The Plan Day 6: Sneaking into Scotland

Plan for Day 6: Morecambe to Ayr

(350 miles, approx. 8 hours)

Day 6 can be summarised as "round the edge of the Lake District and along the south-west coast of Scotland". The day starts by heading north out of Morecambe and onto the A6 (single-digit A-road number 4) through Carnforth before heading on the A590 to Ulverston and then on to Barrow-in-Furness. The route then heads north to Whitehaven and Workington, both places where I thought "oo, I've heard of them" and then remembered that was due to a shooting-spree and a flood...

The A595. Could be interesting...
© Copyright Andrew Woodhall and licensed for reuse under thisCreative Commons Licence

Cheerfully onwards I will go heading back in-land towards Carlisle and on to one of Britian's newest roads, the snappily titled "Carlisle Northern Distributor Road". I'm told it has lots of roundabouts. Across the M6 and onto the A7 (number 5), I will then head back towards Gretna and head into Scotland on the B7076. Yes, the B7076, as I explained in my first post, the alternative is really, really, really far (up via Hawick and Selkirk). I can't use the motorway there instead either as you can't get onto the A74(M) northbound at J45 to come off at J22, which of course is the junction after 45. Makes sense, really. 

... and has more flowers of it's side of the border.
© Copyright Nicholas Mutton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Having left England (and it being 3 days until I will return) I will be heading west on the A75 and will then reach Dumfries. From there it's a long drive along the coast of the Solway Firth, Wigtown Bay and Luce Bay before eventually making it to Stranraer. From there it is north once again up the A77 and A719 to Ayr.

My directions are as follows:

1. A589 becomes A5105 towards A6 at Carnforth
2. Follow A6 to A590
3. A590 to Ulverston
4. A5087 towards Bardsea
5. Follow A5087 into Barrow town centre
6. A590, follow signs for M6
7. A595 towards Workington
8. Follow A595 until A5093 towards Millom
9. A5093 in and out of Millom, becomes A595
10. A595 through Egremont
11. A5094 into and out of Whitehaven
12. Almost at Workington, A597 to Harrington
13. Follow A597, then A596 towards Carlisle
14. A595 towards Carlisle
15. A698 around Carlisle
16. M6 J44, take A7 north
17. At Longtown, A6071 to Gretna
18. Follow B7076 through Gretna to A75 towards Dumfries
19. At Dumfries take A780.
20. Left at mrb towards Solway Coast (A710)
21. Follow A756 then left onto A710 towards New Abbey
22. Follow A710 to Dalbeattie, then left and left for A711 to Auchencairn
23. Follow A711 to Kirkcudbright
24. At town centre in Kcb, left onto A755
25. Left onto A75 to Newton Stewart
26. R/b at Newton Stewart, left onto A714 to Wigtown
27. Follow signs for A714 Port William
28. Becomes A746, then A747
29. Left onto A75 at Glenluce
30. Follow A75 to Stranraer
31. At Stranraer, right (kirkholm) then right to A77 (Ayr)
32. At Turnberry, left to A719 (Ayr)
33. Follow a719 to Ayr 

Maps:

Morecambe to Stranraer (couple of mistakes in this one, but you get the idea)

Stranraer to Ayr

The Plan Day 5: Nimbly through North Wales and North-West England

Plan for Day 5: Holyhead to Morecambe

(226 miles, approx. 7.5 hours)

Day 5 is about lots of tunnels, well, 4 of them.  The day starts by crossing out of Holy Island on the bridge next to the one that I came into it on, skirting around the edge of Anglesey and heading back to Llanfair PG. Crossing the Menai Bridge this time (that's the one in my blog background) I will head through Bangor, where I may or may not have a lovely time, and then onto the whizzy, shiny, A55. There's a couple of somewhat odd tunnels heading on the A55 eastbound, both of which date from the early 1930s. Westbound has 2 more modern constructs built in the 1980s with the plan having once been that eastbound would get new tunnels later. Hasn't happened yet. There is then the tunnel under the River Conwy before a dash into and out of Llandudno, another place that looks like it will have rubbish signing.

Tunnels at Penmaen-bach, so you know what tunnels look like.
© Copyright Ian Warburton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Through Colwyn Bay I will leave the A55 around Abergele and wind my way around to eventually end up at Wallasey. Bizarrely the map indicates "Spaceport" as I head towards the A59 and the Wallasey tunnel (toll number 4). The route then runs along the docks, and out of Liverpool to Crosby, through Southport and on to Preston. Preston is almost famous for it's relation to motorways, so I'll be on the other side of the town and avoiding them all. Next up will be Blackpool, right along the seafront and then up round Fleetwood and onto what looks like a very faffy road, the A588. Eventually the A588 reaches Lancaster, though it makes a bit of a meal of it. Through Lancaster, down to Heysham and then into Morecambe and the day is done.

Bridges just aren't quite so impressive sometimes... © Copyright Tom Richardson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

My directions for the day are thus (town driving making them long-winded again...):

1. A55, off second junction to A5, back on again
2. Off next junction to A4080
3. Right at Llanfaelog, unsigned
4. A4080 to A5 across Menai Bridge
5. Follow A5, stay straight through Bangor back to A55
6. After Conwy Tunnel, A546 to Llandudno
7. On seafront, 4^th right is A470, unsigned.
8. Follow One-Way system, round right then A470 signed
9. A470 back to A55
10. A55 to A548 to Ryhl
11. Long stretch of A538 to A550 n/b
12. Left on A540 up to Hoylake
13. A553 to Moreton
14. In Moreton, left at r/b onto A551
15. In Wallasey right then left at R/bs to stay on A551
16. Follow signs for A551 to Seacombe
17. Left at T/L by Tesco Express then first right
18. Right onto A554
19. Follow signs to Liverpool/Wallesey Tunnel
20. Left out of tunnel, then left and left again towards Docks
21. Right at T-junction onto A5036
22. 12^th right is A5058 by Regent Maritime hotel
23. Left onto A556, follow through Crosby, to and through Southport
24. A59 for Preston
25. Left slip off A59, to A5072, A583 for Blackpool
26. A584 to Lytham St Anne's
27. Follow A584 along Blackpool seafront
28. A587 to Fleetwood follow signs then right at T-junction
29. Left at mini-roundabout
30. Right at r/b onto A585 towards Preston
31. Follow A585 then right onto A588 to Hambleton
32. Follow A588 to Lancaster
33. A6 north through Lancaster; one-way system
34. Left onto A589 towards Morecambe
35. A683 towards Heysham
36. A589 into Morecambe

Maps are:

Holyhead to Wallasey

Wallasey to Blackpool

Blackpool to Morecambe

The Plan Day 4: Arfordir y Gorllewin Cymru

Plan for Day 4: Pembroke to Holyhead

(255 miles, approx. 6.5 hours driving)

Having likely got thoroughly lost on Day 3, Day 4's directions can briefly be summed up as "Mainly follow the A487", which will be a relief. The day starts (and mainly continues) by heading north, first to Haverfordwest then on to St David's. For those who don't know, St David's is the smallest city in the UK, population somewhere just shy of 2000 people, and I grew up in what many regard as the largest village in the UK (Lancing, population around 19,000), so, yeah, that's just a bit silly isn't it?  

Ah, so if Lancing had a cathedral it too could be a city!

                        © Copyright Martin Bodman and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence  

Onwards through Fishguard and Cardigan to Aberyswyth. I may even wear a cardigan in Cardigan just so I can say I have done so. Continuing northwards the place names get ever more unpronounceable and hoard "L"s as if there was once a shortage. Skirting the Snowdonia national park it will be onwards to Porthmadog, and then west to Pwllheli before heading onwards to Caernarfon. North once more to cross the Menai Strait on the Britannia Bridge at Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, the place with the really long rail station signs and then skirting the edge of Anglesey on my "wrong way round" bit of my trip. I will actually have crossed over my route for Day 5 at Llanfair PG as I will be using the Menai Bridge to get back onto the mainland.

I would claim this is a future picture of me, but I've been to Llanfair PG before!

Directions for day 4 are:

1. A477 to A4076 at Johnston
2. Right onto A4076
3. A487 thru Haverfordwest, not clearly signed, s/o at Merlins Bridge
4. Follow A487 for ages through St Ds and onto Fishguard
5. Short bit of A40 then follow signs towards Fishguard ( unsigned A487)
6. Left at roundabout in town centre
7. Loads of A487 through Cardigan, Aberaeron to Aberystwyth
8. Follow signs for A487
9. A487 to Machynlleth, then A493 towards Tywyn
10. Follow A493 to A470. Left onto A470
11. Off at roundabout, A496
12. A496 to A487
13. Onto A497 in Porthmadog
14. A497 to Pwllheli then right onto A499
15. Back onto A487
16. Follow A487 through Caernarfon
17. A487 onto A55 Britannia Bridge
18. Off at next Junction, A5025
19. Follow A5025 to Valley
20. A5 to Holyhead

Maps:

Pembroke to Valley (The route is wrong in a couple of places, but I can't be bothered to correct it!)

Valley to Holyhead (in case you couldn't work it out...)

The Plan Day 3: Slog through South Wales

Plan for Day 3: Bridgwater to Pembroke

(210.3 miles, approx. 6.25 hours driving)

A shorter day, with a lot more directions to follow! Day 3 starts with a trip into Weston-Super-Mare before trundling along to the west side of Bristol and onto the A4. Here's a bland statistic: I'm using every single-digit A-road in Britain at some point in my journey. The A3 was on day 1. It's around this point that I will be hopping onto the M48 (toll number 3) to get across the River Severn and into Wales. Next up comes Newport and a trek right into the middle of Cardiff and down to Cardiff Bay before driving to Barry. That's the Welsh town, not some random bloke standing on the route.

The Tunnel at Butetown that goes under all those scenes from Dr Who and Torchwood...

            © Copyright Duncan and Gareth Alderson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Along the Vale of Glamorgan and onto Bridgend I will go. Through Port Talbot and then along the seafront at Swansea before crossing the River Loughor to reach Llanelli. From here on some of the places get somewhat less easy to pronounce. Up to Carmarthen then back to the coast at Tenby before eventually making it into Pembroke.

A surprising amount of this sort of road on Day 3.

                © Copyright Jonathan Billinger and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

With 4 cities and a number of large towns to navigate my way through, day 3 is going to be a good test of my navigation skills. While I'm not using sat-nav, google street view looks like it may prove indispensable in helping me determine what the sign-posts say in advanced of being there and particularly for identifying routes that aren't signed with their number. Weston and Tenby were particularly lacking in route numbers on signs as you will notice from my directions. Just outside Barry where I want to get from the A4226 towards the somewhat more important A48 the only sign at the time of the Google car passing through was this one, though there is just about a sign on the appropriate exit of the roundabout, which is frankly a bit late. 

My directions that I have written are thus:

1. A38 to A370 towards WSM
2. At pier, follow “Taunton, Bristol” then “local traffic”
3. Right then left at two roundabouts
4. Follow A370 D/C (M5)
5. At M5 J21 continue on A370 to Bristol
6. A370 becomes A3029, over Avon
7. Left slip road to A4 Avonmouth
8. Follow A4, after going under M5 keep left to stay on A4
9. Right at roundabout for A403
10. A403 to M48
11. M48 over Severn
12. Off at next junction to A466 then left at r/b to A48
13. Stay on A48 until junction for A4232 (cardiff and docks)
14. Sliproad off immediately to A4161
15. Stay on A4161 to left at traffic lights for A4160 Penarth
16. Left at traffic lights onto A4234 and then follow for A4232
17. After bridge, take slip road to A4055 towards Barry
18. At Barry, follow A4055, then at one way take A4050 towards M4
19. Left at roundabout onto A4226 (Llantwit M)
20. Right at next roundabout towards Bridgend (A48)
21. A4222 through Cowbridge
22. After Bridgend, A4106 to Porthcawl then right onto A4229 (M4)
23. Across M4 J37, back on A48
24. In Port Talbot, take A4241 (Ind Est)
25. Follow A4241 back to A48
26. Nearly at M4, Keep left to take A483 to Swansea
27. At Swansea, keep straight for A4067
28. At University turn right onto A4216
29. A483 then A484 to Llanelli
30. At Llanelli A4214 around Asda and back to A484
31. A484 to Carmathen A40
32. A477 at St Clears
33. A478 to Tenby at Kilgetty
34. Follow main road in Tenby, right at mini-r/b no vehicles ahead, then left at church.
35. Follow one-way road , Left at miniroundabout
36. A4319 to Pembroke
37. Follow one-way system and signs for A4319 Pembroke Dock

Maps are:

Bridgwater to Barry

Barry to Llanelli

Llanelli to Pembroke

I've also made my first change to my route since starting the blog. I've decided that it was unrealistic to get from Fort William to Inverness in a day so have booked a hotel in Wick instead. It makes the next day longer, but there are more chances to "drive directly there" when going from Wick to Edinburgh than from Fort William to Inverness if I get really held up of something else goes wrong part way during the day.