(17-10-2021, 11:12 AM)Slack Alice Wrote: I use a satnav loaded with the 1:50000 Ordnance Survey maps, have the 1: 25000 on my phone as back up for details, if needed.
Hi - which make of SatNav can be loaded with OS maps? I have them on my phone, but didn't know that it was possible on a dedicated SatNav.
It used to be a short cut for caravans moving south, not wanting to use the motorways. Noways, it's still single lane traffic. But that means there is alot of angry drivers wanting to overtake in places they shouldn't. There are a good numbers of lorries. So if you are doing 40mph, you may find yourself being overtaken in single lane traffic. There are some busy roundabouts crossing major roads, so traffic can approach them quickly from your right. Etc etc.
For me I cant really miss the old foss or B4114 it comes past my doorstep. But if you are to one side of it, it could be better to follow the side road and join as far down as possible.
It's a Garmin Montana which I load from a programme called "Tracklogs" , the originating company of which went bust a couple of years ago, but I had paid a lot of money for the OS maps and it works well.
For not a lot of money - £25 or so a year, you get get 1:25000 and 1:50000 OS maps, along with several others, from the Ordnance Survey.
I can plot a route on these, and download to the Garmin's 1:50000 contents.
The OS's route planning is a bit clunky, not as good as Tracklogs.
But the OS will work on your phone, and display both sets of maps and can be used as the satnav, anyway. As, probably, could your tablet, though I haven't tried that.
I believe other programmes are available, some said to be better than the OS, but I am used to the OS formats.
I will be driving the saloon down from North Yorkshire, a distance of just over 200 miles. I have decided to break the journey about 75 miles from Moreton in Marsh, just to take the pressure off and allow me to get there in good time.
The exact route has not been decided. Probably the old Great North Road down to Grantham, then via Melton Mowbray skirting south of Leicester to pick up the Fosse Way.
17-10-2021, 03:52 PM (This post was last modified: 17-10-2021, 04:00 PM by Hugh Barnes.)
When I drove from Cambridge to Guildtown a couple of years ago, I wanted to avoid the A1 at all costs, though it was hard to do as it followed the obvious route north. However, a couple of evenings dabbling with Google maps, zoomed in, revealed many bits of the old Great North Rd, which I was able to follow in almost splendid isolation whilst I could see the new road, flooded with traffic, just a few hundred yards away. I noted the route I researched in a Word document and then printed it out 'Large print edition' so it was easy to refer to as I drove. Google street view also gives the opportunity to 'rehearse' the various junctions you may encounter on any given route, so you know what to keep an eye out for. 'Turn left 100yds after the Fox and Hounds which will be on you right' That sort of thing..
Oh, and one other thing. If you can get hold of any OS maps from say the 1940s or 50s, they predate many of the more modern roads that we are often directed towards. The earlier maps reveal what were the main routes much more clearly and are often better roads for our cars now as they have been superceded...
Malcolm, When travelling down to Morton in the Marsh from Yorkshire you could join the Fosse Way (A46) at Newark on Trent although this is a relatively new dual carriageway way all the way to and around Leicester being a new road the hill gradients are longer but less steep allowing a better average speed. You also have the bonus of not slowing anyone else down as the can pass I being a dual carriage way. As an alternative you could use the old road that’s still there.
John Mason
Would you believe it "Her who must be obeyed" refers to my Ruby as the toy.
18-10-2021, 10:24 AM (This post was last modified: 18-10-2021, 12:01 PM by Tony Griffiths.)
(17-10-2021, 03:52 PM)Hugh Barnes Wrote: When I drove from Cambridge to Guildtown a couple of years ago, I wanted to avoid the A1 at all costs, though it was hard to do as it followed the obvious route north. However, a couple of evenings dabbling with Google maps, zoomed in, revealed many bits of the old Great North Rd, which I was able to follow in almost splendid isolation whilst I could see the new road, flooded with traffic, just a few hundred yards away. I noted the route I researched in a Word document and then printed it out 'Large print edition' so it was easy to refer to as I drove. Google street view also gives the opportunity to 'rehearse' the various junctions you may encounter on any given route, so you know what to keep an eye out for. 'Turn left 100yds after the Fox and Hounds which will be on you right' That sort of thing..
Oh, and one other thing. If you can get hold of any OS maps from say the 1940s or 50s, they predate many of the more modern roads that we are often directed towards. The earlier maps reveal what were the main routes much more clearly and are often better roads for our cars now as they have been superceded...
Just like the old A11 that follows the M11. Amusingly, in a vain attempt to stop people using it, sections were given B route numbers - but the road is so wide it's simple to follow and not end up in a dead end at Piddling in the Marsh.
(17-10-2021, 03:10 PM)Slack Alice Wrote: It's a Garmin Montana which I load from a programme called "Tracklogs" , the originating company of which went bust a couple of years ago, but I had paid a lot of money for the OS maps and it works well.
For not a lot of money - £25 or so a year, you get get 1:25000 and 1:50000 OS maps, along with several others, from the Ordnance Survey.
I can plot a route on these, and download to the Garmin's 1:50000 contents.
The OS's route planning is a bit clunky, not as good as Tracklogs.
But the OS will work on your phone, and display both sets of maps and can be used as the satnav, anyway. As, probably, could your tablet, though I haven't tried that.
I believe other programmes are available, some said to be better than the OS, but I am used to the OS formats.
Thanks for that - most interesting. I have a Motorcycle Garmin (an expensive but superb toy) that might take that system. I don't know if it still applies, but at one time - should you have been unfortunate enough to fling the bike down the road and grind the one fitted into dust - Garmin would replace it with a new one for just £120 .
(18-10-2021, 09:24 AM)John Mason Wrote: Malcolm, When travelling down to Morton in the Marsh from Yorkshire you could join the Fosse Way (A46) at Newark on Trent although this is a relatively new dual carriageway way all the way to and around Leicester being a new road the hill gradients are longer but less steep allowing a better average speed. You also have the bonus of not slowing anyone else down as the can pass I being a dual carriage way. As an alternative you could use the old road that’s still there.
John Mason
Thanks for that, John. Leicester isn't a city I know at all. I imagine it is very like Bradford, which I try to avoid!
Compared to my native North Yorkshire I don't think there will be any gradients to worry me. I looked at an alternative route through Derbyshire and Staffordshire but that looked quite arduous.
Derbyshire and Staffordshire - you think the Alps have steep climbs? The main roads mostly just zig-zag up the hills with only a slight gradient. In Derbyshire and Staffordshire, they go straight up and straight down. Slowly up, no brakes down.
