Ah! I think I won't mind the cold so long as it's bright outside. It doesn't even have to be sunny, or cloud-free, just bright, and a little sky. I really hate cloudy and hot/warm/humid days.

Thanks for the pics, Tbag! I can live with both pictures, they look beautiful, so I can deal with the cold! I think it's the "misery" that dark, cloudy days seem to imply that I don't like.

A66 is a small road, max 60mph limit in certain parts, the part near Middlesbrough goes right down to 40mph and the Police round there are very vigilant! And yes two lanes either side.

Driving it would take 15-20 mins to get from Stockton to Darlington or vice-versa. You also have the A19 on the other side of Middlesbrough which takes you up to Newcastle/Gateshead way. There is a train station in Stockton though which will get you to most places or to a station that can at least.

I thought there were no speed limits in the UK? Also, can you direct me to a bigger road with higher speed limit? Don't ask.

Going back to my clothing concerns, now that I have an idea of the temps, what SHOES do you guys wear? Are "normal" sneakers in the UK just like sneakers everywhere else or are your footwear padded for warmth as well? And I suppose you guys wear nothing but thick, THICK socks?

Also, let me re-quote myself regarding Shelter:


Thanks!

There weren't any speed limits a couple of decades ago (probably more actually, come to think of it). I remember that the A10, a major north/south road into London just a stone's through from my house used to have a 70mph speed limit; a decade and a half later it was down to 60, and by the turn of the century it was 50 with some 40 areas.

If you check out google maps. the blue M roads are the largest, with the highest speed limits (70mph, though sometimes regular traffic goes higher); the green A roads are limited to 60mph, and stuff below that varies; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_speed_limit#Driving.

Shoe-wise, whatever works for you. I generally walk around in trainers (we don't use the term "sneakers" in the UK ) as they usually wear in quite well. If you plan to do more serious walking, you might want to get some light boots or whatever, for example catapillar boots. You probably won't need formal shoes. Sockswise, there isn't anything special here - it's not THAT cold! (Hell, I use my London clothes for Norway... though maybe that's not a great comparison...)

Concerning your flat, usually when they say that all utilities are included, it's just that - you pay a flat monthly rent irrespective of how much you use, and don't have to worry about the rest. You *could* leave the heat on if you wanted, though it's courteous not to use more than you need. In some student flats in my uni days, the electricity was metered through a machine which required you to insert pound coins to keep it going - a real coin-op electricity machine. I don't think that you'll get that, since you aren't students, and if they say that utilities are included in the final bill, that should be that. If in doubt, you could always enquire.

Thanks for the reply Gopher! I guess with "utilities included," I won't have to worry about leaving my gaming PC turned on all day! I was planning to get a laptop for a lower-consumption machine which could be left on all day, but with £400-500 for one, I guess this is better. Still thinking of a laptop "for later," but I'm glad it isn't a necessity now.

Looking at the maps, the blue M road is a good ways from me... Hmmm... anyone have an idea what the green/yellow/orange roads mean? I can't find the key on Google Maps.

I seem to remember an article or video a while back, stating that while the USA had speed limits and Europe had none (I guess UK isn't included in "Europe"?), the USA had more accidents even though the European roads were narrower. I guess that was referring to somewhere maybe in Germany?

So there are speed limits on the freeways, huh? What do you call them anyway? Highway? Freeway? Interstate?

Still, 70mph/110kph on the biggest roads? I was expecting more around a 90mph limit, since here in the Philippines, 40mph/60kph is my cruising speed on my 100cc motorcycle, 60mph/100kph is the usual speed outside the city, and I can cruise at 75mph/120kph on the way to the provinces. I was expecting UK "normal" speeds to be much higher.

No, 70mph is the top speed although most don't stick to that on the motorways! The M1 is is the closest motorway to Stockton/Middlesbrough/Darlington and is only a few minutes away. The A19 is a 70 limit too but not a nice road really and a lot of accidents occur on it.

Lol at the shoes question, you make us sound like we have fashion police . You could also get some Merrell's which are kind of an inbetween of trainers and walking/hiking shoes. I have some and love them.

Hey, I got a pair of Merrells too. For shoes I usually end up going to Millets (they might be called Blacks elsewhere in the country, I'm not sure) and get a pair of light hiking shoes which look pretty similar to trainers, but without the white colour content. Can't go wrong there.

Back onto google maps' roads, the blue ones, usually called highways or interstates in the USA are called "motorways" over here. The green and gold ones are "A-roads" which are a step down from motorways (which *may* be dual carriageways, but not necessarily); the light yellow ones are "B-roads", which are more minor roads, and the small white ones are the most minor roads, such a residential side-streets and more obscure country roads.

Limits are flexible, in that although the national upper limit is 70, you can easily get up to 90 if you're going down a hill. If you drive at similar speeds to everyone else, you'll be fine. If you're alone (e.g. 2am in the morning) there isn't any reason to bust the limit. Also, watch out for temporary speed restrictions and average speed cameras, which they tend to use around road works. Whilst the former aren't always enforced, average speed cameras (usually averaging 40 or 50 on a motorway) are electronically monitored.

Hey, if you can get over soon, you can enjoy this lovely SNOW we have!

Thanks for that. Gotta remember that as I study them maps However, are the "grades" of the roads tied to how many lanes that road has? The A177 Durham Road which runs right through Stockton is an orange road but looks like a narrow 2-lane road which feels "tight" or "too narrow" for me for such a road.

How strictly are the speed limits enforced? Are there speed cameras like in the USA? Do cops chase you down for tickets? One reason I ask is I was planning to get a 600cc bike and "tour" the countryside, and it'll be a pity not to let it loose once in a while. Don't get me wrong, nothing reckless like swerving and carving corners, just a little speed burst now and then. I see there are two tracks in my area, one right in Middlesbrough and another just south of Darlington, so I can do my carving there.

I'll be right over by mid-February, and would like to see some snow... wait, was that a sarcastic comment?

Like I said, how strictly are speed limits enforced in the UK? Are they like the law in the USA wherein cops give you tickets for going 5-10mph over the limit? Or are they more like "guidelines" or "these are the sane suggested speeds on these roads"?

No, no, no. I don't care much for fashion, in fact, I've often been known to mix colors that don't match... and I don't care. I'm asking because I'm curious if the footwear have to be weather-dependent as well, or if your UK footwear is significantly different from ours. It was quite a shock to really realize that I'll be needing a jacket for most of the year... I knew it was cold but not THAT cold, so I was wondering if I'll be needing "warm shoes" and maybe some ear muffs as well.

Other than that, comfort and ruggedness (waterproof!) is my main concern for shoes, and I prefer the "safe colors" of black/brown/blue/white so that it'll go with my slacks and jeans with no problem.

If you're caught, you're caught - the vast majority of motorists are caught by speed cameras which are quite unforgiving. There is a margin over the limit at which they act, probably 10% or something similar to the USA (so someone creeping along at 41mph in a 40 zone is ignored). Speed cameras are predominant on roads up to and including A-roads. Its fairly common to cruise at 50mph and then watch as everyone brakes for the camera before speeding up again in the 40 zone.

On motorways, apart from the average speed cameras, most of the time the only way to get caught here is for roving police cars or cops behind hedges with speed guns. I don't know of any non-average fixed speed cameras around the northern slice of London that I'm in, but I certainly wouldn't rule it out because they make a lot of money for the Met. Usually if you do what everyone else does, you're fine - safety in numbers. Up north on your more sparsely populated roads, just keep an eye out.

If you're touring in the countryside, you'll probably be on B-roads and the minor white ones, and in those cases speed metering is (depending on area) extremely rare. That said, some of them are very windy, so whether you'll actually get close to the national limit with a narrow 2-lane road with 2m high hedges either side of the road remains to be seen

Motorway, A and B roads aren't designated by number of lanes. It's actually a little arbitrary, except for motorways which are always multi-lane (2-5) dual-carriageways. A-roads can be one or two-lane single or dual-carriageways; the road "type" is more down to the importance of that particular road in the traffic system.

Did I mention that I don't have a driving license?