I know that I lived in England for 25 odd years, but I have lived in Canada for the past 35 and also I never drove in England. So what is my whine about? Its about how English people give you directions that make absolutely no sense to Canadians!

Example no. 1. We were going to Street, near Glastonbury, to visit my nephew and his family. I said I would print the AA instructions, but my sister said that she would give my son's fiancee the instructions how to get there. Well, everything went fine. We all stopped just before Stonehenge for some lunch, and then my son and his fiancee and I decided we would stop at Stonehenge while my other sisters went on to Street. After all we had the instructions, right?

So the instructions say "Take the A303. Various roundabouts. Turn at sign to Somerton."

So we go to Stonehenge and set off along the A303. My son was driving and his fiancee was in the front with the instructions. We saw no sign to Somerton. So we kept following the A303 signs at every roundabout. But when we came to a big sign "Exeter" I said, sorry to interfere, but I think we have come too far. We'd better check the map again." We had gone about 10 miles too far on the A303.

Anyway, when I got back, I checked the AA instructions, which say:

At Podimore Roundabout take the 3rd exit onto the A372 (signposted Langport) Travelodge (Yeovil - Podimore) A372164.901.36

Turn right onto the B3151 (signposted Somerton, Glastonbury) B3151166.262.81Cross Cary Bridge


SO - we were looking for a signpost to Somerton. Right? But we should have taken the third exit out of the roundabout that was signposted Langport. and then once we were on that road - we had toTURN RIGHT onto the B3151 - and THAT was signposted Somerton, Glastonbury.

So - no wonder we missed the signpost to Somerton, because we should have actually been looking for a signpost to Langport.

Example No. 2. - I asked for walking directions to the b and b where my son and his fiancee were staying. I was told. "Turn right. Walk past 2 schools, past a big playing field and there will be two houses - one here, one here. On a little drawn map. It has a sign low to the ground "Orchard Cottage".

So I start walking. I pass two schools. Then I pass a bank and a 20 foot high hedge of brambles. I assume that behind there is the playing field. Then I cross a side road. The road continues around to the left and there are houses all down both sides! I am looking for two houses "one here - one here". I phone my son. He is not pleased. He is eating breakfast. He comes out of the house and says "keep walking. I can see you." The house is way down the road - there are about 30 houses before the b & b.

I guess it all seems easy to you, but when you come from a place where the streets go north and south and the avenues go east and west and very occasionally a street goes off at an angle - no wonder you get lost!!

I know this area all too well, I have lived around Dorset/ Somerset for years and even though I do, I still take wrong turnings. Our signs are awful and often point in all sorts of directions, other than the direction I want to go!!
I have just returned from Vancouver Island, where i have been several times.This time was the first time I have drivien on the right. I was terrified until I got in the car. Then I felt I had driven there all my life. I have two choices. Up the motorway or up the coast road, and back the same way. If I fancy a deviation I either turned left of right. How bloody simple is that!! Then around the towns like you said I have roads that are numbered, so I can find my way easily via a map if I get lost , by counting up or down to get to the road I want. Or I just keep driving in a square around the town decreasing one street at time until I get to the middle!!!!!!!!!!
Bloody marvellous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Roll on medicals I belong there.To get to nanimo to go shopping from Courtenay. I got onto the motorway and stayed there until the exit I wanted. Within minutes of exiting I was straight into the mall.
Wonderful!!!!!! No roundabouts, just about two or three sets of lights on red, and empty roads that go straight!!!!!

Where I live it takes me 50 minutes to do a 10 minute journey due to tourists lost! shear volume of traffic, or constant roadworks on every road in and out! Roundabouts traffic lights, junctions and endless crossings every bloody where.I've had enough now, move me out!!!!!!!!!

Actually, we probably wouldn't have gotten lost if we had the AA instructions, except we wouldn't have had a clue which roundabout the "Podimore" roundabout was unless, by some strange coincidence, there was a "Podimore" sign around there somewhere.

Where we mostly got lost was in the country lanes around where my sister lives, near Maidstone. The roads were narrower than my back alley. There were no street lights - it was as black as the Ace of Spades. And we were looking for a signpost to Marden that was either hidden in the hedge or else had fallen down completely!! That, coupled with the fact that in the A-Z the road looked fairly straight, whereas in actual fact it was winding and twisty and folded back on itself and also included branches off - we couldn't tell if they were another "road" or a driveway into someone's farm!!

In daylight it wasn't so bad, except for the fact that you would follow a sign to "Street and Glastonbury" and then come to a signpost that said "Lower Snotting" one way and "Upper Farting" the other -- nothing about Street or Glastonbury, so we took a guess and were usually wrong.

Lower Snotting and Upper Farting.......Only in England right!

Cornish miles are the best. You can follow a sign post that says "Truro 10 miles", follow it for about 10 minutes then you'll see another one which says "Truro 11 miles"

Cornish lanes are the best too!!! We once drove down to investigate a campsite in Cornwall. We didn't actually have our van attached, which was just as well as the hedges on both sides were scraping along the sides of the car ....... and then of course you usually meet a herd of cows coming the other way!

I remember once that happened, and the cows could only just squeeze past in single file, even tho we'd got a close as we could to the side of the road. Then they kept stopping to peer in at us, or to lick the car!!!

My dad didn't find it as funny as we did though

hang on; you were going along the A303 and you [I]didn't spot Stonehenge?!!

Wow, you must have been really, really focused on that direction page!

No - we stopped at Stonehenge for quite a while. Took lots of photos and then it started to pour with rain, so we headed for the exit. It was the "various" roundabouts in my sister's instructions that confused us, coupled with the fact that we had to go around the Podimore roundabout and take the road to Langport, before we came to the signpost to Somerton, whereas she had said to look out for a signpost to Somerton along the A303. And there isn't one.

Mind you, my cousin has a really fancy b and b at Ashburton, near Exeter, so if we had ended up in Exeter we could have visited him, but we were actually going to Street. My nephew works for Clark's. I only bought one pair of sandals at Clark's Village but my son got a pair of dress shoes for himself for his wedding at the end of this month; a pair of shoes for my younger son, who is the best man; plus three more pairs of shoes for himself. His fiancee bought 4 or 5 pairs of shoes!!

I haven't yet dared taking my shoe-loving wife to Street, i'm broke enough as it is... Although I did take her to Stonehenge and Avebury last year, sneeking past Street. "nothing to see there, move along"...

and, after 2 full years here, she still doesn't 'get' roundabouts

its all though blasted traffic lights in Canada that I can't get to grips with...

I have got to admit that driving in the UK is confusing I live in Birmingham and driving around that is mad. I used to work for parcelforce and i got to know Birmingham that way and now if people ask for directions i tell them the closest pub everyone knows pub ha ha!!

As for driving in Canada i think it is lazy you drive autos so you don't need to think about changing gears last time i was there i newly crash twice due to not concentrating (lazy).
At the same time it is nice not sitting in traffic on the M6