4 ms·
We have many in the South of England. As a kid I walked and biked them. Most are dirt trails now, grown over. But if you look on maps it's clear they are the s
by nonrandomstring 4y ago
We have many in the South of England. As a kid I walked and biked
them. Most are dirt trails now, grown over. But if you look on maps
it's clear they are the shortest, straight path between major towns.
Modern roads twist and turn around them.
I am showing my embarrassing ignorance of history here, but I don't
know why that happened. Maybe something to do with land rights, and
the "enclosures"? Anyway something important was lost in the
communication systems of England between the Roman era and today.
- kwhitefoot 4y agoSee The Rolling English Road By G. K. Chesterton https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48212/the-rolling-english-road https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48212/the-rolling-eng... :-)
- nonrandomstring 4y ago"The night we went to Birmingham by way of Beachy Head." Thanks for that delight. So we shall blame alcohol? "The cause of and solution to so many of lifes problems." :)
- Rexxar 4y agoModern road don't only try to minimize the distance but also other factor like slopes. If you look at old railroads there is a very big constraints on slope and you will see very complex trajectories in hilly places.
- scythe 4y agoModern railroads typically have extremely tight restraints on slope. This allows trains to be longer and reduces overall shipping costs. In fact, the desire to make railroads less steep has led Americans to do incredible things, like building the Whittier Access Tunnel (and the port of Whittier at all) to avoid trains going uphill coming from Seward. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whittier,_Alaska http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whittier,_Alaska https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portage_Glacier_Highway#Anton_Anderson_Memorial_Tunnel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portage_Glacier_Highway#Anton_... https://www.cookinlethistoricalsociety.org/articles/opening-of-the-whittier-tunnel-1942-1943 https://www.cookinlethistoricalsociety.org/articles/opening-...
- ggm 4y agoA68 up north. It's Dere Street. Some great sweeping vistas as it flows across the border ranges. My favourite route north, get off the A1 and roam!
- Bayart 4y agoRoad networks just match the most efficient paths of the era they were built in. The economic map changed a lot in the feudal era and most Roman roads (some of which high maintenance) were simply abandoned.
- dboreham 4y agoA legion has pretty strong land rights.
- bergenty 4y agoThey were the first roads built. They could do whatever they wanted in an age with no civilized settlements or pre existing structures.
- ghaff 4y agoUm. Civilization didn't start with the Romans even if they certainly expanded what was meant by the term in northern Europe.
- InCityDreams 4y agoIs bredom avoidance a factor? (Too long) straight roads = less attentive drivers.