Oh I remember this. One of our postings in the UK (RAF days) was at Henlow in Bedfordshire and it used to take us 8 hours on a Friday evening sometimes to drive the 200 miles from there to Manchester to visit my Mum and sister. Don't miss that trip.
@mrsbluesky never seen such heavy traffic before. Sadly we only went past Birmingham on the motor way. I have no family left there now and as time was short our exploration of Birmingham will have to wait for the next time we visit.
thanks everyone fore your responses. I look forward to opening my computer every morning to see what you have all said and done.