The SABRE Logo: print quality version

• What is SABRE?
• SABRE History
• Joining Us
• Politics and Viewpoints
• What does SABRE do?
• The Community
• Projects

What is SABRE?
SABRE is The Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts. The Society exists for the discussion and education of roads in Britain and Ireland. Anyone with an interest in British or Irish roads is welcome to join and participate. The site is overseen by a management team which is elected every year.

SABRE History
SABRE originally stood for "Study and Appreciation of the British Roads Experience". The original SABRE website was started by Brad Jackson in 1999 as a way of encouraging discussion about and study of roads in the United Kingdom, and there was a major update in August 2001 when an MSN community was introduced to allow visitors to discuss roads issues.

Unfortunately, for health reasons, Brad hasn't been able to take part in the site since the end of 2001, although he does "pop in" occasionally. The name was changed to "The Society for All British Road Enthusiasts" in March 2002 (with Brad's approval) to reflect the diverse and inclusive nature of the community. In spring 2005, after much discussion, SABRE moved to its new home here at www.sabre-roads.org.uk, with members mucking in to set up the forums, photo gallery and website. In 2009, to reflect the growing number of Irish members and the frequent discussion of the Irish road network, the society's name was changed to "The Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts"

Joining Us
Membership of SABRE is open to all. SABRE now has over 2000 members, and growing at a very healthy rate! Members are often affectionately known as "Sabristi" - the singular is "Sabristo" (masculine) or "Sabrista" (feminine), so don't be surprised if you hear these terms bandied about a lot! You can join us and dive into the discussion for free - just go over to the Forums and click the "Register" link in the blue menu.

Politics and Viewpoints
We are neither a pro-roads nor an anti-roads site. We have no formal links with motorists' organisations or the road construction industry; neither do we have associations with the environmental lobby or road protestors' groups. Rather, we are interested in the history, geography and structure of the British road network. Individual members may of course have views on the politics of the network, and we debate the issues from time to time, but SABRE is not primarily intended as a platform for those with an axe to grind.

What does SABRE do?
Primarily, SABRE discusses roads! There are, however, several facets to this. Below is the "SABRE Mission Statement" originally written by founder Brad Jackson.

Today, we are pushing these ideas further than ever. When Brad wrote his "mission statement" he imagined a way to build up our knowledge of UK roads, something that was difficult to find information about. We now have a huge knowledge base at our fingertips - almost all of it available to members and visitors alike through our website - and we are setting about becoming the UK's leading source of information about our roads. We are gradually seeing more and more interest from the press and broadcast media.

The Community
The main place for our discussions are the Forums here on the SABRE website. The multiple boards are to subdivide discussions into topics more closely related to each other. You can, however, view all the message boards at once if you like to see everything that is happening in a snapshot. Just click the "View all topics" link in the blue menu.

This is not the only side of SABRE though! We hold real world meet-ups - "Awaydays" - every three months in different parts of the country. These are advertised well in advance and you are most welcome to attend!

As well as discussion of roads, the forums also have sections for discussion of other modes of transport and issues relating to driving and traffic law, and a general chat section known as "Sabristi Unleashed!". This is the place to talk about anything that would be off-topic on the main roads forums (see the Mission Statement above for a guide).

Projects
SABRE's current major project is our Roads Wiki. This is a development of three of SABRE's original projects: the Roaders' Digest, Roads by 10 and The First 99. As a result of these projects SABRE has a more complete directory of roads in the UK than the Government! Our Wiki is relatively new, so there's still lots to be done - which means there are plenty of opportunities for new society members to get involved and add their knowledge to the project.