Discussion
So, having a little bit of leave from work recently and with some unseasonally nice weather I set out to give the Mini a rare "proper" drive on nearby roads (N. England and S.W. Scotland). I know it's pathetic but in 7 years' driving round this neck of the woods I'd never experienced the A68, and it was such a bizarre experience I kind of had to write something about it to see what anyone else's thoughts were.
I drove down from the Scottish side, and the first thing that struck me was the number of Gatsos along there, they're literally on almost every straight stretch, and lead to the second thing that struck me, which is the "interesting" driving style that they cause the locals to have. It seems that anyone who wishes to "make progress" goes about overtaking in one of two ways: either pull out, overtake quickly and then stamp on the brakes or wait until after the camera (they're all about 1/2 way along a straight) and do a banzai last-minute type of move. It was kind of interesting to watch!
The road south of the border is a different kettle of fish entirely: I thought it was fantastic! Lots of nice straight sections for overtaking (without cameras) and I encountered several other drivers who, on seeing that myself and others wanted to pass, actually helped by slowing down/moving over (a depressingly rare occurrance these days I find). I did see a couple of BiB loitering with a speed gun, but as they were in the middle of a village (as opposed to lying in wait on the edge of the 30 limit) I certainly didn't mind their presence.
I reckon if they applied the same enforcement strategy north of the border the A68 would be rated as one of THE great roads for driving: it has great scenery, has good sightlines for overtaking and has some very fun bends. Anyone else have any thoughts?
I drove down from the Scottish side, and the first thing that struck me was the number of Gatsos along there, they're literally on almost every straight stretch, and lead to the second thing that struck me, which is the "interesting" driving style that they cause the locals to have. It seems that anyone who wishes to "make progress" goes about overtaking in one of two ways: either pull out, overtake quickly and then stamp on the brakes or wait until after the camera (they're all about 1/2 way along a straight) and do a banzai last-minute type of move. It was kind of interesting to watch!
The road south of the border is a different kettle of fish entirely: I thought it was fantastic! Lots of nice straight sections for overtaking (without cameras) and I encountered several other drivers who, on seeing that myself and others wanted to pass, actually helped by slowing down/moving over (a depressingly rare occurrance these days I find). I did see a couple of BiB loitering with a speed gun, but as they were in the middle of a village (as opposed to lying in wait on the edge of the 30 limit) I certainly didn't mind their presence.
I reckon if they applied the same enforcement strategy north of the border the A68 would be rated as one of THE great roads for driving: it has great scenery, has good sightlines for overtaking and has some very fun bends. Anyone else have any thoughts?
Its a pretty good road I agree. Very fast as well. The cameras are annoying north of the border. To the best of my knowledge there is only one South of the border, between Belsay and Ponteland. There's often Police cars on the top of Carter Barr so its worth paying attention there. The A697, which branches off it is worth checking out as well.
I agree. However, it is the A696 not the 697. From Belsay to the junction with the 68 (just north of Otterburn) and on to the border at Carter Bar is one of the best drives anywhere. The road is well-constructed, too, and there is very little enforcement outside of the villages.
The A697 runs from Morpeth to the border at Coldstream and while it is a good road, is nowhere near the same.
The A697 runs from Morpeth to the border at Coldstream and while it is a good road, is nowhere near the same.
r129sl said:
I agree. However, it is the A696 not the 697. From Belsay to the junction with the 68 (just north of Otterburn) and on to the border at Carter Bar is one of the best drives anywhere. The road is well-constructed, too, and there is very little enforcement outside of the villages.
The A697 runs from Morpeth to the border at Coldstream and while it is a good road, is nowhere near the same.
I've got to disagree I'm afraid. The A68/696 route is great in places but a lot of it is just very long straights, great for making progress but not as much fun as the A697 which is less scenic but much twistier. North of the border, they join anyway and are spoilt by cameras. I drive from Newcastle to Edinburgh about 3-4 times per month these days and take the A697 nearly everytime these days.The A697 runs from Morpeth to the border at Coldstream and while it is a good road, is nowhere near the same.
The roller coaster section is a cracker, we use the carter bar and the 696 on courses and it really tests the bottle of the driver on the whoops, you know it's straight but yer butt is givin it 5p - dustbin lid - 5p coming up to the top - great!! Seen some great cars up on the moors and towards the border stone, we were having a de brief in a layby and 5 aston martin vanquishes went past within 5 minutes, fantastic! It was like "there's a vanquish! there's another one!! F me another!!"
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