Driving in England

Our nine passenger van!

I can't speak on this subject from first-hand driving experience but I can speak from first-hand passenger experience.  Driving here, is nerve-wracking in a word.  We start with driving this large vehicle and move on to driving on the left-hand side of the road and it kind of goes downhill from there.

Motorways aren't too bad because there is space and they are generally straight but driving through towns is a harrowing experience.  There is barely any room between you and the cars parked on the side of the road.  It feels like there are constantly signs telling us that the road ahead is narrow.  The country roads aren't much better as they are often just wide enough for two cars, sometimes only one, for miles.

Sorry these are a bit weird.  We couldn't stop and there is nowhere to pull over, but you get the idea.

It's funny because there are hedges everywhere instead of fences.  Along the roadways, the hedges are trimmed on the same plane as the side of the road.  In an area with trees, they are trimmed up and around, just the height of a bus, creating a tunnel of trees.  It's really quite picturesque, except when there is a large lorry (truck) headed in your direction!

Bradford Upon Avon

It has been an experience thus far.  Every time we make it safely to our destination we take a deep breath, and slowly work to relax all of our tense muscles.  The kids are often reminded to be quiet while Hyrum and I try to navigate these foreign roads and their twists and turns.  I'm grateful Hyrum is willing to do it because if I were in charge of getting us out and about, we'd stay in our cottage.

English countryside between Bath and Colerne

We do drive through some lovely countryside and quaint English towns.  I love observing and often wonder, how and why they appear frozen in time.  There are still buildings with thatched roofs even.  Wednesday we drove through a nice village called Bradford Upon Avon, Thursday it was Painswick.  Someday, maybe we'll go back and walk it picturesque avenues and quaint streets, maybe even stop into the Cheese Shop!  Driving may be an intense adventure but we sure get to see a lot by doing it.