Odyssey 2010

[elenopa]

I am completely crashed and feeling like a zombie right now. I expect to keel over at any minute. It is possibly not a good idea to go to a convention straight after a week at PGL with the school, and one of the wettest Good Friday walks I have ever known. But I had fun, so I'm

Comments

[steverogerson]

OMG, valderys looks so evil in that clanger pic

[inflatablefish]

Fantastic! Would you mind if I re-posted your picture of me onto Facebook? It's the one of me, Sailor Moon and Supergirl busily building a dalek.

[elenopa]

That's fine.

[crazyscot]

I had that problem escaping from the Radisson two years ago and ended up driving halfway round the Heathrow perimeter road. This year I spotted a small sign inside the hotel car park which - slightly unclearly - told me which turns to make to end up on the A4 heading west. Having got there I proceeded to take a further wrong turn anyway!

[elenopa]

Could you send me the directions and I'll keep them handy for two years time?

[crazyscot]

I don't have good directions, but as far as I remember:

As you leave the Radisson car park you come to a mini roundabout. Don't turn left; that'll commit you to the eastbound A4. Instead take the slight right turn which brings you to another mini roundabout. At that one, turn left and you come out to a junction on the A4 at which you can turn right.

So far so good, you're now on the A4 westbound. As imc said, you need to turn left onto Newport Road, which is all of about 600 metres down the road - just after a coach park, and then left again onto the West Ramp which leads to the motorway junction.

[imc]

I wanted to go to the Clanger symposium but I was busy with robots. (Also rather sad that I missed Mitch Benn, but such is life.) smallclanger thoroughly enjoyed himself I think.

It wasn't just me then who missed the M4 junction. I had three tries, got it right on the third one thanks to Google Maps which proved invaluable. On the first one I drove past Windsor Castle and almost got to Legoland before I got on the motorway.

The road you're looking for is just after you pass the Three Magpies (pub seemingly in the middle of nowhere) but you can't get on it because you are on a bridge flying over it. You'll see an aeroplane on sticks on the left. The next thing you come to is a sign saying "M4 M25 / Slough / Staines" and a big arrow pointing straight on. Instead, turn left (Newport Rd) and immediately left again. You are now on the West Ramp which takes you back past the aeroplane on sticks, under the bridge and on to the M4 north.

[elenopa]

Thanks. I am going to save that route.

During one escape attempt, I saw a sign to Iver and seriously considered turning, because I lived there until I was six, and would be able to negotiate my way through Uxbridge from there.

[bopeepsheep]

My default, if in doubt, is to turn left down the Bath Road and head for the A312 at Cranford, because I can navigate back to the M4 from there in my sleep, having had grandparent(s) living close by until 2005*. This is also the reason I can sleep happily through all the plane noise. :D

*In 2007 narenek was sent to a big data centre 'at Heathrow' for a week's work. I was very amused - and a little sad - to discover it was built on the field we used to play in, at the end of my grandparents' road.

[elenopa]

Is that *the* Cranford?

[watervole]

THAnks for posting all the photos. Great to see the clanger workshop in progress.

[elenopa]

I always like to get candid photos if I can. All photos are free to be used elsewhere (unless Wimble complains about his :P )

My clanger is still in pieces as I have something else to finish knitting first.