I'm expecting to be driving between Edinburgh to York on holiday. Any thoughts on what might be the interesting / scenic way?
At the moment, 3 options occur to me (though I am open to other suggestions)
A. A1 until Cramlington, then A19 through Tyne Tunnel and on to York.
B. A 68 to Consett / Castleside, A691 to Durham, A181 and then join A19 near Wingate, and on to York.
C. A68 to Darlington, A167 to Northallerton, A168 to Thirsk, and A19 to York
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I'd go C. The A68 is spectacular all the way but watch out for numerous safety cameras on the Scottish side of the border. Stop at butty wagon at Carter Bar but beware no loos so freestyle relief only in the trees.
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freestyle relief
:^D love it.
Do you get bonus points for artistic interpretation?
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Interesting you say?
As you?re in this forum, I?m going to assume some twisty roads would appeal.
So how about?..
A68 south from Edinburgh across Carter Bar.
Cut west for a few miles, from just before Hexham to Haydon Bridge
A686 to Alston
B6277 to Middleton in Teesdale, then Barnard Castle
A66 to Scotch Corner (tedious and infested with roadworks ? but you only need to do a few miles on the A66)
A1 for a few miles
B6271 to Northallerton
A168 to Thirsk
A19 to York
Of course, straight down the A68 then A1 would be a fraction quicker, but you did ask for interesting.
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Depends how long you want to take.
I prefer the A1 down the coast passed Berwick (upon Tweed) after Haggerston Castle and the turnoff for Holy Island causeway take road for Warrenford Mill and Bamburgh (one of the best castle views in the country).
Follow the coast down through Seahouses (just avoid it during the Glasgow fair as Glasgow relocates to the NE coast for two weeks). You then have the choice to head for Alnwick and see the castle where Harry Potter was filmed or carry on down the coast passed Craster (where you can pick up some of the best kippers in the world). Pick up the A1068 through Walkworth, Amble and head for Ashington where you pick up the A19 for Tyne Tunnel and down to York. A19 is better route than A1 as it gets less traffic.
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Excellent gmac.
In my hitch-hiking days the A1 through Northumberland had lots of excellent 100mph two-lane blacktop. But they kept making it wider and I suppose most of it is dual carriageway now.
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Lud,
It may surprise to to hear the A1 from Morpeth to Berwick is still pretty much single carriageway (there is one dual carriageway section from Felton round Alnwick by-pass, and a couple of dualed passing points further north).
Not much chance of 100mph antics these days though. Northumbria police patrol from Alnwick to Berwick quite heavily and depending on how the local coffers are doing come down pretty hard on motorists.
The problem is also with HGV's and the 40mph speed limit for them, which is enforced again by Northumbria police quite strictly. This is the main east coast route from England to Scotland and drivers do get impatient in the long queues which can build up. They take risks, accidents happen and speed gets the blame again. Nothing to do with political wrangling then.
This is the only section of the A1 in England which is still single carriageway. The Scottish side from Edinburgh down to Berwick is only single for the few miles from Eyemouth southwards where the road literally does hug the coastline and there is nowhere else to build.
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Other thing to bear in mind, mainly in the stretch between the border and newcastle, is that the Northumbria Police do a fair amount of advanced driver training in this area so a little look out for unmarked cars full of policement might be an idea.
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Not such fun now then. Of course there were still railways in those pre-Beeching days, so the lorry traffic was light. As was the car traffic. Got a lift from this old guy, perhaps even older than I am now, in an Austin Westminster A105 or something, pre Farina police car Westminster. The old guy was deaf as a post but his car had overdrive and he really got a move on, 90-95 on the good bits.
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I used to live in Northumberland and used to hitch hike up and down the A1 to save pocket money - I had a lift once out of Alnwick down to Newcastle in a Lotus Cortina Mk 1 stripped out rally car which was an exciting experience on a non dualled road.
I do not know who the driver was but I did feel safe even when he was overtaking lines of traffic reaching speeds of 100mph + the highest indicated speed he reached was 120 mph which at that time was the fastest I'd ever travelled in a car.
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I do not know who the driver was but I did feel safe even when he was overtaking lines of traffic reaching speeds of 100mph + the highest indicated speed he reached was 120 mph which at that time was the fastest I'd ever travelled in a car.
Goodness helicopter... couldn't have been Jim Clark could it? He used to live near Berwick and was said to have done London-Berwick in four or five hours in a Lotus Cortina.
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Certainly was not Jim Clark Lud - he was and is my motor racing hero,I would love to have met him. He seems to have been the most charming and unassuming man but the supreme competitor. I well remember his epic battles with Graham Hill.
If I had met him I would probably have just gaped in hero worship , I lived only a few miles from his home in Chirnside near Berwick.
I used to have his autobiography where he describes driving the first Colin Chapman specially prepared Lotus Cortina and catching up and scaring the daylights out of some American servicemen speeding at the ton plus in a Thunderbird on the old A1.
This was in the days before 70 mph speed limits of course.
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RCSpeirs route is a long way from the quickest but certainly takes in some terriffic driving. If you do go that way I can recommend the George and Dragon in Garrigill just outside Alston heading towards Barnard Castle. I've spent many a happy hour in there. Proper village pub, very unassuming. Make sure you pick up some Alston sausage en route.
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Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. Seems to be one vote for 'A' and one for 'C', plus the interesting suggestion from RCSpeirs. Not a route I would have thought of, but it does appeal to me.
Interestingly enough, according to the Michelin website, the quickest route is A, while B & C add about half an hour, and the RCSpeirs route adds a further half hour to that. Keep the ideas coming. (I'll be doing the drive in July, and will try to remember to report back and tell you which I choose.)
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This was in the days before 70 mph speed limits of course.
Tee hee! Certainly was!
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Depends how much time you have.
My vote is A68 and A697 from Edinburgh to Branxton ( site of Flodden Field) just after Coldstream and Cornhill and cut over on the B6353 from Crookham through Ford and Lowickto bring you out opposite Lindisfarne on the A1. You can visit the island but beware the tides.
Turn right and turn off the by pass into Belford , stop at the top of the hill for the spectacular view of Lindisfarne then drop down to the Blue Bell in the market square for a pint or lunch.
Then back up the hill and turn left at the top to Waren Mill and Bamburgh, with Budle Bay on your left you come to the top of the hill and get one of the great views of England IMO as the castle and village are spread out in front of you.Visit the castle and the Grace Darling Museum.
Seahouses is a stop off point for the Farne Islands and I can recommend the Old Ship Inn for crab sandwiches and the true fishermans pub experience.
The only additions I would make to gmacs suggested route is to visit the gardens at Alnwick Castle if you have time.
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Slight misdirection in taking you from Belford to Bamburgh - you should turn right at the top of the hill....
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Right. I've done it.
I put the options to my wife, and she favoured the rcspeirs suggestion. And it was indeed brilliant. Sadly it was a dull and overcast day, and what brightness there was disappeared once we got into England, but that's the way it is this summer. A68 from Carter Bar to Hexham was great, but the best bit was the B6277 from Alston to Middleton in Teesdale. That would have been great on a cloudless day.
A curious incident happened on the A68 near Lauder. It was round about noon, and I noticed that a Toyota Yaris Verso had caught up with me, and seemed to be in a hurry. Being overtaken by a Yaris Verso isn't an everyday event, so I waited to see if it would go overtake me, and sure enough, it did. I had a glance as it went past, and there was a lady in the driver's seat, and two or three children in the back. Shortly afterwards - perhaps 30 seconds later? - a young deer emerged from the woods to the right of the road and ran across the road into the path of the Verso. For a split second, it was hidden from sight by the vehicle, and when it emerged, it was flying through the air with its feet above its head. It landed in the weeds on the left side of the road. Somewhat to my surprise, the Yaris Verso stopped in the carriageway, forcing me to choose between braking hard and going around it. Since there was nothing coming, I went around. Clearly a pretty traumatic moment for the driver.
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Thanks for letting us know - but did you buy any Alston sausage on the way through and did you pop in for a hand steadier at the George & Dragon?
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No. Running a bit late by the time we got to Alston, and we wanted to stop at High Force - we like waterfalls.
And no, no sausage. We were on holiday, and it wasn't a self-catering holiday either. Bit awkward showing up at a B&B and saying "And we'd like these sausages in our cooked breakfast, tomorrow." :-) (And anyway, I suspect that my wife would be a bit suspicious of Alston sausage. She prefers her sausages plain.)
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