Categories: just-life
Date: 06 April 2009 12:17:52
Yesterday I was shooting out in the depths of Essex, somewhere just off the A12. Coming back I decided that I would pop into South Mimms services for what I believe our American cousins call "a comfort break."
However things conspired to prevent this, naming being the M25 a traffic jam.
But no fear, I dive of the M25 and head towards London on the M11. This is roughly the right direction and I could always cut around somewhere... for instance on the North Circular which was a really good idea... until I got to Finchley and found yet again more stationary traffic.
Forty minutes later (and a mile down the road) I took the opertunity to head towards Central London yet again, this time on the A1... stop-start traffic due to traffic lights, but it was moving... until I got to Kings Cross where it stopped... I don't know why it was stopped, but certainly the broken-down Alfa in the Euston Underpass didn't help matters.
At this point in time it's been two hours since I set off and I'm still waiting for my comfort break. Or discomfort as it was now.
Cutting down towards Westminster on Regent's Street didn't seem to be a good idea... that was pretty solid but a quick U-turn later and a shortcut through Mayfair sent me through Knightsbridge and the A4.
The nine mile queue of traffic on the A4 due to a closure at Olymipa, thankfully, was in the opposite direction but I'm telling you, when I was able to pull into the Heston Services on the M4, over three hours after thinknig that I'd quite like to stop... well, I was a relieved man!!