What's going on at Sandringhzm?

[Allnewtometoo]

6 black audis ,blues and twos, plus 2 white vans , speeding along the A149 towards King's Lynn away from Sandringham. Blocking junctions. I'm not sure if Charles is in residence at Sandringham. Something seems amiss.

If all of these police vehicles were seen around lunch or dinner, I'm going to guess that they decided to go eat in King's Lynne and used the sirens to get there faster. Like US cops zooming through the streets to the Dunkin Donuts.

But it's much more likely to have been a training/familiarisation exercise

Meant to comment on this yesterday but the thread has moved on. It’s still in my head though 😆. The phrase “Blues and Twos” is still in use, even though not all emergency vehicles have two tone sirens anymore, because it rhymes. “Blues and variable tone sirens” doesn’t quite have the same snappy ring, does it? 🙄😆

removed extra word

It was certainly sunny, very mild but a bit misty today. The fruit scone was bloody lovely.

I had to look up 'blues and twos', never heard it before. They are a credit union in Lancashire. Also the phrase means: "the flashing lights and siren (= loud warning noise) used by a police car or other emergency vehicle when it is travelling somewhere urgently:".

The blues and twos in the Sandringham area could have meant any sort of emergency, had any of the royals been in difficulty the tabloids would have been on it quickly.

I think the specifics depend on how you're accessing Mumsnet but in general look for the customise option in your talk settings, there are loads of things you can set up for your own preference

The funniest thing for me on this thread is that multiple posters don't know what blues and twos are. Are you very young/not English/both/never watched an emergency services fly on the wall programme 😂

For some reason after this thread I'm now nostalgic for the old fashioned sirens. They had a better sound than the new ones.

I guessed what blues and twos meant.

But I've never heard anyone use that phrase before

My husband thinks I'm weird because I can't tell the difference between an ambulance and a police car these days.

I can't either. When I hear sirens I never know which vehicle is going to appear!

I'm 67 and don't recognise the phrase. White British, Home Counties.
Fat finger edits.

I've never heard it said before.

I'm not young. I'm 40.
I'm English.
I've watched police documentaries.

Enjoy this aural feast.

I think it's an American phrase?

I’m 62, British born and bred. I think I have heard of the phrase before but never understood it. I don’t think it’s commonly used. It reminds me of people men who use cricket terms or Latin words or references from the military as if they are general knowledge.

American sirens are more of a wail. I don’t think they’ve ever had two tone sirens 🤷‍♀️

It’s not the most commonly use part, but it is a thing and it’s also fairly self explanatory I would have thought. It’s just shorthand for blue light and siren ie the full monty. Emergency vehicles don’t always use their sirens as well as their lights, partly because it can startle other road users and it’s basically quite noisy

I've been looking up the etymology, and it appears to be a British phrase (according to OED) first recorded in print in a 1985 in an Autocar magazine article describing an evening in a police patrol car.

It was used as the title of an ITV police series in the mid 1990s

(Hill Street Blues was an 80s American police drama series, but didn't use this particular phrase. No idea if that inspired the "Blues" bit)

Who knew siren etymology would be so fascinating!

I thought the blues referred to the colour of the uniforms

What about panda cats and jam sandwiches? Did they pass you by too 😂

Yeah, it is.

Strange how so many haven't heard of it though.

I live close to Sandringham and am reliably informed it was a training exercise. 👍

What about panda cats and jam sandwiches? Did they pass you by too

Both those passed me by, as well as blues and twos. I'd heard that phrase but thought it referred to a particular uniform. It's American though so probably a relatively new import into British English.

Hang on - you mean panda cars not cats! I've heard of panda cars - that's because or the way police cars used to be painted in ye olden days. It's very much a British saying.

I know about jam sandwiches and panda cars but I didn't really know what blues and twos are.
When I hear a wail I am anxious to know where it's coming from, so I know whether I need to stop or pull over, but I can't tell what kind of vehicle it's from.

I'm probably the only person in the world who felt a bit sorry for Prince Philip when he had his accident turning out of the estate on to the main road. He said the sun was in his eyes. I regularly drive a route which has a short piece where winter sun can absolutely blind you for a moment, even with the dark wraps on, and I knew someone round here whose only ever accident was when winter sun was in his eyes.

When I was younger (1960s/70s) that main road past the Sandringham estate used to have three lanes, one each side for each way and one lane in the middle for cars which wanted to overtake. Can anyone remember that?