General Chat

read the file reference - it is the Magic Roundabout in Cardiff
time for bed said Zebedee

boing

nope - I know about how to read filenames but that link does not take me to the magic roundabout

interestingly it now works but when you first pointed it, it was pointing to a file entitled leech.jpx

Rollo, if you like OH to drive you home when you have had a drink, do NOT repeat my OH's error some years ago. He never did it again.

We were going to friends for dinner about a 40 mile drive, I backed car out of garage whilst OH locked up. He came to driver's door and told me to move over, I said I would drive, he replied that he did not like my driving.

I moved over.

I remained quiet on the journey - you would think he would have known I was hatching something up. When we arrived and before he got out of car, I said 'as you do not like my driving, I shall not be driving home, I mean it'. He and the husband used to get very very merry. Host greeted OH with large whiskey - I reminded other half - our hostess agreed with me. I did say that if he drank he could sleep on their settee as I would NOT be driving him home.

He had a half glass of wine with dinner and he drove home.

We laugh about it now and have told our adult gchildren who think it is hilarious.

OMG I know the Magic Roundabout, son lived in Swindon for a time. I mentally used to close my eyes and go!

Biggest surprise OH ever had was when he was in Hamburg and a german asked if he knew the Magic Roundabout.

the magic roundabout in Swindon is not so-called because of that "work of art" though, it is because of the five roundabouts I think - is that right?

Yup - it was christened that by the locals and after a couple of years I think they put the name plate on the central roundabout.

Do not know about work of art. Must have been after he left.

My brother can get lost in his home town, one day he was driving us somewhere and I said 'we need to continue to drive north' (notice the word continue in the sentence) to which he replied 'which way is North?'

I usually only need a map for the initial trip to somewhere I haven't been before, after that I can usually manage just with my memory of the route to get to my destination

Michelle

Wife and self no probs map reading - both ex army. I drive every time we go out as she doesn't like a manual gear shift. Cant understand the need for turning map in a particular direction we read it as we would a book. 2 g'sons same. I quite often travel on my own so I devise a route and key it in on PC but in size 20 print at least then easy to reference (quick glance) whilst on the move, tho I have a very good memory for routes. Have the 2 and half mile to inch road atlas on the passenger seat open at relevant page I dont necessarily stick to main roads for all the journey. If off to B'mouth or Weymouth from here in Yorks I'll use the M1 then A38 south til get to A5 then after a few miles down the A5 I'm off on the Fosse Way - old Roman road. Lovely route that then thro the Cotswolds etc. If we go Scotland t'other side of Forth Bridge it takes all day as we meander once we reach Scotch Corner. We turn a long journey into a day out - much nicer. Tis only very occasionally that we get lost. Map reading should be taught at school

I cant drive without glasses, I cant read without reading glasses


the two are quite different. I would have to stop....read a roadsign, change glasses, read the map, change glasses to drive..........


I let Tom work it all out and Yoda gives me the instructions....

...........alll the way around the roundabout you must go.........etc.


the next exit, you must take.........



my mate has his built in set so he is driving in the correct direction.......ie if south, then south is at the top of the screen


whereas Tom shows the direction he is travelling in at the top....

Ronald, Correct me if I'm wrong but you say "Cant understand the need for turning map in a particular direction we read it as we would a book. 2 g'sons same"

That may work for the more experienced map readers but when you learnt Map reading in the army you will have been taught to orientate your map,

By orientating your map it helps novices in two ways, first it allows them to look along the map line and id a specific point in the distance and so relate that to the map and second it is the only way to find your exact location in relation to the map
When you don't no where you are by selecting a minimum of two points ideally 90 degree's apart on the ground take a bearing to both, then draw a line on the map using the bearings to the point where they meet, The point where they meet is your location (taking into account magnetic variation)

Roy

Navigating any vehicle along a road is an exercise in linear navigation whereas the sport of orienteering is about finding you way over a wide area. The two should not be confused.

A good part of the problem in map reading a road route using an area map lies in this. In fact whether you are going north south east or west is unimportant. What matters is that you are going towards the goal.

The best kind of map for road travel is a linear route map. These were widely published in the C18 and C19 with routes shown as a linear road annotated with places en route, inns and so on. Before the advent of satnav quite a lot of people used to make such a linear map themselves and possibly still do. Programs such as Autoroute will generate a text version of such a map.

It works fine unless one loses the way.

In France the government has changed the road numbers for the French equivalents of the grand trunk roads so that the old N10 Paris-Bordeaux now has a dozen road numbers on its route. Tomtom and others are not allowed to use these roads for calculating routes except for 1st/last few kilometres. All they have done is to make the SatNav even more popular as the road tolls tend to cost more than the fuel for a journey. That especially applies to heavy trucks.

fwiw it is also illegal in France to have any device (including satnavs) giving warning of speed cameras. The government is bankrupt and will tax/fine anything that moves, tourists being seen as ripe target. It is mandatory to have in the car a warning triangle, a highvis vest for EACH person which MUST be kept inside the car not the trunk, a cheap breath tester device for each adult. The douane can and will check for this stuff and levy a steep fine for non compliance.