On rare motoring visit to the heathen South I went from the A1M to the M1 on a link road which went via Ampthill.
Never used it before, it looked pretty new.
At 7pm it was quiet and got me on to the M1 a bit north of Milton Keynes.
What's it like generally - I quite like the A1 for getting away from London, but it's not an obvious choice for getting back to North Manchester as although it can be quieter than the M1 it takes me a bit too far East, so a decent link to the M1 far enough North of London to be out of most of the garbage would be a handy addition to the portfolio.
Did I pass the old R101 hangar en route?
|
Compare
tinyurl.com/3cm6kj
with
tinyurl.com/39uxkk
Amazing how little out of your way the A1 takes you. I used to use this route for a change when I lived in Prestwich. Provided the A1 was Ok, it was much more enjoyable than the eternal drag up the M6.
If you still want to cut across, the A14 at Huntingdon takes you to the bottom of the M6 and is dualled all the way.
V
|
|
Vin, have I missed the point? A1 route is an hour longer than M6. Yes the M6 is a PITA and can really give you problems north of Stafford these days in the afternoon but an hour is an hour on a like-for-like basis.
|
Nsar, I just look at the mileage; 21 miles difference. I don't know what speeds Google assumes, but I suspect it'll rate the A1 as slower than the M6, as it's dual carriageway rather than motorway. In fact, it must, or there's no way it could calculate a one hour difference for 21 miles. In my experience (this was 12 years ago) the A1 route used to take almost exactly the same time. The A1 clogged less and wasn't any slower than a motorway when clear.
Anyroadup (literally!) it's an alternative I used to like, and might be worth a try with a stopwatch if you're going to do this regularly.
V
|
|
You may well be right. I had a glorious early evening run down M62/ A1M for a meeting just North of Peterborough. The AA said it was a 2.5hr run and let's just say I had time for a couple of extra pints in the pub when I arrived.
|
|
|
|
>A14 at Huntingdon takes you to the bottom of the M6 and is dualled all the way.
As long as you dont hit the catforth interchange in the morning rush hour
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
|
|
|
Yes you did pass the old airship hangers at Cardington. It's a great new road from the A1 up to Bedford, when it becomes single carriageway (with a short section of dual) until the M1 junction, when in rush hour you can spend a lot of time queuing for the M1. At 7pm you'll be fine.
The road is part of the rapidly developing Eastern link through to Suffolk and then up to Norfolk and I use it a lot to get to Cambridge - it has knocked around 40 minutes off the journey. Can't recall the road number though doh!!
|
|
|
Hey < waves > I was at the black cat (the A1 end of the link) at 7. Yes its new, bout 6 months old.
The R101 hanger is at cardington
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
This is the splendid bit of of road that drove my Tomtom nuts a few weeks ago.
If you are curious about 'recent' history, there is a memorial in the cemetery in Cardington to those who perished in the R101 disaster. I found it interesting to visit this after seeing it featured on an old b&w archive film.
|
|
