This puzzle refers to the the system of road numbering in Britain (and yes: I do mean Britain here, not the United Kingdom, as Northern Ireland has a separate scheme which reuses the numbers). The system was apparently developed in the 1920s, and starts with six roads radiating from London, numbered A1 to A6, and another three radiating from Edinburgh, A7 to A9. These roads divide the country into sectors – although it seems that the Thames estuary and the firth of Forth act as dividers in place of the A2 and A7 respectively. All other roads are then given numbers according to their starting point, reckoned as the anti-clockwise end of the road, even if they venture into another sector or sectors. For example, the A46 is so numbered as it starts at Bath, in the “4” sector between the A4 and the A5, even though it extends through the “5” and “6” sectors and ends at Grimsby, in the “1” sector.
The original 1920s scheme has been extensively modified to form the current arrangement of major roads.
Each letter of the alphabet is mapped to one of the major roads A1 to A26, and each road is then represented by its “far” end – the end away from London or Edinburgh, or the most clockwise, as the case may be. For example, Holyhead is the far end of the A5 and so represents the fifth letter of the alphabet, “E”.
The complete code is:
A A1 Edinburgh B A2 Dover C A3 Portsmouth D A4 Avonmouth E A5 Holyhead F A6 Carlisle G A7 Carlisle H A8 Greenock I A9 Scrabster J A10 King’s Lynn K A11 Norwich L A12 Great Yarmouth M A13 Shoeburyness N A14 Felixstowe O A15 Hessle P A16 Grimsby Q A17 King’s Lynn R A18 Ludborough S A19 Seaton Burn T A20 Dover U A21 Hastings V A22 Eastbourne W A23 Brighton X A24 Worthing Y A25 Guildford Z A26 Newhaven
It will be noticed that there are some ambiguities in this code. King’s Lynn is at the far end of both the A10 and the A17 and thus represents both J and Q, but neither of these letters were needed here. Carlisle is at the far end of both the A6 and the A7 and thus represents both F and G; you needed to guess that both occurrences here were Fs. And Dover is the far end of both the A2 and the A20 and thus represents both B and T; both letters were required here, and you needed to interpret these by context. (You probably guessed that I had not changed my name to Trian Tarker.)
The full message is:
Front page
Portsmouth
Greenock
Greenock Ludborough
Edinburgh Scrabster
Grimsby Seaton Burn
Grimsby Dover
Guildford Shoeburyness
Edinburgh
Seaton Burn
This translates as:
Greenock A8 H
Edinburgh A1 A
Grimsby A16 P
Grimsby A16 P
Guildford A25 Y
Portsmouth A3 C
Greenock A8 H
Ludborough A18 R
Scrabster A9 I
Seaton Burn A19 S
Dover A20 T
Shoeburyness A13 M
Edinburgh A1 A
Seaton Burn A19 S
Inside page
Shoeburyness
Edinburgh Shoeburyness
Felixstowe Scrabster
Avonmouth Eastbourne
Dover Carlisle
Holyhead Ludborough
Seaton Burn Hessle
Dover Shoeburyness
Brighton Dover
Scrabster Ludborough
Seaton Burn Scrabster
Greenock Edinburgh
Holyhead Felixstowe
Seaton Burn
Dover
Carlisle Edinburgh
Hessle Ludborough
Ludborough Norwich
Holyhead
Ludborough
This translates as:
Edinburgh A1 A
Felixstowe A14 N
Avonmouth A4 D
Dover A2 B
Holyhead A5 E
Seaton Burn A19 S
Dover A20 T
Brighton A23 W
Scrabster A9 I
Seaton Burn A19 S
Greenock A8 H
Holyhead A5 E
Seaton Burn A19 S
Carlisle A6 F
Hessle A15 O
Ludborough A18 R
Shoeburyness A13 M
Shoeburyness A13 M
Scrabster A9 I
Eastbourne A22 V
Carlisle A6 F
Ludborough A18 R
Hessle A15 O
Shoeburyness A13 M
Dover A2 B
Ludborough A18 R
Scrabster A9 I
Edinburgh A1 A
Felixstowe A14 N
Dover A2 B
Edinburgh A1 A
Ludborough A18 R
Norwich A11 K
Holyhead A5 E
Ludborough A18 R
Once again, I couldn’t resist the cheap air fares to Dublin and spent a couple of days there before Christmas. I timed it right this year, and got there for less than the cost of the fees and taxes. I hadn’t realised when I booked the flights that I should be travelling out on the exact centenary of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight; fortunately, Ryanair managed a bit further off the ground. So the cards were dispatched at the GPO in O’Connell Street – but without Christmas stamps, as there were none for the appropriate international rates. The street scene outside the GPO (on the right in the picture) now has the complete Spire of Dublin (the “Spike”), the first part of which was being erected last year:
Version 14: Revised 11 December 2021
Brian Barker