My journey home from the Cotswolds took an unexpected twist. Having travelled down on the west side of the country, using the M6, which is what we normally do, I decided to ring the changes and come back up on the east side. I drove along the M42, which is never a great experience at the best of times, and I had actually congratulated myself on 'so far, so good' by being in the right lane, when suddenly, with split-second timing, I found myself in the wrong lane and heading, irrevocably, for the M6 Toll. Despair, dismay, and intense irritation as I realised I had to pay another £5.50 toll. How did that happen?
The M6 Toll road is probably the best £5.50 you can spend in the UK. It's like going back to the M1 in the 1960s. When everyone else is having a nose-to-tail nightmare on the M6 and Spaghetti Junction, the rest of us are bowling along the toll road without a care in the world. I didn't feel quite so tickety-boo on this occasion, but it wasn't the end of the world .... until the overhead motorway signboards read 'M6 closed Jnct 16 - 17'. And so it began. We crept for miles and miles and miles and miles. At one point engines were turned off, and we just sat. Three lorries had had an accident and that was that! The recommended speed was 40 mph, 4 mph would have been nice.
I got to know my neighbours quite well.
The late evening sun was still shining by the time I reached the end of our lane. It was 9.30 pm and I had left at 11 am. It's a good thing BBC Radio 4 have a range of very good programmes on Fridays! I listened to all of them, and was glad!
The M6 Toll road is probably the best £5.50 you can spend in the UK. It's like going back to the M1 in the 1960s. When everyone else is having a nose-to-tail nightmare on the M6 and Spaghetti Junction, the rest of us are bowling along the toll road without a care in the world. I didn't feel quite so tickety-boo on this occasion, but it wasn't the end of the world .... until the overhead motorway signboards read 'M6 closed Jnct 16 - 17'. And so it began. We crept for miles and miles and miles and miles. At one point engines were turned off, and we just sat. Three lorries had had an accident and that was that! The recommended speed was 40 mph, 4 mph would have been nice.
Oh the excitement of all that for just £5.50!!!
ReplyDeleteI guess it could have been worse if it had been a very hot day, or if you had children in the car - but it must have seemed an age before you were able to get going again. Good old Radio 4.
One of the highlights of the experience was watching some young men joyfully gambolling along between the lines of cars, brandishing bottles of chilled white wine and bubbly, which they had obviously purchased from M&S at Keele Services! They brought a smile to my face! I liked the idea they were making the most of it all - why not!
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