Featured web-links 4 - SABRE: The Society for All British Road Enthusiasts

Are you the sort of person who can tell the difference between a GATSO and a TOTSO? Do you know what the Cumberland Gap is - and do you care desperately about the speed at which it is being closed? Or perhaps you've wondered, as you've driven into London from Kent, why the bit of the A2 heading into town looks like a motorway but for some mysterious reason isn't.

If so, this one could be for you. The SABRE website is a mine of valuable information on just about everything to do with British Roads and its forums provide plenty of lively debate. There are links to just about every other decent site about UK roads as well.

SABRE isn't one of those rather tediously blinkered pro-motorist or pro-road building groups. It doesn't have an official anti-roads or pro-roads line - it's more about documenting and discussing what's out there. After all, if Britain bit the bullet and provided proper motorways for all of its main trunk connections as many other European countries do, a lot of the charming anomolies and special features of the British road scene would just disappear, and life would be that bit more boring for those of us who spend a lot of time behind the wheel.

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/

Incidentally, a GATSO is a speed camera while TOTSO stands for 'turn off to stay on'; this refers to a junction arrangement that requires a driver following a particular route number to turn off. An example can be found on the A14 near Cambridge where drivers heading west have to 'turn off to stay on' the A14 towards Huntingdon, otherwise they find themselves on the A428 going towards Bedford. The Cumberland Gap is a notoriously jam-prone section of the A74 at the England-Scotland border between the northern end of the M6 and the southern end of the M74/A74(M). After one or two false starts, it is at long last being upgraded to motorway standard. As for the question of why Britain has so many roads that look and feel like motorways but aren't, there is no clear-cut answer to that - get over to SABRE and debate the different theories!

Road tips 4 - M6 Toll and Norton Canes Services

I know I'm not being entirely consistent by recommending the M6 Toll so soon after tipping the A50 as an alternative, but it does have a lot going for it; it's a pleasant drive and I've never encountered a jam there, which is what you'd expect given that its job is to relieve, or at least provide an alternative to, congestion on the main M6 through Birmingham.

The two specific pluses I'd like to highlight, though, are the following. The first is that the M6 Toll seems to be one of the few toll roads in the UK that is willing to issue receipts, which makes it a bit easier for anyone driving for work to reclaim the cost.

The second is that Norton Canes, the only service area on the M6 Toll, is probably the most pleasant place to stop on a long run north on the M1/M6. Now I know that people who spend a lot of time on the road usually say that the independently run Tebay Services further north on the M6 in Cumbria are the best in the country, and that challenging this notion borders on sacrilege. But Norton Canes shows that the big operators - Roadchef in this case - can do a good job too. Norton Canes is stylish and modern, and offers a wide choice. The only problem is that it can get very crowded at busy times, although on my last visit on Saturday evening - see photo - it was more or less empty.

Road tips 1 - A50/A500 from the M1 to the M6

A trip to Cheshire provides a handy reminder of this alternative to using the southern end of the M6 and the M6 Toll for journeys between the south-east and the north-west. From the south, the A50 leaves the M1 near Derby and heads across the north Midlands past Uttoxeter to Stoke. Until fairly recently, the best bet on reaching Stoke was to turn left onto the A500 heading south, and then join the M6 at junction 15.

Now it makes more sense (although this is not signposted at the A50/A500 junction), to turn right on to the A500 instead and join the M6 further north at J16, thanks to the Pathfinder project, a recently completed series of improvements to the relevant section of the A500, which mainly involved removing at-grade junctions and roundabouts.

The A50/A500 corridor is dual carriageway throughout, although there is the odd roundabout to slow you down. Of course, this important link should really be a motorway, and there was a plan to do it that way at one time. But it's still a handy way to beat the congestion on the M6 at most times of day.

The only bad bit is at the southern end, where the A50 rather messily links in to the M1 directly or indirectly at junctions 23A, 24 and 24A. It's not just a pig's ear or a dog's breakfast - it's more like a pig's ear being eaten by a dog for breakfast.