Before the A14

[Gav]

left down the A608 to Cambridge,

Do you mean the A604?

Yes of course.

I used to like the fact that for a time the M11 linked the A406 and the A604... There was something a bit pleasing about that.

[nick_dunn]

Travelling to East Anglia in the sixties and seventies we used to leave the M6 at J1 and take the A426, across the A5 to the start of the A427 which in those days was traffic light controlled and tremendously busy in summer. We'd then take the A427 (now A4304) across the M1 and along to Market Harborough. Then if headed for Norwich, we'd stay on the A427 but if going to Ely, take the A6 down through Kettering town picking up the A604 as it departed from the A6 at Barton Seagrave. The junction is still there and hasn't changed much in 50 years or more. Sometimes these journeys from the West Mids that now barely take two hours, could easily take all day!

[FosseWay]

Travelling to East Anglia in the sixties and seventies we used to leave the M6 at J1 and take the A426, across the A5 to the start of the A427 which in those days was traffic light controlled and tremendously busy in summer. We'd then take the A427 (now A4304) across the M1 and along to Market Harborough. Then if headed for Norwich, we'd stay on the A427 but if going to Ely, take the A6 down through Kettering town picking up the A604 as it departed from the A6 at Barton Seagrave. The junction is still there and hasn't changed much in 50 years or more. Sometimes these journeys from the West Mids that now barely take two hours, could easily take all day!

Interesting to see someone else's take on that journey - were you starting from Stourbridge?

When I was a kid in Kinver in the 70s and 80s, my grandparents lived near Ipswich. Our usual route involved going south of the West Midlands conurbation, though occasionally for reasons that escape me we went through the middle of Birmingham (which obviously involved the A38(M) and Spaghetti, which was always a high point!). Either way, six hours was not unusual.

Anyway, our normal route was to head via Bromsgrove and Redditch, along what was then the B4095 to Warwick. (The B4095 had a stretch of dual carriageway and I felt that this was very odd, having never encountered a DC B-road anywhere else.) Then the A425 through Leamington and Southam, to join the A45 at Daventry.

In the early years, we then stayed on the A45 all the way to Ipswich. If I remember right, the bypasses of Northampton and Wellingborough already existed (SABRE Maps coverage is too early to check), and what is now the A14 between Cambridge and the A1156 turn was already fully D2. The bit in between, including the notorious bends in Kimbolton, was very slow.

In later years, when they'd started to build what is now the A14 between Cambridge and Catthorpe, we found it easier to avoid the Kimbolton stretch by taking the A605 to Higham Ferrers and the B663 through Raunds. This gave access to the A604, which was improved online as part of the coming A14 quite a long time before the offline new road to the M6 was built. The B663 also gave several opportunities to stop and have lunch, which was less appealing on the more major roads.

At the eastern end, we used to go round the Ipswich ring road to reach the coast on the other side, and it was very exciting to use the Orwell Bridge for the first time when that opened.

[nick_dunn]

Interesting to see someone else's take on that journey - were you starting from Stourbridge?

Yes, from Stourbridge. We very occasionally used the A45 when going to Norwich too, remaining on that road all the way to the A11 then up to Norwich that way. I can't quite remember where we picked up the A45 but it would be something along the lines you mentioned and very probably Daventry. I know we were definitely on the A45 by the time we got to Weedon because I remember my father's appalling joke about Weedon being the place where the Dunn's wee, so there must have been public toilets around there somewhere!! Joking apart, you did have to plan for public toilet stops back in the day and I wouldn't be surprised if my father's favoured route via A427/A605/A47 was based around this! I remember our toilet stops at Market Harborough, Oundle and a road cafe on the A47 near Guyhirn (I'm told that as a toddler, I managed to lock myself in a cubicle there and my mother had to pay a penny to get me out). Anyway, I'm definitely rambling now...!

[FosseWay]

"Public toilet stops" - that implies some form of built convenience intended for the purpose... We made do with a hedge, which is why the B663 was better than the A45

[Pgd]

"...where the Dunn's wee..." Love it! Dad-joke perfection

As a map-obsessed kid in the early 90s, I was naturally given map-reading duties on long family road-trips. I recall one such journey that, unusually for us, took us into the East of England (Peterborough way, iirc). As we were coming from near Worcester, I was excited to try out the new A14 from the M6 at Catthorpe over to Kettering. Unfortunately, the map-makers had clearly jumped the gun: the road was still unfinished. I had to hastily re-plan a cross-country route to get us back on track. Presumably we got off the M1 at Crick, but I also recall travelling over the unfinished road again a little later, so presumably on the old A50 (now A5199) or A508... neither make a lot of sense route-wise; but maybe I was still flustered

[Alderpoint]

I know we were definitely on the A45 by the time we got to Weedon because I remember my father's appalling joke about Weedon being the place where the Dunn's wee, so there must have been public toilets around there somewhere!!

On th way back from Ipswich we regularly used to stop at the Cross Roads in Weedon Bec for coffee - very civilised. ISTR it as the Crossroads Hotel, but we might have just called it that after the 70s/80s soap. I see now it is a Chef & Brewer.

Of course the A45 now bypasses Weeden although the A5 still goes through the middle.

[ROAD ROVER]

There are some good antique shops at Weedon Bec.
Talking of the A5, l'm sad to see the Jack's Hill Truckstop is no more.