The Bendy Road System

The first thing one can't help but notice, if one has been away for any length of time, is that there are, shall we say, quite a lot of cars on the road. In fact, there are so many, one wonders how they fit. The drive back from London Heathrow Airport to my parents house was somewhat fraught for me. Mostly because I was wide eyed at the antics of the motorists around me.

I had expected the cars to be different - in fact smaller cars are the norm here - but I hadn't expected them to be leaping in and out of lanes in a fruitless attempt to get ahead. In fact, it was a fruitless attempt to get anywhere. Apparently the roads are staggeringly busy on a Friday these days. So much so that Mum and Dad's reaction to hearing I was landing on a Friday was quite literally "Oh no!".

They were right. Most of the M4 was at no more than 50 mph - of course the mandatory speed limits requiring us to slow down to 50 were the bulk of that, but traffic was the rest. Also speed cameras are in place, making the regulation of speed far more draconian than it used to be. A new trend is 'averaging' speed cameras which grab your licence plate at two points and calculates your average speed over the distance. Go faster than the limit for the mile or two that they are monitoring, and you'll get your fixed penalty through the mail. Simple as that.

In short, round here, we're too terrified not to follow the speed limit.

Devon, has its own take on how roads should be. My parents technically live in a small hamlet on the outskirts of the village of Plymtree. The post office seems to think the house is in Plymtree - and since there's a population of maybe 600 there, as opposed to the 4 houses in the real deal hamlet, I think I can see why.

From USA final UK start

As you can see from above, the roads are pretty small. The first one is a classic little Devon country road. The first thing to note is that it's a smidge less than 8 feet wide. The national speed limit applies, and the road is bidirectional. For those not in the UK, the national speed limit is 60 miles per hour. So yes, technically, there could be a car coming the other way around that bend at any speed... It's a little hair raising sometimes. Drivers are generally not that reckless, though there can be a lot of backing up to passing places on busy days. Sometimes you're face to face with a tractor or a big tanker full of milk, and then it's back up a mile and go round the other way....


I decided to take a walk into Plymtree - it's a 15 minute walk, proving that we're not really part of the village, except by association in postal codes. Luckily it was a pleasant August afternoon/early evening, and for once not raining. Why take one's life in one's hands on 60 mph roads with no pavement (US Users: Read "Sidewalk" here)? Well...

Because of the views. Devon in summer is staggeringly beautiful. This is certainly true of many other places in the UK as well; once you get away from Urban Sprawl.

Here'a a view over Honiton, which is a town not so far away. I insisted we stop and get some scenery into the camera. (The full picture is quite large, I'm afraid, and I couldn't upload it to Picasa. But it's a huge panorama! The full one should turn up at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4903664/View%20over%20Honiton.JPG until I run out of dropbox space!)

From Pictures

There are similar views just down the lane - rolling fields. There's also this:

From USA final UK start

This sort of thing is why it's worth getting off the beaten track and exploring down those tiny little country lanes. Plymtree Church. It dates back to the 1300's - with the bell tower being slapped on as a quite recent extension in the 1420's. That said, the site as a church seems to go well back into Saxon times. A tree that was probably planted as part of the previous Saxon church is over 1100 years old, dating to around 900ish.
The church remains a focal point for the village to this day, of course. I haven't been in, but I'm told it's beautiful with an amazing rood screen partitioning the church.

If you needed any other reason to take a walk in the country, then how about this - you get to see the hedgerows. Of course, what to us seems an idyllic mix of plants is a battle for space from their point of view! Right now there are wild blackberries coming up, and still bumblebees buzzing over the remaining flowers.

From USA final UK start

I'm particularly proud of the last shot, which was part luck, and part repeated attempts to get the focus right! These are the bees we have over here. The ones that supposedly can't fly according to the laws of aerodynamics. Doesn't seem to stop them flying anyway, so clearly that's just plain wrong :)

One last shot I couldn't resist:

From USA final UK start

English Oak. Standing Tall. 'Nuff said.

Back in Blighty!

I haven't laid eyes on merrie olde England for almost 11 years. I've spent all that time living and working in the middle of the USA - specifically in Oklahoma. So having become used to life over there, I was wondering how much of a culture shock it would be to go back. I've decided to make some online witterings here, and should any of you wish to read them, then good luck to you.