Magical History Tour
by Rob Ainsley
Note: You don't need your trusty collection of Ordance Survey maps to enjoy this, but it helps.
Surprising, isn't it? The
Romans are relative latecomers to the UK road atlas. The world's oldest known
road, and presumably the earliest roadworks, traffic jam and lost no-claims
bonus, is in Somerset. The Sweet Track, a two-kilometre length of wooden planks,
was laid across a marsh in spring 3807BC, when Britain was still joined to Europe.
We know the exact date thanks to someone spending a very long time counting
tree-rings. (You can see a reconstruction in the Peat Moors Visitor Centre in
the Somerset Levels near Street, though it doesn't say anything about Woad
Rage.) When the Romans arrived, Britain was already criss-crossed by tracks
for trading and droving, some, like the Ridgeway, dozens or hundreds of miles
long.
Sure, the Roman conquest of Britain from 43AD was run, literally, on the road
system they built, as was their whole empire. All roads really did eventually
lead back to Rome and HQ (difficult to believe for any cycle tourers who've
got lost in the Perugian one-way system). They kept their armies supplied and
could move them around to duff up any troublesome locals. But many of their
roads followed or incorporated routes already in place. The Fosse Way, from
Bath to Lincoln, took in the existing Jurassic Way; the long-established Icknield
Way, around Luton and Letchworth, was brought up to military standard by straightening
and surfacing it.
How did they get those straight lines? Simply by lining up chaps on hilltops
with instruments that looked like hatstands, by knowing where north was from
the sun's highest daytime point -- and hence east and west from the 3-4-5 triangle
-- and not much else except organisation. Look at a modern road atlas and you
can still see the giveaway straight-lines of the old Roman road layout.
After the Romans left around the end of the fourth century, their roads gradually
fell into disrepair. Britain's wealth eventually grew on the seas, and even
when turnpikes came, our highways were of secondary importance. Canals came
to kick-start the Industrial Revolution and were replaced by railways; they
in turn were replaced by a revamped road system (whose surfaces were brought
up to scratch around a century ago mainly thanks to pressure from emerging cyclists).
And the Romans were back on the everyday travel map. The A46 took over the Fosse
Way, the A15 Ermine St, the A5 Watling St, the A1 Dere St, and so on. The Romans'
routes may be a succession of different colours depending on whether they're
now dual carriageways, back-country lanes, or farm tracks; but their determined
linearity makes them obvious.
So much for history. What about the Present Era? Well, these ancient roads make
some of the best cycle touring routes you can find. Not that route-finding is
always easy. You may find your road disappears into a farm, airfield, or tangle
of undergrowth; or worse, suddenly becomes the A2. But in following an ancient
road you'll find delightful villages, remote landscapes, hidden antiquities,
lovely unspoilt scenery, and even a few original surfaces, unchanged since Celts
and Romans were tramping over them two millennia ago. It's difficult not to
feel humbled by history in such places, and to realise your creaking bottom
bracket is not, in the scheme of things, as important a problem as you thought.
Here, roughly from south to north, are a few suggestions of old roads to explore.
There's plenty for tourers and MTBs alike.
South-East: Stane Street
What did travelling the Roman roads feel like? Find out here. From Epsom, head
SSW from the racecourse along Pebble Lane; the high ground is an old track,
just as it was when this was Stane Street, the main route to Chichester. Over
the M25 down Juniper Hill is atmospheric but ultimately a walk. However, down
at the Chichester end of Stane St (now the A29) there are delightful smoothish
paths in secluded Eartham Wood. Cycle the Stane to Eartham from Bignor, where
there's a Roman Villa and a crossroads with the ancient (and MTBable) South
Downs Way. Fishbourne's famous Roman mosaics and villa are nearby.
South-East: Pilgrim's Way
Don't be fooled by all the 'Chaucer Tea Rooms' etc. The Pilgrim's Way, from
Guildford to Canterbury, is a nice string of ancient cyclable lanes and paths
through beautiful country and little villages; and, with lots of alternative
routes, any boggy or rough bits can be sidestepped if your panniers are full
of eggs and glassware. But the prosaic truth is that all those colourful travellers
in Canterbury Tales came a different way -- via the A2.
South-East: Icknield Way
If you're near Luton, Hitchin or Letchworth, the mixture of minor roads and
byways that make up the pre-Roman Icknield Way (possibly dating back 10,000
years to animal migration routes) makes a fine day or two's trundle. OS 166
and 154 are the maps you want, and east of Royston you can link up with the
Newmarket Cycle Path. It also crosses a splendidly cyclable Roman Road running
south-east from Cambridge to Haverhill, which goes past a vineyard for that
Latinate feel!
South: Ridgeway
More a collection of parallel green lanes than one single track, the scenic,
varied and undulating Ridgeway has been a human corridor for thousands (some
say maybe 250,000!) years. MTBs can tackle the 50 miles of its western half,
from near Marlborough to Wallingford, as an easy day in dry weather, though
it gets very muddy in wet spells. Road bikes? You can happily tackle the first
ten or so miles, maybe more, from Overton -- but beforehand, spend time cycling
round Avebury, a mile or so away. Its Stone-Age, mini-Stonehenge is more atmospheric
than its more famous counterpart because it's in a pleasant, pubbed village,
and you can clamber over the stones. The prehistoric country lanes roundabout
and smooth farm roads linking it to the Ridgeway are fun to explore.
South-west: Fosse Way
Stretching 160 miles from Bath to Lincoln (with later bits beyond Bath), the
Fosse Way formed the early border of Roman Britain. North of Leicester it's
main roads now, but there are lovely lanes to explore outside Bath. After visiting
the city's astoundingly preserved Roman Baths, cycle three miles out on London
Road. At the George pub, turn left up steep Foss Lane, hack along a short bridleway,
and come out on a wonderful hilltop with sweeping views. The next dozen miles
are lovely, a straightish switchback narrow country lane. Past the M4 the Fosse
becomes a bridleway for MTBs only. Cirencester to Stowe is main road, but the
dead-straight B road from near Stratford up to Leicester is a neat cross-country
touring route.
West: Forest of Dean
Great little lanes to explore all over this area. Get OS 162 and follow any
yellow roads, but there's one ancient curiosity you shouldn't miss. Cycle south-west
from Upper Soudley to Blackpool Bridge (SO654087). Here by the roadside is a
short length of exposed original Roman cobbled surface, and the only Roman road
junction in Britain.
Wales: Brecon
Brecon was a Roman Fiveways, a junction of many routes. If you're mountain biking
the wonderful Beacons, or doing Sustrans's Lon Las Cymru route, pause to explore
the Roman roads round here, look for the straight lines on the OS map and head
along Mynydd Illtud. They centre on Y Gaer, an old Roman camp just west of Brecon,
and the remains of Y Pigwn, halfway between here and Llandovery, is interesting
to nose round. Here too is a Sarn Helen, an old-road name found elsewhere in
Wales.
Anglie: Peddar's Way
An easy, gently undulating day ride of wide skies, wildlife and watercolour
richness. The Romans built the Peddar's in 61AD as a policing measure after
the fearsome Warrior Princess, Boudica, led the Iceni in their brave but doomed
revolt. Try the 20 or so miles in North Norfolk (from Fring south towards Holme
Hale) - mainly green lanes, with the odd stretch along tarmac. North of the
A47 is generally smooth and dry; south of it is serious crud-catcher territory.
It passes through almost nowhere, with the very important exception of fascinating
Castle Acre, worth a visit in its own right. Extensive remains of a Priory,
interesting castle earthworks, lovely church, ancient flint gateway at one end
of attractive high street, old buildings, village green, tea rooms, pubs, bookshop,
and a ford for the daring.
East: Ermine Street
Rome's London-Lincoln, and from there York-bound, trunk road. There are some
nice woody lanes and tracks left south of Hertford (OS166) but the best bits
to explore are round Lincoln. From Sleaford north are some reasonably surfaced
lanes and minor roads (part of the Viking Way). Explore Lincoln's timeless cobbled
lanes, and pause to admire the Roman arch where the A15 heads north out of the
city centre - the UK's only Roman road-arch still standing that you can cycle
under! From here north to the Humber is classical Roman road, dead straight
(except for an airfield detour) and switchbacking. The nicest bits are the old
lanes, now bypassed, north from Hibaldstow. The Romans ferried the Humber across
to Brough and thence York; now there's the Humber Bridge and a Sustrans National
Cycle Route.
North-West: Blackstone Edge
Descend a real original Roman road surface on a high moor -- full-sus MTBs only
though! Just west of the A58/B6138 junction, east of Rochdale, is Rishworth
Moor. Follow signs on the south side to 'Roman Road' - Blackstone Edge is the
rocky, cobbled road between here and where the Pennine Way crosses, a mile or
so up the hill. Some query its age, but the atmosphere isn't in doubt. There's
a central groove, worn deep, where carts of old hurtling downhill braked with
a pole. If you think it's steep and rough, think how the horses felt...
North-east: Wheeldale Moor
Another real original Roman surface (actually, the foundations of) and a puzzle:
why does it zig-zag? (Military training, they say!) Follow a lane, then track,
south-west from Goathland in the North York Moors; the mile-long stretch of
road (aka Wade's Causeway) is signposted. The 'road' itself is only a footpath,
but round here are endless lovely MTBing paths and ancient lanes for road bike
exploration. Chimney Bank, launching itself north-east out of nearby Rosedale
Abbey, is said to be Britain's steepest road.
North: Dere Street
This took the Romans from York to Scotland, and is now variously the A59, B6265,
A1, B6275, and lots of tracks. At Consett between Leadgate and Ebchester it
crosses the Sea to Sea route, and in Bishop Auckland it's the narrow steep street
of Wear Chair. North of Corbridge (where there's a good museum and Roman Fort)
you pass through Hadrian's Wall, well worth cycling along and exploring with
all its history; but it's north of Rochester, up on the A68 in Northumberland,
that things get interesting when Dere St turns right from the A68. Offroad you'll
need mountain bikes -- this is Pennine Way country! -- but there's a network
of minor roads for tourers too. OS 80 is your map. Lots of Roman remains, an
army camp, and scenery mostly unchanged for twenty centuries.
Scotland: General Wade's Roads
Look on the OS maps 26, 27 and 34 for the area round Loch Ness and you'll see
lots of orange lines marked 'General Wade's Military Road'. They date from the
Jacobite Rebellions of the 18th century, when the General's routes ferried troops
and supplies to quell those pesky Scots. For cycle tourers they now make great
alternative routes along the amazing scenery of the Great Glen Fault up towards
Inverness. From Fort Augustus and Foyers, via the B862 or B852, along the south
side of Loch Ness. Offroad sections can be rough and challenging in bad weather;
clearly Wade's armies had front-suspension mountain bikes.
and there's more
A glance at your local OS map will show countless more ancient ways. Look for
anything that leads to antiquities or ruins (which are marked by that old-style
gothic lettering). This is a remarkable country, rich in scenery and history
and curiosity, and next to the by-pass or shopping centre might be a lane used
for a hundred generations. Enjoy.
© Rob Ainsley
Cycling Plus, November 2000