You can't burn away without having to stop.
You never know quite which lane to be in.
Once you stop you'll always stop.
You don't know where you're going.
It's great fun!

The town of Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, England, is probably best known for the Plough Roundabout, or the 'Magic Roundabout' as it is fondly known by many of the locals. Now, one might be tempted to posit the argument that any town that is famous because of its main traffic roundabout has got to be a very dull town indeed. But, as roundabouts go, this one really is rather amazing. With the River Gade running through the middle of it, it originally used to be just one large roundabout, but became so congested that it needed a spot of renovation. It was during this period of renovation that it turned into the wonderful monstrosity that you can see today.

The 'Magic Roundabout' has also been described as a 'who dares wins' roundabout and as 'hilarious, totally aggressive and kick-arse'. Wow. All this over a roundabout. Well, for a start, it consists of one large roundabout, surrounded by six mini-roundabouts - one for each of the six original junctions. And how does that work, you might ask? Basically, each mini-roundabout is treated just like a normal roundabout, with the main roundabout acting as a sort of distraction. But the really distinguishing motif of this grand cosmic wheel of traffic is that you are perfectly entitled to turn right at any of the mini-roundabouts as well as turn left. This means you can quite easily find yourself driving anti-clockwise around the main roundabout. And let's not forget, clockwise and clockwise only is the rule of thumb for all other British roundabouts. As you might well imagine, this causes a lot of confusion.

And when it was introduced roughly 30 years ago it caused so much confusion that policeman were positioned on each of the six roundabouts in an attempt to direct the lost traffic as bewildered drivers abandoned their cars, weeping into their now useless highway code books, simply unable to grasp the weirdness of this two-way circle.

Eventually, however, the locals managed to get the hang of it and today the roundabout is considered a great success because, in terms of actually controlling traffic, it works.

But be warned; if you have never been to Hemel Hempstead before and have therefore never experienced the 'Magic Roundabout', it is suggested by some of those pesky local Hemel Hempstead jokers that you bring a spare pair of trousers with you for the journey. The effect on the nervous system - and one can't help but think of the bowels, too - can be quite disruptive. It's quite a frightening experience and the locals can always spot a 'Magic Roundabout' virgin a mile off, thinking it to be very funny indeed.