The grumpy thread

[wuvvum]

Don't get me started on the Dartford crossing. Am very upset after they opted not to drop the charges 'for environmental reasons.' Oh fuck off! Just admit it's because it's a great source of income and drop this 'oooh, it'll save a fucking rainforest' bollocks! If there was an alternative, then I wouldn't mind so much but your only alternative is to go the other way around the M25 or stay at home.

Blackwall Tunnel FTW.

[Cavcraft]

probably grumbled about this before, but why the f88k do they still not take any cards at the fookin dartford crossing. Its 2010 and its on the principal route from continental europe! Where TF am I supposed to get £1.50 from between getting off the ferry and arriving there. SORT IT OUT YOU USELESS BASTARDS, I HOPE YOU ALL DIE SOON

You tried the M6 toll? I paid cash last time and you should have seen the queus behind me and the look of hatred on the old witch's face who served me.It would appear not having a debit or credit card on you is akin to running amok in a librabry with a fucking Uzi. Stupid fucking slag is probably still grinding her teeth now.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I cat bear the M6 toll cos its so expensive, i'd rather sit in traffic for 10 hours than give em a fiver for 20 mins use of their snazzy motorway!!! Its nice if your work is paying though.

[Milford Cubicle]

I got stuck at a toll in Ireland without any change once, but a nice Irish lady gave me 2 euros and wouldn't accept my funny pound sterling in return.I don't think there are any toll bridges in Scotland any more. Cheers SNP!

[pogweasel]

Hey, I love that M6 toll, especially on monday mornings. Much better to be whizzing down some deserted perfectly surfaced carriageway than sit in a jam by spaghetti junction surrounded by miserable brummies. Plus I usually stop at Norton Canes services to go for a poo, as they are the nicest, cleanest services of evar.

[Cavcraft]

+1 for Norton Canes, though I've not dropped the kids off at the pool there yet.

[504GL]

miserable brummies.

Is there any other type?

[retrogeezer]

I cat bear the M6 toll cos its so expensive, i'd rather sit in traffic for 10 hours than give em a fiver for 20 mins use of their snazzy motorway!!! Its nice if your work is paying though.

Really fooks me off that M6 toll.....we've already paid 'road tax' for roads to be built. Now thats not good enough.That piece of road should just be the M6 Brum bypass and thats it.....tossers.And the money from the Dartford crossing goes straight in the coffers of some French company after the government sold the operation rights a few years ago. 'here's a good way to make money for the transport system, lets sell it shall we'

[Rusty Pelican]

Talking of toll roads , there used to be a short toll road in N. Wales somewhere that was a penny to cross at one stage , last time i used it it cost 5 pence , there was a bloke sat on a chair in the middle of the road collecting the money , cant for the life of me remember exactly where though , had to be the cheapest toll road in europe surely

[M'coli]

Aldwark Bridge toll bridge is pretty cool...

 

[Pete-M]

I love the M6 Raceway, although I more often than not suffer the indigities of the A50 run through Stoke to avoid the whole lot. Still, there are a few good roundabouts to play on, and I can do my traditional "Stop for coffee and a piss at Uttoxeter" thing.The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.The one that really does my head in is the Wrightington bridge near Lymm... 30p, but you appear to only have to pay when they feel like it.As for things that really piss me off. Today, I have mainly pissed myself off. The N/S headlamp on the E36 suffers badly from "mists up randomly" syndrome, so I thought I'd use the old trick of popping the covers off the bulb bit at the back, covering the lamp with black cloth and whacking it on full beam for 20 mins or so to dry 'em out. Normally works a treat and is a top top when you're being more sensible than I was. Unfortunately, it was 90% clear when I decided to go and fetch myself a nice cup of coffee. As I retured to the car I heard the ominous "C-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ack" of doom. Nice long crack in the outer headlamp glass. "Bugger", thinks I.Couple of phone calls to St. Helens finest yards of scrap and I locate a nice shiny headlamp. Toddle off to the scrappy in question and find a multitude of dead early E36s. Close inspection of the lights reveals that my insanely late E36 has different headlights as there is a row of weird little raised dots on mine that the early ones didn't have. This scrappy is brilliant for finding loads of obscure bits, but it's also knee deep in oily muddy shite. Found an R plate one with what appeared to be the right type of lights and the n/s one is smashed. So it's off to another scrappy to find another late E36. Found one, removed the light (fiddly bastard things) pay the chap the handsome sum of £15 and toddle off home to fit it. Broke the tab off the indicator fitting the bastard, so now I'm gonna have to go back and buy that as well (don't like buying new copy ones as they always look slightly wrong).Still, the one I got the headlamp from has front fogs, so I might have them as well.Still, a waste of a sunny Sunday. Still, on the bright side, the number of decent things to whip bits off in scrappys has gone through the roof. Scrappage may have got me a pair of fog lamps (for a car I'm in the process of trying to sell), so it wasn't all bad.

[Rusty Pelican]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

[Pete-M]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

Was last time I went. It's free at night though

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I cat bear the M6 toll cos its so expensive, i'd rather sit in traffic for 10 hours than give em a fiver for 20 mins use of their snazzy motorway!!! Its nice if your work is paying though.

Really fooks me off that M6 toll.....we've already paid 'road tax' for roads to be built. Now thats not good enough.That piece of road should just be the M6 Brum bypass and thats it.....tossers.And the money from the Dartford crossing goes straight in the coffers of some French company after the government sold the operation rights a few years ago. 'here's a good way to make money for the transport system, lets sell it shall we'

Are you sure its sold? I thought old Broon just mooted that idea a few months ago to help with our massive public debt!

[504GL]

Talking of toll roads , there used to be a short toll road in N. Wales somewhere that was a penny to cross at one stage , last time i used it it cost 5 pence , there was a bloke sat on a chair in the middle of the road collecting the money , cant for the life of me remember exactly where though , had to be the cheapest toll road in europe surely

Wife says it's the Cob @ Porthmadog.

[Rusty Pelican]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

Was last time I went. It's free at night though

Damn its gone , last 5 pence in 03 , still at least i did use it , heres a linkhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2893203.stm

[warren t claim]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

Was last time I went. It's free at night though

Damn its gone , last 5 pence in 03 , still at least i did use it , heres a linkhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2893203.stm

I'm sure there is a similar toll bridge in Altrincham?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

This sounds right up my street, I'd drive a grumbling Ms_Bo11ox around all day long if that was the destination! 'Just wait till we get there, its gonna be great! Trust me you're gonna love it!! Aw, come on cheer up man. Oh, WHATEVER, just put a ruddy sock in it will you, YES GREAT i will go in the spare room tonight, WITH PLEASURE '

[retrogeezer]

Are you sure its sold?

They didn't sell the bridge, just the 'running' of it. I just had a quick look at it would appear that the French contract may have expired last year. They had been running it since 2003 though..http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/301http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 01488.htmlIt apparently cost £120 million to build and paid for itself in 11 years so plenty of money to be made.

[Lankytim]

IIRC the Dartford crossing tolls were only meant to be used to pay for its construction and not to generate revenue. The crossing was all paid for by 2006 (ish) so then should have become free, instead they classed the toll as an "enviromental tax" or other such nonsense and carried on charging. Total bollocks isnt it.

 

Im a bit of a fan of the M6 toll, although I really begrudge paying to use it. Fair enough if theres a lorry on fire on the M6 and the whole lot is closed or something but as has been said we pay road tax, so why charge tolls too?

 

I had the pleasure of using the toll during the snowy period early on Chrismas eve. I was the only person on it. I pulled over into Norton Canes services to have a piss and treat myself to a "luncheon bar" (no, thats not gay slang) It was completely empty. I still had to wait for the cashier to finish her chat to her mate before I could get served in the petrol station shop and she still overcharged me though!

 

It would have been just as quick to use the M6 as it was 3AM and the M6 was completely clear, but I was driving for Eddie Stobarts at the time and they paid for it.

[Milford Cubicle]

The M6 toll road is privately owned isn't it?

 

I just found a a pisspoor 'zany slogan on t-shirt' shop, it's made me quite grumpy.

 

 

 

 

They seem to be quite popular on facebook, that says it all.

[Father Ted]

They come in 3's dont they???First - the Zafira engine lamp came on (its a 6000 mile old EGR valve thats fooked again)Second - some twat vandalised the Micra (and I discovered the difference between £161 Nissan OE mirrors and £14.99 made in Kwalobongaloonaland eBay mirrors).Third - today some little shit on a BMX scraped his silly wanky rear peg all down the side of the wifes Zafira and whilst I have managed to recover the paintwork there is an annoying crease in the metal that you know will mean a new door skin. So do I pay the £200 excess and the inevitable increase in premium next year or do I just take it up the arse and live with the crease? This is exactly why I fricking despise having anything "new".Fucking fuckity fuck fuck.

[MrDuke]

do I just take it up the arse and live with the crease?

A lesser man than myself would have slapped that in his signature by now... BTW, that Porthmadoc toll 'chair' was only manned when they felt like it too, although it could get bloody annoying when you were in a hurry. Part of me always wanted to just floor it past them, waving my middle finger. Goddamn archaic land-ownership laws.Also, just around the corner from said 'chair' was one of THE most dangerous stretches of road in the country, until they finally decided to widen it a few years ago. There was roughly a mile of un-restricted tarmac, with tall stone walls on either side, and barely enough space for 2 large cars to pass. If a lorry was coming the other way, you were screwed, and said farewell to your wing-mirrors and door-handles. If you were met by an amateur racerrr then you just said farewell. I knew one guy who suffered a very unpleasant death after bouncing back and forth between the walls at about 80mph, after he lost the back end of his Pulsar in the wet

[Guest]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

Was last time I went. It's free at night though

Damn its gone , last 5 pence in 03 , still at least i did use it , heres a linkhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2893203.stm

I'm sure there is a similar toll bridge in Altrincham?

Where's that then? I live 5 minutes from Altrincham, and I've never heard of it! Weird thing was the bridge in Lymm was 12 p the last time I went over it, but that had a proper booth.

[warren t claim]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

Was last time I went. It's free at night though

Damn its gone , last 5 pence in 03 , still at least i did use it , heres a linkhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2893203.stm

I'm sure there is a similar toll bridge in Altrincham?

Where's that then? I live 5 minutes from Altrincham, and I've never heard of it! Weird thing was the bridge in Lymm was 12 p the last time I went over it, but that had a proper booth.

Sorry! It's the Lymm bridge I'm talking about. My bad.

[boobydoo]

All this talk of Porthmadog has reminded me of Whitsun week when I was a kiddie back in the 70s. Every year without fail my Mum, Dad, sister and I would spend the week in Criccieth, North Wales in our Ace Pioneer caravan towed by Marina 1.8 Super in Harvest Gold (SGL229M) then Marina 1.8 Super (FHW476T) in Tara Green. I'd completely forgotten about that toll bit until now! Happy days!!

[pogweasel]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

Was last time I went. It's free at night though

Damn its gone , last 5 pence in 03 , still at least i did use it , heres a linkhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2893203.stm

I'm sure there is a similar toll bridge in Altrincham?

Where's that then? I live 5 minutes from Altrincham, and I've never heard of it! Weird thing was the bridge in Lymm was 12 p the last time I went over it, but that had a proper booth.

Sorry! It's the Lymm bridge I'm talking about. My bad.

I am totally confused. But all this quote on quote is making a cool freaky pattern...

[seth]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

 

 

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

Was last time I went. It's free at night though

Damn its gone , last 5 pence in 03 , still at least i did use it , heres a link

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2893203.stm

I'm sure there is a similar toll bridge in Altrincham?

Where's that then? I live 5 minutes from Altrincham, and I've never heard of it!

Weird thing was the bridge in Lymm was 12 p the last time I went over it, but that had a proper booth.

Sorry! It's the Lymm bridge I'm talking about. My bad.

I am totally confused. But all this quote on quote is making a cool freaky pattern...

My eyes are going funny. But then I'm really tired.

[AlsoMike]

The penny toll bridge is Porthmadoc.

 

 

Thats the one , anyone know if its still there , twas worth paying the 5 pence just to see someone sat in the middle of the road on a chair

Was last time I went. It's free at night though

Damn its gone , last 5 pence in 03 , still at least i did use it , heres a link

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2893203.stm

I'm sure there is a similar toll bridge in Altrincham?

Where's that then? I live 5 minutes from Altrincham, and I've never heard of it!

Weird thing was the bridge in Lymm was 12 p the last time I went over it, but that had a proper booth.

Sorry! It's the Lymm bridge I'm talking about. My bad.

I am totally confused. But all this quote on quote is making a cool freaky pattern...

My eyes are going funny. But then I'm really tired.

It's not just you, it's bloody hard to look at and keep your eyes straight.

[Cavcraft]

Age.Why the fuck don't my legs do anything remotely like what brain asks them to? Played about 25 minutes of football today and I'm absolutely knackered.