With the Christmas Day formalities over, Cheryl and I were off to see our good friends Bob and Laura in Grays, Essex
About a mile in to the journey from Luton we crossed a bridge over the M1 to see that traffic was completely at a halt on the southbound carriageway as far as the eye could see. There had been no mention of this on local radio but I suppose it was only to be expected with the onset of the sales.
They had started with a vengeance and so with local knowledge we decided to go “cross country” to avoid the congestion. Luckily, I was armed with the brand new Snooper Proline 2000. I had previously played with this smart new SatNav from the Snooper range in the office but now I was ready to put it to the test! The unit was registered and all the new information had been downloaded quickly and easily. Bluetooth had been activated for my new Nokia mobile phone, TMC was working and everything was ready to go.
The first part of the journey was plain sailing on the back road B 653 from Luton to Hatfield and traffic was surprisingly light. After selecting “avoid M1” in to the satnav the TMC displayed that there were no problems on the imminent selected route. The accuracy of the Safety Camera warnings on the Lower Luton Road through Batford were pin point accurate. Another check on the TMC confirmed that there were no problems or delays between Hatfield and Hertford and even the A10 stretch from Hertford to the A414 turning seemed to be clear.
Once on the A10 the proline was showing delays on the M25 between junctions 25 and 30 no doubt this was due to the sales at Lakeside, the decision was made to go via Harlow and I reprogrammed the satnav to avoid M25.
The Proline 2000 did its best to navigate the numerous roundabouts and point me in the right direction but I thought I knew a shortcut. I don’t do U-turns if I am lost, especially when ordered to do so by some gadget. With the satnav in one ear and Cheryl in the other (both right of course) I safely negotiated Harlow town centre – traffic lights, bus lanes and all – will I ever learn! Of course the Snooper soon got us back on track and we were making good progress towards Colchester.
Bob’s got an extensive knowledge of Essex and so I gave him a quick call on the Bluetooth.
Me: Hi Bob. We have just left Harlow and the TMC is showing delays on the M25 can you tell me the best way through to your place?
Bob: Haven’t you got your satnav with you?
Me: Yes of course but I thought I could pick your brains as I am running a bit late and you know the local roads.
Bob: I always use my satnav! How long are you going to be? We are at Carols for lunch.
Me: Thanks Bob, I didn’t know that, see you soon.
On the A 414 through to Colchester we reached Ongar and the satnav guided us down the A128 to Brentford. Once again the TMC was checked and it confirmed there were no problems on route. If you haven’t got a Snooper satnav with safety camera warnings or a camera detector I would advise you not to use this road. I lost count of the cameras and “high risk” areas but luckily the Snooper “Enigma” database didn’t, - all the information was spot on! The A128 is a terrific driving road that has been completely messed up with revenue collecting limits and although I try not to err over the speed limit the number of cameras and warnings on this road did seem to be a bit over the top!
Unbeknown to us Lauras sister had invited us round to lunch at their place at 1430 and our ETA at Grays was 1450. Another quick phone call was required. No concentration is lost when using Bluetooth and it works very efficiently on the Proline. After confirming our ETA as 1450 we had a trouble free run down to Grays. Not knowing the local area (I normally travel M1,M25 and A12) I trusted the satnav and had a guided tour of downtown Grays.
We still arrived at 1450 but were surprised at the circuitous route that we took. I mentioned it to Bob and he confirmed that his satnav in the Merc plotted the same route if left to its own devices. After miles of faultless performance I was surprised and dissapppointed and think the Navteq mapping could have been more helpful. Still we got there with absolutely no delays. Thank you Snooper as without the Proline we would probably spent hours on the motorway system and missed the fabulous lunch at Carols.
Apologies to all of my customers who expected next day delivery on Friday 28th.December. After the Christmas rush I wasn’t expecting any urgent orders and the courier service was not running its normal schedule. However we cut the holiday short and rushed back at 0700 on Friday so that all orders were completed for delivery Monday 31st.
A happy and prosperous New Year to all our customers old and new.
