Yorkshire: great tea, great people – even better roads
The condition of our roads continues to decline at an alarming rate, and is taking its toll on our vehicles, both classic and modern. The cost to repair them (in excess of £9 billion) and the time it would take to do so prevent this or any future government embarking on any effective road repair programme; this reinforces my opinion that our roads will never be restored to their former glory.
I fear that one of Britain’s last ‘greats’, the countryside, will become inaccessible as many unclassified roads (where better to drive a classic) will suffer the ultimate neglect and fall into overgrown ruin. They will eventually fall off the road map, leaving motorways and potholed A- (and maybe some B-) roads as the only form of access to our rural heritage.
However, maybe all is not lost. I recently spent ten glorious sun-filled days in one of my favourite ‘top down’
touring destinations – the Yorkshire Dales – and was amazed to find swathes of unclassified single-track roads with billiard table smooth blacktop and not a pothole in sight! Pure luxury. Eventually the penny dropped – I was driving the route of the recent ‘ Tour de Yorkshire’ and ‘ Tour de France’ cycling events.
So all we have to do to save our roads is to arrange an international cycle race and the magic pot of money to resurface our roads (not just fill in the potholes), will be provided. Simple!
Tony Cameron, Tyneside We’re big fans of the Dales, too. Perhaps the Tour de France organisers can include the roads immediately outside CCW’s office on their next event! – Ed.