Just back from collecting Beestling Major from the finish of his outdoor D of E expedition, which (the finish point, not the whole expedition) was a pub in Upper Bucklebury, West Berkshire. About 40 minutes from home, over the rickety bridge at Whitchurch (40p please, sir), through Pangbourne and Tidmarsh and, finally, an unclassified but gloriously fast, smooth and clear road through Bradfield and Chapel Row to the pickup point.
I'd begun to wonder if there was a road left anywhere in the three adjoining counties I call my home patch without a gratuitous speed limit or just a surfeit of traffic, but this on a sunny afternoon was just bliss. No need for any silly antics, just driving as nature intended to get where I needed to go, but wonderfully satisfying after all that dawdling.
So yes, it can still be done, even in the Southeast. Just don't tell the council, or they'll go and spoil it all.
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>> an unclassified but gloriously fast, smooth and clear
>> road
? Unclassified roads round here are barely maintained at all, sometimes not even metalled.
Are you talking about green lanes and off-roading in a 4X4?
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No, that's an appalling activity that puts motor vehicles where they have no place. I should probably have called it a C-class road, but it is well up to B-road standard in terms of surface, and vastly better than most round here.
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>>No, that's an appalling activity that puts motor vehicles where they have no place
+1
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>> No, that's an appalling activity that puts motor vehicles where they have no place. I
>> should probably have called it a C-class road, but it is well up to B-road
>> standard in terms of surface, and vastly better than most round here.
Miles of unclassified county roads round here linking the smaller villages. Can ride around on a bike for 30+ miles/2+ hours and see two or three cars.
Numbering of C roads is a bit odd as, while numbers are allocated to at least some, they almost never appear on signposts.
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I a familiar with the road, WdB. I have trodden it often recently as there is a SAAB specialist in Upper Bucklebury. Been having some problems starting my old beast from cold (the 9-5, in case BBD is looking in from Poland), but the geezer up there has solved it with new injector seals (took two tries mind, but we got there). It has lead me to fulminate on the possibility of buying a nice little house up that way, away from the excitement of the big city but near enough to get to everything necessary with ease. Nice little place in Upper Woolhampton on the market. Hmm.
Mind you, there's some ghastly social climbing family up there called Middleton or something........
;-)
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Classified roads are designated A, B or C. C roads all have numbers, but these are hardly ever disclosed except sometimes on local notices of roadworks.
Unclassified roads are the remainder. Some are maintained by the local authority, others are private and may be little more than farm tracks.
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Can't remember if your Saab is diesel or petrol-powered, Vić, but it was a cold starting problem that eventually led us to replace two of the D5's Bosch injectors last year. Without enough pressure in the common rail the fuel pump won't deliver the fuel required to start the engine. Didn't stop us wasting money first on glow plugs and a battery, because that was what our friendly local mechanic suggested.
Incidentally, this was a case of the injector failure for which early D5 engines are 'notorious'. Never mind that it took 12 years and over 130,000 miles to appear. Perhaps Volvo dealers didn't help by insisting on replacing all five when the problem was invariably confined to one or two; perhaps that made sense under warranty but the ever-reliable internet has a few tales of woe from punters who've just bought a 7-year-old car and then paid £1,500 for five new injectors.
Pat, although D5s had different injectors from 2003, this may still happen to yours. If it does, a Bosch diesel specialist is worth seeking out.
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Antique 2.2 diseasal, WdB. Problem was air getting in somewhere and the fuel draining back to the tank overnight, meaning lots of cranking to start in the morning. Injectors seals were the problem, changed and it's sorted. SAAB specialist sussed the problem first time, although it took two goes to fix (first replacements seals must have been slightly dodgy).
I love the petrol 9-5s, have had a couple of them as loan cars from the specialist, the 2.3t is very nice but my word, you can watch the fuel needle heading south. I'd like one (Aero for preference) for a fun 3rd car.
Might get a newer 9-5 1.9TiD (Or Merc E, or, don't laugh, Vx Astra/Insignia estate) next year when A Jr MkI leaves private school for the state sector..........
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It says a lot for the rest of the 9-5's design and engineering that you can still love it with that awful thing under the bonnet. A friend had one - a 54 - and eventually replaced it with a Golf estate once his children left home, but still misses the Saab's interior, carrying capacity and long-distance ability. And he's a serious choral singer; that engine noise must be a torment to anyone with a musical ear.
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It is somewhat melodious. However, once on the motorway (and you stay under 90) it's no more intrusive than similar units, if anything it's quieter than the VAG 1.9TDI I had in a Ford Galaxy previously.
Your friend's feelings reflect mine - the interior is brilliant, awesome comfort and superb long-range ability. Around 500 miles from a tank of fuel, that's fully laden with 4 people, luggage and 4 bikes on the roof, and it's a TC auto. I may well replace it with the newest, best condition 9-5 1.9TiD on the market next year.
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Major surprise for me on a middle distance schlep last night. Had to drive from Reading to Gloucester and back. The M4 is currently stuffed with many roadworks, and the gantry signs were flashing up 35 minute delays, so on the way out I took the A34 at J13, then headed through Wantage, on to the edge of Swinedon and picked up the A419 to Gloucester there. Usual stuff, couple of mimsers and trucks to get past but nothing too trying.
Then, on the way back, I decided to use the A40 to Oxford, then A4074 down in to my northern fringe of Reading. From the Air Balloon along the A436 and on to the A40, in all seriousness I didn't see a SINGLE vehicle in my direction, in front or behind, save two HGVs I overtook just after the A436/A40 junction on the uphill dualled bit of the A40, until just before the Eynsham roundabout, where Mrs Me-First in the inevitable SUV (Tiguan) pulled out of a petrol station right in front of me (I was doing an indicated 65), forcing a near emergency stop. Silly bint.
But really. What a pleasure it was until that point. I actually cracked a smile on some of the bends. Not a soul in front, not an Audi behind. Utter bliss. The sun had set and a glorious full moon was on the rise as I swept through the Cotswolds, large and slightly orange-tinged (the moon, not me. Although come to think of it, I'm ginger and could stand to lay off the kebabs a bit).
Tonight it's in to that London on the chuffer for my first visit to the Boleyn Ground, for a Europa League match with a Hammers supporting mate. A different proposition, but there will be cold drinks.
Last edited by: Alanović on Thu 2 Jul 15 at 09:46
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You have my sympathy if that was a rare treat, the driving is almost always like that here. Except you don't have to find alternative routes to find clear roads. You do get a few tourists pottering around occasionally though.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 2 Jul 15 at 10:02
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>> You have my sympathy if that was a rare treat, the driving is almost always
>> like that here. Except you don't have to find alternative routes to find clear roads.
>> You do get a few tourists pottering around occasionally though.
>>
Don't feel sorry for me, I need a job at the moment and this is where they are. My time in rural isolation will come, except I'm planning on locating mine a bit further south (but not too much) than yours.
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>> My time in rural isolation will come, except I'm planning on locating
>> mine a bit further south (but not too much) than yours.
>>
Rural isolation! I am five minutes drive from a city centre and a motorway, thirty minutes from three more cities, one being Edinburgh. I am also five minutes walk from a rail station, hardly isolation.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 2 Jul 15 at 12:55
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>> hardly isolation.
Well presumably it is in terms of number of people living there, if the roads are always empty :)
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>>Well presumably it is in terms of number of people living there, if the roads are always empty :)
Same here: splendid isolation, but only 7 mins from St Awful and 25 mins away from two other towns.
Bit different when we lived up in Warleggan though, a tad too isolated tbh.
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>> Rural isolation! I am five minutes drive from a city centre and a motorway, thirty
>> minutes from three more cities, one being Edinburgh. I am also five minutes walk from
>> a rail station, hardly isolation.
>>
Soz. Didn't mean anything derogatory. You always speak as if you live in the middle of nowhere.
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No problem, some folk down there seem to think that Scotland is a frozen desert somewhere near Siberia.
I have just finished washing the car wearing shorts and flip flops, not even a hint of frostbite. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 2 Jul 15 at 14:49
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>> some folk down there seem to think that Scotland is a frozen desert somewhere near Siberia. :-)
My old man adored the Scottish Highlands and Greece, both of which he wandered on foot in his energetic youth.
When he was the main honcho at Crombie he took me for a day walking in the Trossachs.
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My father's family originates in Drymen - you may have heard of it, ON. Lovely wee place.
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>> My father's family originates in Drymen - you may have heard of it, ON. Lovely
>> wee place.
>>
I have driven through it hundreds, if not thousands of times. It was on my commute route for 25ish years along the A811, I include the post bypass years.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 2 Jul 15 at 15:04
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Used some of the same roads last Friday on my way home from Warwickshire, although the best bit was further north. The Fosse Way from Hunningham Hill to Halford is almost perfectly straight, but undulates nicely and was blissfully quiet on a perfect summer evening. More traffic on the A44 to Oxford, but by then I had Sandi Toksvig's farewell News Quiz to enjoy, so I had to allow time to wipe away the tears.
The M40 would have been quicker of course, but where's the fun in that?
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>> The M40 would have been quicker of course, but where's the fun in that?
No fun, but as you say quicker.
I had to drive all day yesterday because it was a long way (made even longer by my M25 screw-up, tchah!) and Herself would have been much, much slower.
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>>The Fosse Way from Hunningham Hill to Halford is
>> almost perfectly straight, but undulates nicely and was blissfully quiet on a perfect summer evening.
>>
20-odd years ago when I worked at NP, the Fosse Way was our preferred route from 'arrogate to Swindon. Much better for drivers than the A34 then the A420 I think it was. Oxfordshire is for ponies not for real horses.
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>> The Fosse Way
One of the best roads in the country, equalled only by the old A1 through Northumberland.
Two-lane blacktop, don'tcha just love it? I do.
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......and the A6 North from Kendal to Carlisle, AC.
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It is still possible! - Cliff Pope
