Where to find 'open b-roads' in the south?

[Red_Bat]

Now what is an 'open B-road'? One with no or verry little hedges especially in corners.
I find those corners where you have no forward visibility (so you can't see past the corner or what's coming on the other lane) to be dangerous and so inevitably I end up driving much slower than I'd like.

In the past I was surprised by anything from a slow cyclist to a full size combine harvester, or more frequently the usual idiot who can't stay in their lane in the past...

Any ideas for such fun driving roads, let's say within a 100 mile radius from London - would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

[brisel]

B1225 Caistor High Street
B4425 Cirencester to Burford road

What you need is an old drover’s road - wide verges for the drovers to graze their animals on their way to market all those years ago.

If you want good visibility, try a fenland road. No hedges at all plus the road is usually higher than the land around it. Which is usually subsiding due to the underlying peat oxidising. Oh, and the big deep drains either side. And the sudden 90 degree bends :-)

[TB404]

brisel said:

B1225 Caistor High Street
B4425 Cirencester to Burford road

What you need is an old drover’s road - wide verges for the drovers to graze their animals on their way to market all those years ago.

If you want good visibility, try a fenland road. No hedges at all plus the road is usually higher than the land around it. Which is usually subsiding due to the underlying peat oxidising. Oh, and the big deep drains either side. And the sudden 90 degree bends :-)

Thank you this is excellent.

I know I asked about the south but are there areas in England that generally feature roads like that? Any deserts?

[Red Devil]

TB404 said:

I know I asked about the south but are there areas in England that generally feature roads like that? Any deserts?

The opposite of the Fens. Head for the hills: North Pennines AONB. Pretty much any A or B road within the box formed by the A6/A66/A67/A68/A69 has great sightlines.

[Truckosaurus]

The New Forest has plenty of 'open' roads, but a 40mph speed limit of course.

Similarly, Dartmoor, but that might be too south.

[Riley Blue]

I'd forget fenland roads, they're often very undulating due to swelling or shrinkage of the underlying peat and the weight of agricultural trailers can leave high 'sump cracking' crowns. They are, in my opinion, some of the worst roads in the country.

[brisel]

A 100 mile radius from central London takes you to Norwich, Boston, Birmingham, Gloucester, Bath, Warminster, Bournemouth and the entire south east.

I can recommend the Chilterns, Cotswolds, Salisbury Plain, Wessex Downs, Lambourn Downs, North & South Downs for good open sighted roads.

As above, the North Pennines, North York Moors, Lincolnshire & Yorkshire Wolds all have great open roads but if you really want to let rip, go to Wales & Scotland! It's well worth the extra distance

[Marquezs Stabilisers]

Romney Marsh - the Old Military Road is the sort of road you describe

[dcb]

brisel said:

but if you really want to let rip, go to Wales & Scotland! It's well worth the extra distance

Is it ? I find it surprising that Brits are so parochial & tend to stay
in their little offshore island so much.

For Wales, London to Aberystwyth - 230 miles.
OTOH, London to Amiens, France - 200 miles.

France IMHO offers better quality drivers & roads, faster travel, better food & drink
& better weather than Wales.

For Scotland, London to Inverness - 570 miles.
London to Tuebingen, BW, Germany - 570 miles.

Germany IMHO trumps Scotland by a considerable mile too, for similar
reasons given above.

No contest, AFAIK. I picked Amiens & Tuebingen at random. There
are many other nice places on the way.

[P675]

dcb said:

Is it ? I find it surprising that Brits are so parochial & tend to stay
in their little offshore island so much.

For Wales, London to Aberystwyth - 230 miles.
OTOH, London to Amiens, France - 200 miles.

France IMHO offers better quality drivers & roads, faster travel, better food & drink
& better weather than Wales.

For Scotland, London to Inverness - 570 miles.
London to Tuebingen, BW, Germany - 570 miles.

Germany IMHO trumps Scotland by a considerable mile too, for similar
reasons given above.

No contest, AFAIK. I picked Amiens & Tuebingen at random. There
are many other nice places on the way.

Where am I gonna find a Greggs in Germany?

[Mr Tidy]

P675 said:

Where am I gonna find a Greggs in Germany?

Somehow I don't think you will!

I've had a few trips around Cumbria, Northumbria and North Yorkshire, often on my way to Scotland, and found some great roads, including the A68 someone mentioned earlier. No cameras but there are some Greggs.

Never tried Germany though. But I think the appeal is sections of Autobahn with no limit, which could get boring pretty quickly.

I quite fancy the Isle of Man as they have more challenging roads with no speed limit.

Although living in Surrey means travelling some distance!

[brisel]

dcb said:

Is it ? I find it surprising that Brits are so parochial & tend to stay
in their little offshore island so much.

For Wales, London to Aberystwyth - 230 miles.
OTOH, London to Amiens, France - 200 miles.

France IMHO offers better quality drivers & roads, faster travel, better food & drink
& better weather than Wales.

For Scotland, London to Inverness - 570 miles.
London to Tuebingen, BW, Germany - 570 miles.

Germany IMHO trumps Scotland by a considerable mile too, for similar
reasons given above.

No contest, AFAIK. I picked Amiens & Tuebingen at random. There
are many other nice places on the way.

The 100 mile radius was part of the OP's criteria. I would guess that they wanted something within a day's drive of London, bearing in mind they have to get out of and back into London too.

Point taken though.

[carreauchompeur]

brisel said:

If you want good visibility, try a fenland road. No hedges at all plus the road is usually higher than the land around it. Which is usually subsiding due to the underlying peat oxidising. Oh, and the big deep drains either side. And the sudden 90 degree bends :-)

I’ve had a few pursuits on similar roads…incredibly sketchy trying to keep up with things when you’re not quite sure where the next random hump is, and with the added pressure of possible drowning if it goes wrong!