Driving to Plymouth

Think back on your most memorable road trip.

Can be wet and windy!

In the 1980’s we went to visit a friend from college for the first time. It was a journey we would make every couple of years until  he moved up to the North of England.

We lived in the Midlands and I’d learnt to drive about 6 months before. I was driving a Morris Marina.

We took the M6 then M5 motorways until it ran out and changed to an A road. We stopped off for breakfast at a service station because the journey was about 240 miles. I hadn’t been on a motorway very often and as we came out of the service station  I ended up on the North bound slip road! I did something illegal. I reversed back down the road and then took the South road!

Luckily the route was very simple, we got to Plymouth, and the house we were visiting was a few hundred yards away from the motorway junction. I remember we took bicycles on the roof of the car so the rest of the week was spent cycling to beaches and visiting various interesting places. The trip back was uneventful!

This was pre satnav and we used maps to navigate. To be honest I still use an A to Z if I want to find somewhere. But my driving is restricted to short journeys these days.

I can get into the country

What do you love about where you live?

North… Cheshire and Peak District, Staffordshire Moorlands, East – Derbyshire, South- Staffordshire, West – Shropshire and Cheshire. Further West – Wales. Also Stoke-on-Trent has good road links to motorways and A roads. Sometimes they are a little congested, but you can usually get out into the countryside in 10 to 20 minutes. It is interesting because of the variations in geology depending on the direction you take. Farmland and flat land South and West, with the hills of Wales and Shropshire in the distance. North and East hills and moorland including the start of the Pennines.

Stoke-on-Trent is situated in the North Midlands of England, it also has canal and train connections and the local area has many countryside attractions including National Trust properties, historic railways and museums, Alton Towers is nearby and Jodrell Bank observatory is a few miles north west. You can even reach the seaside in Wales or the Wirral in about 80 miles.

Worst day to travel?

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This is the worst day to travel according to the news today. Fifteen Million people were due to visit relatives or jet away. Then it rained, and it has flooded in several places. Traffic in and out of Gatwick Airport has been seriously delayed. There are flood warnings on rivers in the south of the country. I hope people are going to get where they want to, safely. In the past it would have been snow, or ice, now its pouring with rain.

Too tired to blog

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194 miles in two days on motorways to visit two brother in laws. A bit of sketching, visiting places to buy food, looking at bicycles and toy trains with my hubby. Did so much driving today that I didn’t take photos.

I was worried about the trip before we went so didn’t sleep well. Then last night we had a very comfortable bed but I still couldn’t sleep. Traffic noise, being too hot, then too cold, people moving about and creaking floorboards. I tried to get half an hours sleep after breakfast but my hubby has a bad cough so I didn’t sleep. I was genuinely worried about driving down motorways, especially since I kept yawning so much my eyes were watering. We went somewhere for lunch near Hebden Bridge then drove to see the other brother in law. Then home. Tired. Shattered. Over tired. Ugh….

The photo? Not relevant but I liked it.

Out of touch

We have just come back from a very wet Yorkshire. We stayed in a lodge in the woods. It was very nice, but damp.

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There is a lake at the place where we stayed and we saw  ducks and geese with youngsters walking through the woodlands. The only shame is that they are going to cut down some of the trees so people can get WiFi. I’d rather go without it and keep the trees.

We drove out to Fountains Abbey and I tried to draw it but the rain was coming down and the ink pen ran. However we had some very nice food in an Italian restaurant by the side of the River Wharfe.

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Now I think I need an early night. I will try and catch up with WordPress over the next couple of days.

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Ignoring the satnav

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Sitting at our destination  slightly tired after a long drive. Got a g&t as no more driving today.

I decided to use my phones satnav. But the options were all motorway driving and I wanted to avoid part of that as I know the motorway is having a lot of work done on it. However the sat nav didn’t know that and kept saying, “in a quarter of a mile turn left” each time I drove past a junction, turn left, turn left. In the end I joined up with the motorway. Then I had an argument with my hubby about the route, he wanted to go our usual way but it took me away from the city centre. We went a different way, just getting stuck in roadworks a few times.

So I’m sitting here after about 90 miles in three hours… Slow but safe x