Now you would think that at that time of night the traffic would be very slight, but it was not.
My companion, like me a seasoned A1 traveller, posed this simple thought: "Have you noticed that traffic now never seems to be quiet at any time of th
e day or night."
His comment came as we headed along the Morpeth bypass, passing eight articulated lorries within a very short space of time as we travelled in a line of continuous traffic.
This was after recording between 40 and 50mph on the single carriageway section.
This was, remember, a Sunday night in January, in pouring rain on a day when the weather would not have attracted a duck from Tyneside to visit the Northumberland countryside, never mind a human being.
The conversation came back to me as I read at the weekend that Northumberland had shown the biggest traffic growth in the country. In 10 years, traffic on our roads had increased by a massive 17 per cent. Yes, 17 per cent and all the indications are that it will continue to do so.
As the traffic increases so do the A1 accident figures. At least five dead last year and numerous more injured to varying degrees and that was only between Morpeth and Berwick.
Signs warn of the road casualties, telling how many have died or been injured in recent years. But while that may deter some from doing stupid things it will not deter the idiots.
Traffic is now travelling faster and faster and it is a well-known fact that motorways and dual carriageways are much safer than single carriageway roads.
But the A1 in Northumberland has some unique properties. You can travel from near Land's End to north of Aberdeen on dual carriageway or motorway except through Northumberland. What a wonderful advert for a go-ahead county.
In Northumberland, as we all know, you have a mixture of single and dual carriageway. It can baffle drivers who may earlier have covered hundreds of miles. Add the mixture of slow drivers, heavy goods vehicles and farm vehicles and you can see how traffic can build up and considerate driving goes out of the window.
You also have the danger of narrow cross-over junctions. How many times have regular road users been confronted by a bus or large lorry overhanging into a carriageway as they try to get from one side to another?
So mix it all together and it is a wonderful recipe for accidents.
Everyone knows the problem. This newspaper, councillors at all levels, interest groups, individuals and road transport organisations have all at some stage or another campaigned and pleaded for the dual carriageway to be extended throughout the county.
At election times, Labour and Tory candidates have held out the carrot that if elected it will be provided. MP Alan Beith has worked tirelessly for it but, like the rest, so far with only a minimum amount of success.
Now it appears that we will have to wait until the road is totally clogged, the M6 is blocked for a month or we have a large number of people killed before we get serious action.
Surely commonsense will prevail and something is done in the very near future. It is a cause close to my heart and I am sure to the majority of Gazette drivers.
