Boring stuff

[Hey Arnold 88]

On 9/19/2023 at 12:39 PM, Beekay said:

The Salt Box caff, Hilton

 

@Beekay The Salt Box is actually at Hatton, on the cross roads opposite what used to be The Kestrel pub which is now an Indian restaurant. We used to stop in on the way up to St. Helens, my dad's hometown, and in those days would always go in the driver's side to eat rather than the public side as it was a bit cheaper and the portions a bit bigger. It is still quite popular, despite the fact it's slightly off route now for drivers as the A50 bypasses Hatton, and does still offer showers for drivers to freshen up. One of the last transport cafés left in the country. 

[Hey Arnold 88]

On 9/20/2023 at 10:50 AM, philmayfield said:

I remember it from when I used to go to Hatton to look at the Lotuses at Peter Smith Sports Cars.

 

@philmayfield Peter Smith's went into voluntary liquidation in 2011 and is now a charity shop

[DJ360 6,733]

28 minutes ago, Hey Arnold said:

We used to stop in on the way up to St. Helens, my dad's hometown,

 

SentEllins eh?  Whereabouts?  I spent much of my working life in and around 'Tellins and it's still my nearest town of any size, though the centre, like many, is a mere shadow...

[DJ360 6,733]

29 minutes ago, Hey Arnold said:

 

@philmayfield Peter Smith's went into voluntary liquidation in 2011 and is now a charity shop

 

There's a strange irony in that...

[Hey Arnold 88]

@DJ360 The ancestral home was on Gower Street Sutton which unfortunately was demolished to make way for new housing. My dad's sister Mary still lives in Sutton and his brother Pat lived in Thatto Heath

[Beekay 5,160]

9 hours ago, Hey Arnold said:

 

@Beekay The Salt Box is actually at Hatton,

Cheers H.A., I knew it were up there somewhere but couldn't remember which way round. It's got to be donkeys years since I were using that road. There were no new fangled things like by-passes in them days. My regards. B.

[Hey Arnold 88]

@Beekay It was long before the Hatton/Hilton bypass was built that we used The Saltbox with anything like regularity, in fact I can remember the A50 from Sudbury through to Blythe being built, and the protest signs put up by residents of Doveridge, when it opened, about the road noise due to the experimental concrete road surface. To the best of my memory leaving Nottingham we used to go Mickleover, Littleover, Etwall, Hilton, Hatton, Sudbury, Doveridge, Uttoxeter, Lower Tean, Upper Tean, Blythe Bridge, Trentham Gardens, M6

[Beekay 5,160]

I recall that route very well, carrying 20 tons of coal from Newstead colliery up to Bowaters paper mill at Ellesmere Port. Sometimes used to stop at Keale services for a comfort stop and cup of tea and a fag. That was if I couldn't afford to stop at Salt box.

[MRS B 524]

We’re going up to the Lakes in December (seems weird I know but they always make so much of Christmas up there) so will divert off the A50 to the Saltbox and post a photo when we get back. I can remember before the A50 was built we used to have to go past Willington power station to get to Stoke. A friend of mine signed that petition as she could hear the concrete/tyre noise from her house in Doveridge. Had covid jab today so am having an early night (for me!)

[Hey Arnold 88]

As far as I'm aware it's still the original road surface and hasn't needed any significant resurfacing or repairs due to wear and tear

[DJ360 6,733]

On 9/22/2023 at 9:58 AM, Hey Arnold said:

@DJ360 The ancestral home was on Gower Street Sutton which unfortunately was demolished to make way for new housing. My dad's sister Mary still lives in Sutton and his brother Pat lived in Thatto Heath

 

Yep. Gower Street still has some old terraces, but is largely what looks like recent builds.  It's not really a part of St Helens I know well.

[DJ360 6,733]

3 hours ago, Hey Arnold said:

As far as I'm aware it's still the original road surface and hasn't needed any significant resurfacing or repairs due to wear and tear

 

I've been using the Stoke/Uttoxeter route between Nottm and here for decades, but I don't recall the exact sequence of new road openings.

The first bit that struck me was the concreted stretch between the roundabout in Uttoxeter, and the one just outside Stoke.  The road surface was awful and incredibly noisy. Much of it still is.  Back then the route through Stoke was a bit convoluted and I recall a long hill through housing. The section from Uttoxeter to south of Derby seemed to get gradually straighter and faster.

I don't blame the Doveridge residents one bit for complaining, because the surface there was awful too. Not only noisy, but undulating in a way that had my assorted cars doing a sort of long wavelength bounce as I passed there.

All that said it's generally a fast and fairly clear run, with hold ups being pretty rare.

Occasionally, if I fancy a slower and more interesting run, I go via Ripley, Ambergate, Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton, Macclesfield, Knutsford etc... The car knows the way.

[LizzieM 9,511]

Noise reduction and improvement of concrete road surfaces is just one of the services our company performs.  Our kids run the show nowadays and I don’t know much about it except they’ve completed works on the M20, M18, M25 which have all been approved and now waiting for the order to do a bigger section of the the M25.  They’ve also worked on the autoroute around Madrid and another big job in Jordan.  They’ve only got one machine at the moment but got another on order from USA at an eye-watering cost of £750,000 each. If you’re really into ‘boring stuff’ you can read about it on their website www.Roadgrip.co.uk