[Closed] A66 & Appleby horse fair

Good question.

I’m driving from Glasgow to York tomorrow and was wondering the same thing

We came across it tonight and was suprized at how quiet it was. Probably the quickest we have ever done it.

Really..an hour longer ..that surprises me .

Living in Bellingham the A68 is really the only road I can use to journey south ..

I would also stay on this ( A68 ) after connecting with the A69 at Corbridge and heading East for a couple of miles towards Newcastle you will come to a roundabout where turning right gets you back on the A68 heading towards Darlington and linking up with the A1 motorway ..

The easy motorway driving would be M6/M61/M60/M62 or M65 to Blackburn then down the M66 to the M62

Much easier driving than the Northumberland A roads and should flow fine on a Saturday

If we come down the east, we have to get over to Edinburgh from the middle of the country, then deal with the city bypass too.

Especially with the improvements around the M73 junctions, its really easy (quick) to get onto the M74 south now.

I drove up from Garforth near Leeds last night and avoided the A66 by coming up to Newcastle and across the A69 to Carlisle. Didn’t add much time and is a good road most of the way. This should be quite on a Saturday morning as well.

Or Saturday lunchtime, is the A66 likely to be moving more slowly than I do when I’m climbing hills on a bicycles due to the horses?

I would expect the possibility of some disruption at that time of day from my experience of living in Teesdale for a while. A69 would be my choice.

Road resurfacing between Newcastle and Haydon Bridge on the A69. Plenty of delays at the moment. Best check online just in case!

The travellers have been quietly filtering their way northwards for several weeks now, camping on verges and mostly sticking to quiet back routes. By now most will have arrived, I can't see a last-minute traffc jam of Transit vans and caravans blocking the trunk roads around the area.

Glad I just saw this. Can any fortune tellers suggest what it'll be like going up A1, A66, M6 to Glasgow this evening?

Went over the A66 from Penrith to Scotch Corner and back yesterday and saw just the one horse drawn wagon with a few vehicles trailing behind.  You'll be fine.

Just FYI - A68 has several sets of roadworks traffic lights on it from the Bypass to the Melrose roundabout.
Not sure how that will impact your timings, but could be busy on the weekend.

Signs on the Bypass were advertising delays likely - I passed with no waiting yesterday mid afternoon.

This weekend? Down and across the M62 without a doubt. Bramham horse trials will mean the A1 is garbage around the A64 so any time that isn't swallowed up by Appleby will vanish there.

(Also true for heading North to Glasgow unless you're joining North of York.)

Going to York from Glasgow you should be ok coming off at [s] the A59.[/s] come off at Boroughbridge instead, see below, I'd take the green hammerton road (2nd exit at the roundabout, immediate right, right at the crossroads and follow out to the A59) rather than the A168, 5 mins in it on good day, much better if the a1/a59 junction is snarled.

Edit: Ah it's also bed race day in Knaresborough on Saturday which can sometimes mean really lousy traffic on the A1 junction for the A59 too and poor traffic heading towards Knaresborough/Harrogate on the A59.

Too late to edit it seems...

Going to York from Glasgow you should be ok coming off at [s] the A59.[/s] come off at Boroughbridge instead, see below, I'd take the green hammerton road (2nd exit at the roundabout, immediate right, right at the crossroads and follow out to the A59) rather than the A168, 5 mins in it on good day, much better if the a1/a59 junction is snarled.

Just to add... the A59 is closed and will be for another 12 days apparently. (Blubberhouses)

Arrived in York. Absolutely no issues on the A66.

Did you bring a munchie box with you? Don't make me send you home to fetch one.

Ate it in the car didn't I

Waze seems very good at helping you to avoid delays (and other calamities), it recently guided us through some nifty moves to get round a jam on the M25.  Get the app.

Ate it in the car didn’t I

I'm very disappointed. I had images it would be too big to open in a car unless you put all the seats down, driver's included.

 Can any fortune tellers suggest what it’ll be like going up A1, A66, M6 to Glasgow this evening?

Evening generally isn't a problem even if there are still some travellers who haven't reached Appleby, as their horses will be happily munching some verge (!) somewhere rather than still on the move.

Just to add… the A59 is closed and will be for another 12 days apparently.

FFS etc. How much more money are they going to throw at it before they bite the bullet and sort it out properly?