LeJog with a difference - on B roads. Anyone done it?
Discussion
Promptd by Robbie Coltrane's 'B-Road Britain' TV series and book I thought I'd make a similar trip in my '63 Riley One-Point-Five. He drove from London to Glasgow, I'm doing LeJog: Land's End to John O'Groats by B roads as far as possible and if not, by 'minor' A roads i.e. those with three or more digits.
So far, all I've read about LeJog drives or rides have mentioned shortest or fastest routes but those don't really interest me, in any case, the car is far from being a fastest contender (top speed around 75-ish).
The shortest route is, I believe, close to 838 miles. My preliminary B road route adds over 175 to that, maybe more. Has anyone ever attempted anything similar?
So far, all I've read about LeJog drives or rides have mentioned shortest or fastest routes but those don't really interest me, in any case, the car is far from being a fastest contender (top speed around 75-ish).
The shortest route is, I believe, close to 838 miles. My preliminary B road route adds over 175 to that, maybe more. Has anyone ever attempted anything similar?
Henry Catchpole did similar in Evo edition 166, Feb 2012. I found it amongst all my back issues and read through.
He had a 542bhp Datsun GTR and had only 24hrs to complete it - without using motorways. Sharing driving duties with the photographer, they completed it with 4 minutes to spare.
He had a 542bhp Datsun GTR and had only 24hrs to complete it - without using motorways. Sharing driving duties with the photographer, they completed it with 4 minutes to spare.
Inspector Callaghan said:
Henry Catchpole did similar in Evo edition 166, Feb 2012. I found it amongst all my back issues and read through.
He had a 542bhp Datsun GTR and had only 24hrs to complete it - without using motorways. Sharing driving duties with the photographer, they completed it with 4 minutes to spare.
That would be 880 miles so an average of 36.666 mph; should be possible.He had a 542bhp Datsun GTR and had only 24hrs to complete it - without using motorways. Sharing driving duties with the photographer, they completed it with 4 minutes to spare.
I did something similar about 10 years ago, a friend organised a route and we did a five day trip in 106 Rallyes, our brief being to avoid all motorways and dual carriageways. I can't remember the exact route but it was something along the lines of:
Day 1: Lands End to Chippenham - LE to Penzance via coastal route, King Harry ferry south of Truro, up towards and over Dartmoor, into Exeter, then up to Tiverton and further up over the east of Exmoor, through Watchet, Bridgwater, on to Glastonbury and Wells, somehow skirting Bath and ending up via back entrance into Leigh Delamere services for the night.
Day 2: Out the same way onto the back roads, up through Stroud and around Gloucester to Ross on Wye. From there it was some great roads on the Welsh borders ending with the Horseshoe Pass to Wrexham and then our overnight in Crewe.
Day 3: Crewe to Buxton including Cat & Fiddle, then Snake Pass to Glossup, Woodhead Pass on to Holmfirth and then Halifax. Through Settle and up to the Ribblehead Viaduct, into the lakes and over Kirkstone Pass before cutting across the Hartside Pass to Hexham and on to Kielder Forest for our stop.
Day 4: Over the border through Jedburgh and on to Edinburgh where we broke the dual carriageway rule once to cross the Forth bridge, carrying on through Stirling and Callander to an overnight in Crianlarich.
Day 5: We carried on the next day to Glencoe, did a lap of the Kinlochleven loop (my personal highlight of the trip), then took the Corran ferry south of Fort William to avoid another dual carriageway. We then followed Loch Ness up to Inverness and took the A9 right up the coast to stop in Thurso.
The next day it was a brief drive to JOG first thing in the morning, breakfast in Wick and then the quickest route back to Crewe for another night before I drove back to Somerset.
The total LE to JOG was clocked up around 1400 miles, probably not the most direct but we wanted to include some particular roads. I'm slightly disappointed I don't have the exact routes as I'd love to redo it
Day 1: Lands End to Chippenham - LE to Penzance via coastal route, King Harry ferry south of Truro, up towards and over Dartmoor, into Exeter, then up to Tiverton and further up over the east of Exmoor, through Watchet, Bridgwater, on to Glastonbury and Wells, somehow skirting Bath and ending up via back entrance into Leigh Delamere services for the night.
Day 2: Out the same way onto the back roads, up through Stroud and around Gloucester to Ross on Wye. From there it was some great roads on the Welsh borders ending with the Horseshoe Pass to Wrexham and then our overnight in Crewe.
Day 3: Crewe to Buxton including Cat & Fiddle, then Snake Pass to Glossup, Woodhead Pass on to Holmfirth and then Halifax. Through Settle and up to the Ribblehead Viaduct, into the lakes and over Kirkstone Pass before cutting across the Hartside Pass to Hexham and on to Kielder Forest for our stop.
Day 4: Over the border through Jedburgh and on to Edinburgh where we broke the dual carriageway rule once to cross the Forth bridge, carrying on through Stirling and Callander to an overnight in Crianlarich.
Day 5: We carried on the next day to Glencoe, did a lap of the Kinlochleven loop (my personal highlight of the trip), then took the Corran ferry south of Fort William to avoid another dual carriageway. We then followed Loch Ness up to Inverness and took the A9 right up the coast to stop in Thurso.
The next day it was a brief drive to JOG first thing in the morning, breakfast in Wick and then the quickest route back to Crewe for another night before I drove back to Somerset.
The total LE to JOG was clocked up around 1400 miles, probably not the most direct but we wanted to include some particular roads. I'm slightly disappointed I don't have the exact routes as I'd love to redo it
Brilliant, that's very much what I had in mind. Years ago I navigated in the Borbet Challenge for two drivers in an attempt to drive through all the mainland counties via the shortest route. We won by quite margin - but we did use our 'initiative' and sneak across the Sennybridge ranges in the early hours...
topalwaysdown said:
then took the Corran ferry south of Fort William to avoid another dual carriageway.
You took a 32 or 54 mile detour (plus a ferry) to avoid a 1/2 mile DC in a town with other routes available (other than the DC) that would add only a few yards. 
At least you had a nice route for the detour.
Edited by JM on Sunday 29th January 20:50
JM said:
You took a 32 or 54 mile detour (plus a ferry) to avoid a 1/2 mile DC in a town with other routes available (other than the DC) that would add only a few yards.
At least you had a nice route for the detour.
Yeah, that sounds about right actually, I can remember it wasn't a particularly long stretch but the ferry and the drive along the single track A road on the other side were quite enjoyable.At least you had a nice route for the detour.
Edited by JM on Sunday 29th January 20:50
Gassing Station | Roads | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff