - so maybe not the A1M or the M1?
OK let's see - at least 5 hours and some more interesting roads. How about:Anyone know any half decent roads - not necessarily after the fastest but something interesting - so maybe not the A1M or the M1?
A1060 to Leaden Roding
B184 to Great Dunmow, Thaxted, Saffron Walden
B184/A1031 to A505
A505 to Royston
A1198 to Godmanchester
A14/A1(M) to J17
A1139 Peterborough ring road
A15 to Bourne, Lincoln
A15/M180/M18/M62/A1(M) to Weatherby
then as above
Red Devil said:
OK let's see - at least 5 hours and some more interesting roads. How about:
A1060 to Leaden Roding
B184 to Great Dunmow, Thaxted, Saffron Walden
B184/A1031 to A505
A505 to Royston
A1198 to Godmanchester
A14/A1(M) to J17
A1139 Peterborough ring road
A15 to Bourne, Lincoln
A15/M180/M18/M62/A1(M) to Weatherby
then as above
I'll concede that you probably don't want to do the entire route on B-roads but the A15 is not an interesting road unless you like lorries and dislike corners.A1060 to Leaden Roding
B184 to Great Dunmow, Thaxted, Saffron Walden
B184/A1031 to A505
A505 to Royston
A1198 to Godmanchester
A14/A1(M) to J17
A1139 Peterborough ring road
A15 to Bourne, Lincoln
A15/M180/M18/M62/A1(M) to Weatherby
then as above
At Peterborough you could continue on the A1 'til Stamford (you'll pass a harrier at wittering) then take the a606 past rutland water, oakham, melton mowbray (great hilly scenery) then take the a46 before nottingham and a6097/a614/a60 toward doncaster.
I don't know the doncaster stretch that well as I usually just plum on the A1 - i'm used to it though.
Wetherby is back in my area of influence. If you're going west to skipton, you could avoid wetherby and go west to harewood (a58/hwd ave/a61) and keep following the river wharfe west on the a65. As above, the a59 is just as nice but harrogate will cost time, although it is nice to look at.
Enjoy!
storminnorman said:
I'll concede that you probably don't want to do the entire route on B-roads but the A15 is not an interesting road unless you like lorries and dislike corners.
It is by comparison to the A1/A1(M) which the OP wants to avoid! I grant you the section from Bourne through Folkington and Osbournby to here is a bit nadgery but I have always been able to make decent progress on the rest of it and never been seriously held up by HGVs. North of Lincoln, except for the loop around RAF Scampton, it's arrow straight all the way to the M180. I use that route from Peterborough often as my sister lives near Brigg. storminnorman said:
At Peterborough you could continue on the A1 'til Stamford (you'll pass a harrier at wittering) then take the a606 past rutland water, oakham, melton mowbray (great hilly scenery) then take the a46 before nottingham and a6097/a614/a60 toward doncaster.
I don't know the doncaster stretch that well as I usually just plum on the A1 - i'm used to it though.
The A606 is scenic but you can't avoid Melton (no bypass) and it's slow and twisty at Langham and Nether/Upper Broughton. Oddly enough my sister used to live in Wymeswold so I know that route too.I don't know the doncaster stretch that well as I usually just plum on the A1 - i'm used to it though.
The A60 makes no sense as you would have to go to Mansfield to get onto it then right through the centre of Worksop as well. From there you would need to take the B6045 to get onto the Doncaster bypass. I have always found traffic anywhere near Donny to be a right PITA and I wouldn't go anywhere near it from choice.
storminnorman said:
Wetherby is back in my area of influence. If you're going west to skipton, you could avoid wetherby and go west to harewood (a58/hwd ave/a61) and keep following the river wharfe west on the a65. As above, the a59 is just as nice but harrogate will cost time, although it is nice to look at.
Enjoy!
julianm's route (A659) doesn't go through Wetherby either. Also after Pool in Wharfedale I reckon it has more to commend it than staying on the A65 through Otley and Ilkley.Enjoy!
OpulentBob said:
Thanks guys - definite food for thought there.
I'm going to mark out several routes on a planner and decide according to traffic/weather. Anything beats M1 and A1M.
If you do go the way I suggested, there's another option north of Lincoln. As you can see from the map, the A15 is a straight as a die pretty much all the way from RAF Scampton to the M180. However this can sometimes cause problems with overtakes, especially if you are unlucky enough to be stuck in a camel train behind a HGV. It can be difficult to judge distances and closing speeds. I have seen some crazy antics and near misses at times.I'm going to mark out several routes on a planner and decide according to traffic/weather. Anything beats M1 and A1M.
An alternative is to take the parallel B1398 via Kirton in Lindsey to the A18 thence to the M180. This is the best route through Linclon to get to it - you can't access it from the ring road.
Well, it worked right up until I got about 50 miles from home, when my alternator went.
I used my "recovery" part of Green Flal to get loaded on to a breakdown truck and dropped at a garage in Skipton, where I was charged £460 for repair. Then noticed I needed a pari of tyres too.
But thank you for the advice - it's something I'm keeping in mind for my next journey up there in the coming few weeks. Anything beats the A1(M). Especially at 55mph in a Greef Flag truck.
I used my "recovery" part of Green Flal to get loaded on to a breakdown truck and dropped at a garage in Skipton, where I was charged £460 for repair. Then noticed I needed a pari of tyres too.
But thank you for the advice - it's something I'm keeping in mind for my next journey up there in the coming few weeks. Anything beats the A1(M). Especially at 55mph in a Greef Flag truck.
Oh No! I`m sorry to hear that - what a pain. My son is in Skipton & uses a local garage who are so honest & inexpensive I`ll find out the name & let you know. e.g £7 to fit a new gear lever to his Saab! Better luck next time - I had a pain of a journey the other way yesterday - York to Banbury. Around 500 miles of the M1 is on a 50 limit, and 2 lasses in a decrepit Ka had broken down in the centre of L1 - 30 mins to get past....
I did travel as fast as possible to the next camera thinking I must have an awful of speed saved up!
I did travel as fast as possible to the next camera thinking I must have an awful of speed saved up!
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