Driving in the UK

[rmjbn1]

places close on a Sunday, my daughter was down there last week, she struggled to get a meal at about nine pm.

Doesn't surprise me, but I think that would apply any day of the week.
There's a 24-hour diner in Smithfield, Brick Lane's OK, but London's pretty feeble for late night activity
Most pubs still close at 11... they're just getting going around here

 

[The Panda Nut]

@The Panda Nut has only just stopped using his compass, an A-Z is very hi tec for him you know

Bollo***. I still have a proper compass in the car. It works accurately unlike the phone ones which, like sat nav, may work or may lack a signal or may say 'there is no route between the locations' eg CROYDON TO LAMBETH. all this electrinic garbage is fine when it works. But it doesnt at all times. it is prone to taking you on guided tours of places you dont give a *** about at times when you are in a hurry. Really good if you already know where you are and where you are going. USELESS if your battery runs down or there is lossv of signal. And as to sat navs ideas of shotcuts words FAIL ME. I nearly missed a flight to the states a few years back by following kin satnav into and round, and round, and round the industrial areas near heathrow.. Congested M25 got us there on time after I put an end to th SN farce.

 

[The Panda Nut]

An A-Z map, seriously? This is 2025 incase you're a wee bit confused

Cars driving up the busway round Cambridge, onto railway lines and down farm roads still common place. Stuff spec savers. Get a map. The best way. Map and a ruler and a pencil. Dont even start me on diversions to avoid non existent motorway jams. I used to be able to ring home and tell my mrs the time I would get home accurate in most cases to 10 minutes from pretty well anywhere south of Preston. Sat navs only use is live map, max zoom in, for showing upcoming bends at night then its useful for getting past slow traffic.

 

[Greasytrucker]

Bollo***. I still have a proper compass in the car. It works accurately unlike the phone ones which, like sat nav, may work or may lack a signal or may say 'there is no route between the locations' eg CROYDON TO LAMBETH. all this electrinic garbage is fine when it works. But it doesnt at all times. it is prone to taking you on guided tours of places you dont give a *** about at times when you are in a hurry. Really good if you already know where you are and where you are going. USELESS if your battery runs down or there is lossv of signal. And as to sat navs ideas of shotcuts words FAIL ME. I nearly missed a flight to the states a few years back by following kin satnav into and round, and round, and round the industrial areas near heathrow.. Congested M25 got us there on time after I put an end to th SN farce.

I like your thinking My satnav is only normally on for the last 10 minutes of the journey to get me into my delivery, too many people are satnav monkeys now. My 2 kids never look at road signs when they’re driving and it drives me potty!

 

[The Panda Nut]

I like your thinking My satnav is only normally on for the last 10 minutes of the journey to get me into my delivery, too many people are satnav monkeys now. My 2 kids never look at road signs when they’re driving and it drives me potty!

No doubting when they work they are good and when they deliver you to the unmarked door of somewhere on an industiral estate there may be brief moments of affection....


BFORE YOU HATE THEM AGAIN....

 

[rmjbn1]

I'm with you, Panda Nut, everyone laffs at me and my old-fashioned paper maps.
Proper maps are the future!
I like to be the one deciding which route I take and what's interesting on the way, not our evil Google/Apple (Goople?) overlords. The fightback against the algorithm has begun!

 

[portland_bill]

Bollo***. I still have a proper compass in the car. It works accurately unlike the phone ones which, like sat nav, may work or may lack a signal or may say 'there is no route between the locations' eg CROYDON TO LAMBETH. all this electrinic garbage is fine when it works. But it doesnt at all times. it is prone to taking you on guided tours of places you dont give a *** about at times when you are in a hurry. Really good if you already know where you are and where you are going. USELESS if your battery runs down or there is lossv of signal. And as to sat navs ideas of shotcuts words FAIL ME. I nearly missed a flight to the states a few years back by following kin satnav into and round, and round, and round the industrial areas near heathrow.. Congested M25 got us there on time after I put an end to th SN farce.

Satnavs can be stubborn. You deviate from the route due to a delay, and it will fight to get you back on its chosen route, often for way too long before it re-routes. A map, and local knowledge is still useful.

When I was teaching learners, I'd show them the map. They had no idea. Sitting in the car, I'd ask them to point towards the town centre, usually a good result, then nearby towns, and furhter away ones. No idea whatsoever. If the nav was taking them in the wrong direction, they'd have no clue.
Open the back of the atlas, to the index. Scan the columns, it will not be long before duplicates show. Local to me is Swindon, but there are three of them. The large one, off the M4, then there's Swindon village, now a suburb of Cheltenham, and another Swindon, somewhere on the south side of Birmingham. All three will present disappointment on arrival, but it is better if you arrive at the correct one.

 

[rmjbn1]

Where at what tube station or nearby can I park the car, safe, legal and not that expensive?

The easiest option I think might be Slough.

The train station is easy to reach from the M4, plenty of parking.

Fast trains direct to Bond Street, close to main shopping areas.

As it's train rather than tube, not as cheap as going from Hillingdon tube station, but avoids a very busy section of M4/M25.

Plus you get to tell everyone back home you've visited Slough. Not many get that privilege. Home of The Office, Mars bars and where Uranus was discovered, which doesn't surprise me.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I'm with you, Panda Nut, everyone laffs at me and my old-fashioned paper maps.
Proper maps are the future!
I like to be the one deciding which route I take and what's interesting on the way, not our evil Google/Apple (Goople?) overlords. The fightback against the algorithm has begun!

Yep. When Putin decides to deprive us of our civilisation he knows a couple of well placed blasts will take out the internet and a few more will take away coms. These days just confuse the systems. (M&S etc), We are not walking into trouble, we are bolting into it head long at break neck speed. Its not what we are doing but the utter lack of foresight thats alarming. Fact these things go wrong. When they do its also a fact its devastating. Hence Im having my generator resurrected so I can power up my solar inverter / battery without the mains. We are now also storing water to ensure a cushion. As we have regular water cuts here, at least twice a year without fail, and regular power cuts at least 10 times a year its not as mad as it sounds. I wonder if the government and the BBC have cabled connections for emergency. Not that would be any good if they cannot communicate to the masses. With the real danger of climatic events and mass floods getting greater I just wonder if anyone is thinking onward in the government, My Dad was a co ordinator in the 70's for emergency food distribution in the event of war and nuclear war. As a teenager I found the documents and the emergency plans for our area. Reading it was pretty alarming and not encouraging one bit. I doubt thats changed much either.

The big issue with sat nav is it removes almost entirely your sense of position. The map turning as you go makes this even worse meaning when you get lost you really are lost. I used to have a built in map of much of England and Wales from travelling it so I know where I am most of the time. Its all changed a lot now but I still reckon I could Identify my location anywhere in England withing 45 minutes. With a map I could get home withoiut road signs. Im losing it fast now with age and lack of use. Its worse than sad to see skills like this going. Its actually wreckless in the long term. Good thing then we dont live for ever as most people would just turn into turnips after a while.

 

[The Panda Nut]

The easiest option I think might be Slough.

The train station is easy to reach from the M4, plenty of parking.

Fast trains direct to Bond Street, close to main shopping areas.

As it's train rather than tube, not as cheap as going from Hillingdon tube station, but avoids a very busy section of M4/M25.

Plus you get to tell everyone back home you've visited Slough. Not many get that privilege. Home of The Office, Mars bars and where Uranus was discovered, which doesn't surprise me.

You started this...

Sluff, Sloo, Slugde, Slow, Slaw, Sloog, Sloof, etc. My little game every time we go near there. HQ Citroen UK and a man that knew.

Thats a good suggestion

Another option is Redbridge at the base of the M11. Check the underground is working at these extremities of the system before travelling. Its about 35 mins from memory to central London from Redbridge which is on teh North east edge of London.

My northern boss used to say Potters Bar also worked well on the north side.

Parking is nearly impossible and very expensive in London, but cheap or even free at the edge. This and congestion charges makes this way really cost effective.