in the morning i’m going from southall, north london to livingston. the sat nav says a shade over 8 hours but i recon closer to 9 which puts me close to 10 hour drive. what time should i leave to be sure of arriving at 14.00?
You’ve answered your own question. 
all depends on which way you go Mr B, personally i’d go up the m40, m6 side, but you need to avoid the traffic at birmingham, i.d probably set off about 3 am, to be on the safe side… southall eh, i take it you got your job back at rb 
oh and i hear it was bad weather over on the west side today
yes i got the old job back and i have no idea why i ever left cos i love it lol.
i was thinking about 3 put office dude said about 2 so i thought i’d ask the wiser amongst us. 
M40 m42 m5 m6 m74 come off at abbingdon services a72 head for hyndford bridge then up through forth take the left fork to west calder then follow straight to livingston, should be doable in 9 hours, used to do bathgate to southall in nine hours going that route in opposite direction, the road between the services and livingston is a drivers road but quicker than going up the motorway to bellshill and along the m8, but if your not that confident stick to the Mway. about 30 mins longer
me i would set off at 02.00 just in case
livingston to Lymm is 4.5 hours, so if you get anywhere past lymm in first half shift your on to a winner time wise and if you set off at 2 you should pass brum before the real crap starts
off M74 at J12 thru rigside over hyndford bridge right after bridge just before the new housing est thru carstairs village left at T junction past kames golf course, right at the roundabout thru forth then longridge, drop down into whitburn and follow signs for livingston from there…easy…just beware the tight right hander and narrow bridge a couple of miles past rigside
thanks for the suggestions looks like 2am start it is!!!
why get off at m74 junction 12 go straight on to m74 junction 5 up a725 then onmto m8 …thats the way i go its quicker
stvme2519:
why get off at m74 junction 12 go straight on to m74 junction 5 up a725 then onmto m8 …thats the way i go its quicker
I’ve timed both routes, and going via bellshill is longer both in miles and time, anyway going through carstairs and forth is a more interesting run
stvme2519:
why get off at m74 junction 12 go straight on to m74 junction 5 up a725 then onmto m8 …thats the way i go its quicker
the more of you that go that way the better. keeps the proper road clear for ‘drivers’
If you go A70/forth you really need to be on the pin for it to be quicker than the M8. If you’re trundling along at 40 you’d be faster going M8.
well i made it to charnock richard for breakfast so all going well but apparantly its snowing up there so motorway all the way
no snow here in edinburgh, but we had a sharp frost last night.
Also reports of accidents on M8
it took me 8hr 17mins with 2 45 breaks on route i was there, tipped and away before my booking time but i guess an hours later i’d have been stuck at birmingham and arrived late.