A Tortoise in Town

Yesterday (Tuesday) I had cause – taking my aged father to two routine medical appointments – to visit the centre of London by car.

On Monday I had paid £11.50 for my required Congestion Charge in advance and, in the wake of recent media reports that not only is the Congestion Charge generally regarded to be in urgent need up updating or amending but that general traffic conditions in central London these days are horrendous, was fascinated to find out how things would be from a first-hand viewpoint.

[Let us ignore for present purposes the fact that – as a prelude to our London expedition – my father and I had already taken 105 minutes to drive to Putney Heath from the south coast in order to rendezvous with my brother.]

Here are the facts:

We set off to drive from Putney Heath to Harley Street at 11.10am and finally parked up in a perfect spot nearby (this included twenty-five minutes driving around trying to find a suitable space) at 12.40pm. [Distance 10.4 miles, time taken 70 minutes].

We then left Harley Street at 1.45pm and reached our next destination Garlick Hill, some 4.5 miles away – just beside the Mansion House tube station in the City – at 2.40pm. [Distance 3.4 miles, time taken 55 minutes].

Emerging into the street at Garlick Hill we then set off at 3.40pm and arrived back at Putney Heath – where my brother’s car was parked, ready for him to drive my father back down to the south coast – at 5.10pm. [Distance 10.0 miles, time taken 90 minutes].

I then drove home solo from Putney Heath to Richmond, setting off at 5.15pm and arriving at 6.10pm. [Distance 6.7 miles, time taken 55 minutes].

SUMMARY

Yesterday – in the course of travelling between Putney Heath and central London I drove a total of 30.5 miles in 270 minutes (or 4 hours 30 minutes).

That is an average overall speed – by my calculation – of just 6.7 miles per hour.