I tore out a road trip idea from Practical Classics a couple of years ago and I drove it a while back to see if it would be good for us to use as a drive-out day.
I've had this posted up in the North West region section for a while now but thought that some members from further afield may wish to join in too.
Have a read and see if it floats your boat!!!
The route began at Bamber Bridge and I took the M6 north to junction 40 (75 miles). Onto the A686 towards Alston and Hartside Summit.
A stopping off point half way (ish) round at a cafe will give a welcome break and a leg stretch (110 miles)
Turning right out of the cafe carpark begins the decent. A lot of hairpin 'S' bends running up and down hill are quite testing for clutch, gear and braking!!!
Langley Castle was visited briefly…..
A stop off at Vinlando a Roman fort dating back to AD 130 and see the excavations of the ancient ruins http://www.vindolanda.com/
Hadrians Wall isn't too far away either so we'd nearly be in Scotland!!!!
Keeping on the A686 through Haydon Bridge and then left onto the A69 (113miles) for a bit of easy A road motoring. From there it's all the way to the M6 again.
All in all the round trip back to Bamber Bridge was 232 (ish) miles and done in the spring sunshine was a real treat to be out in the car again.
How does that sound for a day out? It took me 5.15hrs driving time to get round without a rush and with the days getting longer we could easily set off at 10am and still have an easy day sight seeing.
There is a Premier Inn Hotel where we are due to meet. Premier Inn Lostock Ln, Lostock Hall, Preston, Lancashire PR5 6BZ Phone: 0871 527 8914
The meet point is the other side of the small roundabout on Cravens Drive
You could be home by early evening on the Sunday ready for Monday. Be really good to have you there. We could have some more if Chortles Tunes playing!!
The NW members are definitely going today. A good thread has been running in the NW section so if anyone would like to join us please be at the meeting point at 10am.
Great day out and well received by the NW members.
We set off from Preston at 1030am and picked up the Cumbria lads on the way. Off the M6 at junction 40 and headed right towards Northumberland. The steady climb was good and I was looking at the landmarks hoping that I'd not left any critical junctions out!!
The cafe at the top was packed with bikers, cyclists and drivers. There were some expensive motors up there, Porsches, R32, Nissan GT-R, more Porsches and one that just knew he wanted a Mk1 Golf - after all isn't a Porsche a poor mans VW???
