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Trip to England

Been to someplace of historical interest? Planning a trip? Have a question? Post here!
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EC2
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Location: Nottingham UK
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Post by EC2 » Tue October 19th, 2010, 4:41 pm

Re the really mini roundabouts that are just a white circle in the middle of the road. My son calls them 'bird dirt islands' !!!
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Vanessa
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Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Tue October 19th, 2010, 4:44 pm

I hate those! Just what is the point of them? Most people drive over them, not round them. And as for sleeping policemen........
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Tue October 19th, 2010, 4:50 pm

[quote=""Vanessa""]I hate those! Just what is the point of them? Most people drive over them, not round them. And as for sleeping policemen........[/quote]

Gah! Vanessa, sleeping policemen are just the pits. My father in law lives in an inner city housing development. By no manner of means is it crime central, but the number of 'traffic calming' bumps we have to go over to reach his house is stupid. It's a wonder I still have any spinal column left. Bloody things! :mad: :mad:
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Vanessa
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4378
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Tue October 19th, 2010, 4:54 pm

Not to mention what they do to the suspension of your car if you don't realise they are there!
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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sweetpotatoboy
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Location: London, UK

Post by sweetpotatoboy » Tue October 19th, 2010, 4:58 pm

I actually quite like mini-roundabouts. They've been steadily replacing many traffic-light junctions all over the place and seem to make for easier driving and flow.
Although you often get a situation when two or three cars seem to arrive at the roundabout at about the same time and everyone's looking at the car on their right to see who's going to make the first move... Eventually, someone decides to be assertive and heads on out...

Agree about sleeping policemen. Hate them.

There about to have several pilot schemes to completely remove all signs and restrictions in certain areas - and it appears to have resulted in a reduction in accidents.

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LoobyG
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Location: Derbyshire, UK

Post by LoobyG » Tue October 19th, 2010, 5:36 pm

I've never heard speed bumps being referred to as 'sleeping policemen' before, I had to have a quick gander at Wiki to make sure :o They're a plague on the roads of this kingdom. But I do quite like mini roundabouts, they beat traffic lights no end.

SGM
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Post by SGM » Tue October 19th, 2010, 6:17 pm

[QUOTE=Tanzanite;71981]
Got dreadfully lost in Bradford trying to find our hotel - drove around there for an hour before we found it and after checking in, went straight to the bar!!QUOTE]

Everyone gets lost in Bradford. My dad was born there but on returning to Yorkshire he took a route that avoided Bradford as do all my friends who live in other parts of Yorkshire.
Currently reading - Emergence of a Nation State by Alan Smith

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Michy
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Post by Michy » Tue October 19th, 2010, 9:14 pm

Over the past few years they've starting putting in a few roundabouts (or traffic circles as they're sometimes called) in my city and I hate them!!! Maybe it's because they install them in places like shopping center and mall parking lots, not on normal city streets. At any rate, I think they disrupt the flow of traffic much more than a plain old 4-way stop does.

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Tanzanite
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Post by Tanzanite » Wed October 20th, 2010, 12:14 am

Madeline - I can't believe it's over either. My internal clock is still messed up - I've been up since 2 am and couldn't go back to sleep. I hoping if I'm dead tired tonight I'll be able to sleep all night.

SGM - that's good to know about Bradford - we don't feel so bad now although it was terribly frustrating. the hotel fit into my "maximum points for maximum nights scheme" and was a decent stopping point on our way back south but I'm not sure we would ever go there again!!

The roundabouts themselves weren't so much an issue (they are starting to catch on more here as well) it's just that they are at practically every intersection so you never get a chance to stop driving for a few seconds at a light and/or try to read a street sign to figure out where you are or which way you need to turn. Plus, there's so much going on - cars coming from every direction, trying to read signs often at weird angles and not being sure which way they are pointing and the whole driving on the "wrong" side of the road. My husband found driving exhausting and he usually likes to drive. As for the mini roundabouts, the first one we came to we were like what the heck are we supposed to do here?? I think we kind of drove through it rather than around it!!

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Amanda
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Post by Amanda » Wed October 20th, 2010, 2:56 am

I haven't until now heard of sleeping policemen. I assumed they must of being what I know as silent policemen. Got a bit confused reading the comments......google has got it sorted for me!

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