Great Britain road numbering scheme

Post by Veen » Thu, Dec 31, 2020, 1:48 PM UTC

dash2 wrote: post #30

I'm trying to think if there are any iconic roads in Britain, the way that Route 66 is in America. Ireland has the N17 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32-WdYOeJLk ). The M1 is pretty famous - it runs up and down the country like a spinal column - but I can't think of any songs. The M25, which goes round London, is known for its traffic jams and gave Orbital their name ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV-hSgL1R74 )…

Post by prennert » Thu, Dec 31, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

berkut wrote: post #23

prennert wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree. Without savnat it would be very hard to navigate in the UK for me. Even with preparation ahead of time. The only useful feature in the UK vs other EU countries I have driven in are compass directions: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST. Some motorways also have reflectors on the lanes to guide you, which is great and I don't remember from Germany at least. Everything else is weird. Starting from the typogra…

If you think driving at night in the UK in the countryside (middle of nowhere) is dangerous, you don't want to do it in Australia or NZ... At least the UK (on the non-minor roads) has decent "cat's eyes" that reflect light back very well from the car's headlights, as they have actual mirrors in them. Oz and NZ instead have blocks of plastic embedded in the road instead with a reflective strip on, which in terms of vi…

Post by DrBazza » Thu, Dec 31, 2020, 2:13 PM UTC

dash2 wrote: post #30

I'm trying to think if there are any iconic roads in Britain, the way that Route 66 is in America. Ireland has the N17 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32-WdYOeJLk ). The M1 is pretty famous - it runs up and down the country like a spinal column - but I can't think of any songs. The M25, which goes round London, is known for its traffic jams and gave Orbital their name ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV-hSgL1R74 )…

Post by paledot » Thu, Dec 31, 2020, 2:25 PM UTC

OJFord wrote: post #31

teleforce wrote: post #25

Probably the most useful numbering scheme in the UK is the postcodes. It is very accurate and simple to use. For example, if you are looking for any house you can just use the postcode instead of the actual house's address, and 99% of the times you will arrive very close to the house by using the GPS based navigation [1]. It is also very easy to remember and I still remember my former school's postcode despite have n…

Post codes are sometimes totally unique for an address; they're always unique in combination with the street (or flat) number. E.g. a short form address (useful for scribbling a return address on the back of an envelope/parcel for example) could be '123/AB4 5CD' instead of '123 St George Crescent // Upper Bockingbrook // Froimington // Froimingtonshire // AB4 5CD'.

Post by Symbiote » Thu, Dec 31, 2020, 3:31 PM UTC

prennert wrote: post #8

robga wrote: post #3

The radial numbering can be a useful ‘signpost’. As an anti-invasion tactic during World War II, a civil defence measure was to remove many road signs. That’d stop those nazis in their tracks. So to this day, I find the UK a difficult country to navigate by signs alone as they are often absent at important local junctions. In many other parts of the world, you can trace your way from a major destination by signs at f…

I completely agree. Without savnat it would be very hard to navigate in the UK for me. Even with preparation ahead of time. The only useful feature in the UK vs other EU countries I have driven in are compass directions: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST. Some motorways also have reflectors on the lanes to guide you, which is great and I don't remember from Germany at least. Everything else is weird. Starting from the typogra…