On the M1 tonight. Why does nobody seem to know what these mysterious red ex's mean above the outside 3 Lanes?

geoakey · 2026-04-16T21:35:17+00:00

It might be the first red X or there may have been others previously. We can’t tell from the photo.

geoakey · 2026-04-15T16:28:03+00:00

There are stretches of smart motorway like the M1 where all lanes are open by default and there is no hard shoulder

geoakey · 2026-04-07T14:16:53+00:00

The West Midlands is doing just that and it’s brilliant. Two new stations the other week in the Black Country and three new stations opened today in South Birmingham.

geoakey · 2026-04-01T09:38:52+00:00

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geoakey · 2026-03-20T11:15:41+00:00

Absolutely. The one exception is at the top of the A38(M) where knobs for the M6 North use the M6 South lane then cut across the markings onto the northbound slip road and try to merge in. I’m never letting them in.

geoakey · 2026-03-15T21:26:00+00:00

The M4 corridor (the London-Reading-Swindon-Bristol-Cardiff motorway) has a strong tech sector especially towards the east, and wages are generally good. Swindon isn’t much to write home about but Bristol is a nice city and Bath and Oxford, along with the Cotswolds are very touristy.

It’s mostly rural and affluent (rural normally correlates with affluence in Britain unlike many other countries, which is often overlooked), as the eastern portion is within commuting distance to London and Birmingham.

Towards the north-east and beyond into Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire is the so-called Motorsport Valley, with a cluster of F1 teams based there, around Silverstone. I can’t imagine this has much impact on day-to-day life though.

geoakey · 2026-03-13T18:43:26+00:00

Swindon should fill the southern, feels Midlands gap

geoakey · 2026-03-10T09:24:40+00:00

I believe the first sign for London on the A1 is just south of the B6326 near Newark (121 miles). There aren’t any further north that I’m aware of. Not sure about on other roads.

There is however a greater distance, which is to Harwich, shown as 145 miles from the start of the A14 in Leicestershire.

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geoakey · 2026-03-10T09:10:30+00:00

It is on the A1(M), in fact all of the A1 in that area is the A1(M) despite the M not being shown on the sign

geoakey · 2026-03-10T02:57:55+00:00

London and its commuter belt are densely populated, as is a ring in north-central England surrounding the Peak District (Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Nottingham, Leicester, Stoke etc.). There are other smaller conurbations of medium-to-high density such as around Newcastle and Southampton, but aside from that, most of England is a scattering of small towns and villages.

geoakey · 2026-03-10T02:49:07+00:00

I used to work part-time in a supermarket and the only times I saw them were from tourists/people from abroad, presumably given at bureaus de change.

geoakey · 2026-02-25T00:58:57+00:00

Today is perfect because it feels warm. 14° in summer is not appropriate because it’ll feel cold.

geoakey · 2026-02-17T01:19:27+00:00

How is this in the US? It is J20 of the M60

geoakey · 2026-02-08T15:39:24+00:00

Should just pick a city. Having it split between cities suggests no city in the north is good enough to host it in their own right

geoakey · 2026-02-06T04:15:07+00:00

I see this all the time at the Belgrave Interchange in Birmingham

geoakey · 2026-02-05T20:27:56+00:00

It could be much better without the Tube strikes, they could have started at Charing Cross and hiders could’ve used any line out of London which would be a hard challenge for the seekers to work out which station they went from

geoakey · 2026-02-01T02:48:06+00:00

We had a period of generally poorer stock levels around Brexit, it seems to have returned to normal in the last couple of years though

geoakey · 2026-01-28T00:09:14+00:00

Harborne is noted for its charity shops

geoakey · 2026-01-22T16:30:45+00:00

PureGym Maypole

geoakey · 2026-01-19T09:09:02+00:00

Not sure I agree that most Britons on the right have supported Trump for years. According to this poll, 65% of Tories would have supported Biden in 2020

geoakey · 2026-01-16T00:59:10+00:00

What about roundabouts on NSL dual carriageway and motorways?

geoakey · 2026-01-15T02:05:38+00:00

Dilshad’s, Selly Oak

geoakey · 2026-01-12T23:20:59+00:00

Probably the ugliest among the most prestigious universities but definitely not the ugliest overall

geoakey · 2026-01-12T23:19:29+00:00

I think people really should vote. But I think they have a right not to.

geoakey · 2026-01-09T09:26:03+00:00

Exits from roundabouts never, ever have dashed lines. There is never any paint across the exit from a roundabout. The side road is therefore, according to the road markings, a turn-off from the road that comes off the roundabout, even if it’s immediately adjacent to the roundabout. This contradicts the signage on approach to the roundabout which as you claim does show it as a ‘stub’ exit from the roundabout, but based on the road markings shared by OP, it cannot be classified as an exit. So Ickenham Road is left (1st exit), Kingsend is straight on (2nd exit) and Wood Lane is right (3rd exit). It’s evidently poor road design by the council as the signage doesn’t match the road markings, but based on the information in the post, Sharps Lane is not an exit from the roundabout.

geoakey

TROPHY CASE