The UK's Oldest Road.

Back in October 2019 we walked an 18 Mile stretch of what is believed to be the oldest road in the UK. Thats difficult to prove of course, but why no join us on our walk, taking in the sights along the way.
If you like our videos, please do consider supporting us:
/ everydisusedstation
www.paulwhitewick.co.uk/
Credit and thanks as follows:
Music: Epidemicsound.com
Maps: Google.com
Maps: OS Maps - Media License.
Maps: Adam37 - Old Way - Harrow Way Map.

[@cogidubnus1953]

Courtesy of GK Chesterton Before the Roman came to Rye or out to Severn strode, The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road. A reeling road, a rolling road, that rambles round the shire, And after him the parson ran, the sexton and the squire; A merry road, a mazy road, and such as we did tread The night we went to Birmingham by way of Beachy Head. I knew no harm of Bonaparte and plenty of the Squire, And for to fight the Frenchman I did not much desire; But I did bash their baggonets because they came arrayed To straighten out the crooked road an English drunkard made, Where you and I went down the lane with ale-mugs in our hands, The night we went to Glastonbury by way of Goodwin Sands. His sins they were forgiven him; or why do flowers run Behind him; and the hedges all strengthening in the sun? The wild thing went from left to right and knew not which was which, But the wild rose was above him when they found him in the ditch. God pardon us, nor harden us; we did not see so clear The night we went to Bannockburn by way of Brighton Pier. My friends, we will not go again or ape an ancient rage, Or stretch the folly of our youth to be the shame of age, But walk with clearer eyes and ears this path that wandereth, And see undrugged in evening light the decent inn of death; For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen, Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green.

[@ColinH1973]

Excellent poem. Thanks for reminding me of how good it is. Thanks.

[@pwhitewick]

Well thats just wonderful. Thank you for sharing.

[@dennis7511]

GK Chesterson. Thank you for posting this. Now I know why I must return to the land of my ancestors : to take this road less travelled.

[@zcam1969]

@@ColinH1973 did they McDonalds in the Bronze Age

[@martinwarner1178]

Love spotting track ways of our yesteryear folks, I've recognised plenty in my area, ten feet sunken from the land! Keep up the great work, it is always amateurs that truly find out. Peace and goodwill.

[@neilhenty4050]

RE: Seaton in Devon. There is a road called Harepath Way, which drops down from the Lyme to Exeter road and heads towards the sea, parallel, though about half a mile or so distant from the estuary and the supposed Roman port (and some say where the Fosse Way started/ended). Harepath, comes from Hereapath, or Army Path in Saxon. If the Harrow Way came down into Seaton, it could well have been used and then remembered as a Herepath. The route would have presumably avoided the flood plain of the River Axe which would have been much wider and deeper in those days to allow for a busy harbour. Interestingly, the modern Harepath Rd is much closer to the Roman Villa site and the site of the Seaton Down hoard than the harbour would have been.

[@lordwessex9553]

One reason old roads or paths wander so much is that they were often much broader or even just a general direction of travel and drifted around avoiding potholes etc until farmers enclosed, restricted them or moved them around the edges of fields.

[@kenthetuner]

Another great informative video thank you. On a lighter note I was telling my friend that Amesbury is considered one of the oldest settlement in southern England, I could see by his face that he was thinking and after a little while he replied "it can't be cause you'd have to go through Andover first to get there"

[@andyalder7910]

Parallel trackways are supposedly formed when the first path became too slippery so the herd walked on the dryer land to one side. This still happens on brand new footpaths although as it's people's feet rather than animals that cause the erosion the tracks are thinner and closer together.

[@pwhitewick]

Ah well that makes sense as this was on quite a hill too.

[@paulclark7658]

Bronze age dual carriageway?

[@cdl0]

@@paulclark7658 Yes, now known as the A303. :-)

[@peteannells4218]

@@pwhitewick Ancient 'trackways' were not necessarily narrow like a modern road. There had to be room for herd and flocks (to overtake...) and diverted for floods and landslides etc. For instance, the route that became the A1 was up to a mile wide ! Flat land. Routes would narrow in tight valleys and on ridges.

[@UKAlanR]

An couple of old byways near where I live have a 'two-storey' parts where the original route is slightly steeper, and sometimes used by farm vehicles, so that foot traffic can more easily pass through (especially in winter, when mud and water make the main route very difficult).

[@carolbage8300]

Another great day out, from the arm of my chair. Lovely. Bob

[@MichaelaWatkins2015]

Very interesting, I've often wondered about all these old and possibly forgotten roads and tracks, how people used to get around.

[@antmerritt]

I could have watched a video on this that was twice as long! 😁 keep em coming! So pleased at the mix of content you provide. 👍👍👍👊

[@britishreaction54]

Simply wonderful. Your enthusiasm is infectious.

[@arilebon]

Thank you -- this was fascinating. Also a special shoutout to the wonderful videography, editing, and sound.

[@christowers84]

Great video guys, I really love your content keep it coming it's just what we all need right now some lovely education and escapism. Hope your both well?

[@ColinH1973]

Grand restful stuff to let us escape reality for a very short while. Much appreciated and thanks.

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks Colin.

[@simonballard6413]

Another excellent video. So interesting - thanks, both of you.

[@RolandMillward]

Another interesting video. Thanks for bringing this history to life.

[@andrewholloway231]

Hope that you are both well and keeping safe. A really nice video.

[@tpobrienjr]

What a great walk! You do such a great job of blending old tech (paper maps and books) and new tech (drones, satellites, go-pros, etc.) - maybe better than anyone else on youtube. Thanks!

[@peternoyce9350]

Another great video Paul and Rebecca! thank you for sharing your days out with us!

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks Peter. Our pleasure

[@JasperFromMS]

I live in America and there is an old road called the Natchez Trace that ran along ridges from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi. It was important in the days before steam because one could travel down the rivers boat to from Tenn to New Orleans, walk back to Natchez and then to Nashville without having to cross any major rivers. It had been an Indian trail for thousands of years and there are often multiple sections. When trees would fall and block the path, people would go around them and create a new path. This is exactly like you show in the video. I learned in archeology class in college that the trails were originally created by animals, specifically the megafauna (mammoths, mastadons, etc) and predate humans. Large animals like elephants do the same thing in forested regions today.

[@JasperFromMS]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez_Trace

[@pwhitewick]

Wonderful. I'll have a read later. Thanks for sharing.

[@simonbone]

@@pwhitewick It's a scenic parkway nowadays, meaning you can drive along the route without encountering much commercial activity.

[@tonystone9367]

Love your clips

[@auntielizcosgrove]

I really enjoy your videos. Thank you

[@wurlitzer895]

Fascinating as always, guys! Thanks so much. Your constant hard work is greatly appreciated. Stay well! Pete A

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks Pete.

[@michaelpilling9659]

Lovely to see you two again. Super film. Very intersting historical information. Thank you for taking me along with you

[@pwhitewick]

A pleasure Michael.

[@davidcutts2650]

Another interesting walk with good narration. Thank you. 👍👍😎

[@davie941]

hiya paul and rebecca , yet another great cool video , wow a rare sight in the uk , a blue sky lol , loved it thank you both and stay safe :)

[@johnsparkes8963]

Another very interesting video, very enjoyable thank you both for sharing.

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks John, a pleasure

[@HenrysAdventures]

Another great video! I'd like to think one day I'd have time to walk down all these ancient roads and explore the areas around them.

[@saltleywsc]

Another great video both to brighten my day in isolation !

[@pwhitewick]

A.pleasure Merv

[@AndyBsUTube]

Great vid as always. At about 8:40 Paul mentions Pilgrims Way and suggesting it is more recent. I doubt this. The PW runs (mainly) along the top edge of the North Downs just north of where I live. (Redhill, Surrey) This is a natural line for a track, well defined, less tree growth, good ground - chalk drains well and it's reasonably easy going along the gradient. On the lower ground it's clay, wet, sticky and densely overgrown - the rest of the land further south all the way to the south downs was similarly difficult ground and heavily forested - the Saxons called it the 'wild' - today we call it the Weald although it is very different now - the oak forests are largely gone and the ground drained and opened for agriculture. The Romans drove a few roads though it N-S but otherwise left the central area alone - they too would intially have used the local trackways - so these long term E-W 'main roads' along the N+S Downs scarp edges would have been key to the regional road network before nd after the Romans.. When the Romans started their road network they took a different approach and engineered fairly straight-line 'shortest distance' routes between cities/key locations. But the ancients took the natural paths that the landscape offered, and followed the contours and good ground - avoiding steep or soft terrain. The Roman 'brute-force' a solution - building the Pevensey-London + Chichester-London (roughly the modern A29/24 and A22) roads must have been a project from hell. I suspect the Pilgrims Way - and the Harrow Way, the Ridgeway and quite a number of other similar trackways are as old as there have been people in Britain - at least 5K years. And mainly defined by the geology. Also - when looking at parallel tracks it's sometimes the case that ploughing banks can indicate an older boundary/edge too. And more modern (last 150 years or so) tracks are more generally straighter (or more evenly curving) than the older tracks which are more likely to follow the contour more closely. All very subtle but these clues add up.

[@simonrichardson5077]

Great work ,thanks

[@neilthomas9244]

Great vid. Hope you've got more vids. lurking around to help keep sanity [oops too late!] during this lockdown.

[@matthewjshow6563]

Well done! Great music!

[@alistairshaw3206]

The world's first one way system, explored by Paul and Rebecca! Great video again, it keeps us from suffering even worse cabin fever! You and Rebecca must be climbing the walls by now.

[@pwhitewick]

We are indeed climbing those walls!

[@mikego18753]

Another interesting & enjoyable vid. Thanks.

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you Mike.

[@ianjenkinson3585]

You ask if ancient trackways are deliberately preserved. When I worked for East Hampshire District Council, about 30 years ago, we had a policy of preserving these features in any new development, as did most Hampshire Councils. These policies are now contained in the South Downs National Park Planning Policy document www.southdowns.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/plan_2013May09_Agenda-Item-15-Appendix-1.pdf I can't find the actual document online but pages 12&13 make reference to ancient trackways. This Policy is mostly concerned with Petersfield but we covered a much wider area. We worked closely with English Heritage and local archeological groups to define the routes along with (as another contributor suggests) the number of hedge and tree species lining the routes plus the depression into the chalk substrate as a test for authenticity. We also tested for 'unusual' plants as these were frequently transmitted by animals being herded along the routes as 'droppings' (they ate in one area but defecated in another) I hope this is useful

[@dlittlester]

Thank you for doing these. History is so important, and so interesting.

[@pwhitewick]

Glad you like them!

[@furryanimal8776]

Fascinating as ever.

[@damieneverett7053]

My Government Sanctioned daily walk is often up and down the Harrow Way from the Hospital to the west of Portway and back.

[@willsgetoff1157]

Another interesting insight into a forgotten piece of our ancient past thanks for taking us along.

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks Wills, always a pleasure.

[@nilo70]

Thank you for sharing this with us ! Cheers from California

[@pwhitewick]

A pleasure, thanks Olin.

[@Sim0nTrains]

Nice video, really enjoyed that one.

[@finnwillows6031]

Thanks for making this! I followed along on google maps from Ontario.

[@john3Lee]

There is a "rule of thumb" method of ageing a hedge line beside a trackway, and that is how many different species of hedge or tree type there are, over a given distance... Might be useful if there are two parallel paths, and you want to establish the older of the two..

[@pwhitewick]

Ah excellent, I don't recall of course but should we go back that way I will have an investigation

[@ryescott9445]

Is it older if there are more species? There are lots of plum trees in the hedgerows where I live in Beighton, Sheffield

[@123yozzer]

@@pwhitewick great videos. Would love you both to do old colliery sites.

[@firesurfer]

@@hobmoor2042 As Arte Johnson said. Veddy interesting.

[@ryescott9445]

Hob Moor took a screenshot of your comment for future reference. It’s quite rural where I live to say it’s a old mining village. It’s got at least two farms. The next village closer to Sheffielde is Woodhouse, that has four farms and one train station. There ara two lines running through it I think. Lots of history in both villages. Peter Pans cave in woodhouse is a old entrance to the mine I think.

[@syncrosimon]

Thanks Guys👍👍👍

[@carolynrowse2285]

Fascinating, many thanks.

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you Carolyn.

[@dmitryaleksandrov8223]

Amazing job guys! Looking forward to see an episode about Varsity line (Oxford - Cambridge)

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you, not a million miles away so I am sure it won't be long.

[@andrewwardmedia]

Great video and interesting. Thanks for sharing

[@pwhitewick]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@spookerd]

I love it when you guys do anything about old roads and the oldest road is even better. Any chance you might one day do a video in the Orkney Islands (if they have abandoned stations, etc)?

[@pwhitewick]

Yup, trust me when this is all over, we are going EVERYWHERE.

[@paulwood7798]

A great vid again Mr and Mrs Whitewick.. The myth that Romans bought roads to this Isle needs readressing because there is plenty of evidence of a good road system long before the Romans arrived. Ones I have looked at like The Kerry Ridgeway and The Ridgeway have honed me into Co-Axial fields sliced through by Roman Roads in Herefordshire and Shropshire . These fields and their attached roads are barely given the Credit and little talked about but they are there. Again a Great vid folks thanks for sharing.

[@georgedrum1299]

The icknield way is one of the most ancient trackways and of major archeological importance, running from Wiltshire to the Neolithic flint mines known as Grimes Graves

[@grahamsumner9913]

Great stuff this video. I have lived in Andover and a long stones throw from HarrowWay school for just over 13 years now, and to learn about facinating history more or less on my doorstep had me glued. Thank you both for that. Bye the way, is there anything such as the Icknield Way/Road ? I work at a school with that name.

[@75elgrebo]

Icknield Way is a Roman road running NNW-SSE past Andover, the Portway runs ENE-WSW. The Harrow Way is older than both as Paul sets out here in this video. The only stretch that remains mostly untouched in Andover is the section between the East and West Portway Industrial estates. The Harrow Way school sits on a later stretch, though all concrete and houses now.

[@lizdersley9803]

You can follow the Icknield Way through part of Suffolk, from West Stow towards Elveden and more, but watch out for the motorbikes and 4 wheel drives!

[@thomasjohn4236]

I Love your videos two thumbs up.

[@ucprof2008]

Although I live in California, I’ve done the Coast to Coast walk from St Bees Head to Robin Hood Bay, one of the best experiences of my life, and really enjoy your videos. The interaction between the two of you is really appealing, keep it up.

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks Michael, much appreciated, thats definitely what we aim for.

[@anthonygostling]

A nice sunny day for you both.

[@pwhitewick]

We were quite lucky weren't we

[@benmcdonnell4167]

The old Basingstoke by-pass, (Not the ring road) is named "The Harrow Way". Btw I once saw a documentary about the pre historic grid system of ley lines, real practical ones, not magical ones, that criss crossed possiby the entire country. They weren't paved, but lines of sight along man made landmarks miles apart, a stone pile, a cutting into the side of a hill etc, which still exist.

[@nexialist6]

Thanks very much. I live in LonSuton near Odiham and the HarrowWay runs through the village. I ave been interested in trying to find its route to Seatn where my great grandad lived. I diod read that it msy haveincorporated the Iron road connecting cornwal with Dover. Strange that there isno feinitivehistory of the harrow Wayto read. Keep the videos coming

[@beckysharpe7268]

I thought I was the only weirdo totally into old roads until I found your site.

[@martinedmundson98]

Paul & Rebecca, new to the series and it is most enjoyable and ‘relieving’ for the ‘Cabin Fever’ that 'Lock Down III’ is causing. Of about the same age as the Harrow Way is the extended 'Ridgeway - Icknield Way’ that likewise started about Seaton but went to the North NorfolK Coast via the ‘other’ Chalk escarpment to the North of this route. Evidence from that route puts it in the Stone Age, Grimes Graves at Thetford in Norfolk from the ‘flint mines’, so I would expect that this is of similar vintage. Keep up the good work.

[@SMILEVIDEOTRAINS]

always something new, thats why I follow you...

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks Keith.

[@martinbarker2316]

Another great episode as I make my way through your back catalogue and another one in my backyard as I work at Stannah right next to the Harrow Way..

[@pwhitewick]

Haha... excellent. I'm about the same distance from it as you then!

[@martinbarker2316]

@@pwhitewick home is Ropley so I've studied the Alton & Basingstoke and the Meon Valley lines, I also had a holiday near Tavistock a few years ago and bored the family to tears tracking the lost lines and canals around Morwellham Quay.. all of which you have covered..

[@pwhitewick]

@@martinbarker2316 need to go back to Morwelham though..... did you see the Leat video?

[@martinbarker2316]

@@pwhitewick yes, that was the video that introduced me to your channel, that valley is riddled with lost industrial infrastructure.. the Calstock incline up to the Devon Consuls

[@auser1484]

Stay safe both of you, many more disused stations to go. 😎

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you, you too!

[@acidsunrise]

Brilliant.Again.👍

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you.

[@StephenWilliams]

Such a welcome interlude, even more so during the present emergency. Many thanks.

[@martinwarner1178]

Never was an ENERGENCY. Some of us spotted it right away. Only pointing out, so you don't get done over on the next hoax. Peace and goodwill Stephen.

[@StephenWilliams]

I regret to inform you that you are delusional if you seriously think it was a hoax. I personally know three people who died. 2:27

[@martinwarner1178]

@@StephenWilliams Don't have regrets, just keep sticking to the advice, take some more vaxx. Good luck going with that. Peace and goodwill.

[@StephenWilliams]

You really do need to give your head a wobble.

[@TheNgandrew]

Another cracking video! I learnt a lot, and just really enjoyed the video. Keep it up (lockdown permitting)! You mentioned you don't have lots of time to undertake historical research. I think you do pretty well on that score, but there were a couple of examples of either loose use of language or slight errors (not overly detracting from the video I should emphasise). At one point you referred to Thomas a' Becket's pilgrimage route. I understand pilgrims used to travel on pilgrimage to Canterbury to worship at his shrine there. Truly a minor quibble. You also mentioned pilgrimages as a reason for Winchester's prominence. Winchester was a significant Roman settlement, and was a major city in Anglo-Saxon times. One of the reasons it has such an amazing cathedral is that the royal treasures of the Anglo-Saxon kings was stored in a previous cathedral there, and William the Conqueror wanted to house those treasures in more magnificence and impress the locals at the same time by having such a wondrous cathedral built. I think it was quite a significant settlement before pilgrimages began. It is certainly the case that pilgrims used to travel from Winchester to Canterbury (amazing devotion) to worship at the shrine of St. Thomas a' Becket. I do enjoy your videos, and I hope we soon get this nasty virus under control so you can go exploring again and making interesting videos.

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks Nigel as we said in the video, more than happy to be corrected on these things, we aren't historians and don't have huge amounts of time so definately happy for those with knowledge on such matters to chip in.

[@CheshireTomcat68]

Good to see the return of the crow flying past the drone, from an earlier video, about 5 mins in! Interesting vaid as always.

[@pwhitewick]

Well spotted!!

[@davidwilkinson333]

Another fun vid from you both. Great stuff! I don't think I've ever heard of the Harrow Way but I should have as I grew up in the village of Wye, in Kent, where the ancient Ridgeway/Pilgrims Way branches south to cross the Stour before heading to the coast. I now live just outside Seaton at its western extremity. So now I am curious as to why it should have terminated here at the mouth of the Axe, or whether, in fact, this section is another branch breaking south to a significant estuary while the main route continues west, most likely to Dartmoor and further, since Dartmoor was widely cleared and settled during the Bronze Age.

[@Garwfechan-ry5lk]

The Ridgeway in South Wales was called by the Romans Ancient, it leads to the area of Gloucester from as far as Preseli and St Davids, it has Bluestones along its route.

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video Paul and Rebecca,some beautiful shots👌,and very interesting,did your feet hurt?, looking forward to your next video 👌😀👍

[@pwhitewick]

Feet, legs and every muscle in our bodies!!

[@keithevans7996]

Thanks for a lovely sunny video. Would make a nice walk to make at the moment in line with government restrictions which allows us to exercise once a day by walking or cycling!!

[@MrNas42]

4,000 years is a bit young for a British trackway. There are many routes that pass by 5,000 + year monuments that were located to be beside a preexisting track. Some must date back to 10,000 when southern Britain was extensively re-occupied after the last ice age.

[@pwhitewick]

Indeed, I think 4000 years is a tad conservative for this route and as you suggest its likely a lot older.

[@susierebelryder492]

The Icknield Way and especially The Ridgeway are the oldest roads. Can’t wait to walk them.

[@pwhitewick]

Yup, we have a few walks planned on those too. Can't wait to get traveling again.

[@bobly]

Well done Rebecca for getting the right info as that book Paul has might lead you both into places where you might get lost, Paul you have to trust Rebecca as she is a smart cookie

[@davewatson309]

Check out the kerry ridgeway, its older, from ireland through wales to the midlands without getting your feet wet. Cluns tiny museum is full of flints from far off found along it!

[@stevewatts9834]

Another great episode, keep them coming guys. Loving Rebecca's hoody, where do I get one

[@Bugster42]

nice to se becs in a vid after a long absence

Judging by the size of the potholes outside my old house in Darlington, THAT was the oldest road in Britain...But nice to see you both back....

[@jimmyviaductophilelawley5587]

Great video guys.... I grew up in Warrington and Latchford is a good place to visit there's 3 eds's bank Quay low level, arpley and Latchford. Also a great abandoned viaduct like the cadishead but has the added attraction of Latchford locks on the msc... Look forward to seeing that one when all this over best wishes

[@pwhitewick]

Have you seen our Cadishead Video with Martin Zero!?

[@jimmyviaductophilelawley5587]

@@pwhitewick yeah that's why I mentioned it....Latchford viaduct is miles better but then I'm biased but it is a really good place if you're interested in the ship canal at all because the embankments are made from the spoil and you can sort of see the ship canal in reverse....I'm a bit obsessed with the manny ship as we called it but that's coz I grew up crossing it playing on it's banks and swimming in it....

[@jimmyviaductophilelawley5587]

Hi Rebecca when all this over I'm going to try to follow my long held dream of doing a video history of the Manchester ship canal and when I do I'd appreciate your and Pauls help with the practical side of how to go about things

[@TrevsTravelsByNarrowboat]

People thought that duel carriageways were modern. Harrow way beats them all.

[@pwhitewick]

Haha, yes buy some considerable margin!

[@bremnersghost948]

Built by Williamorix Takesallmydoshix for Horse & Chariot Racing

[@TheDalaiLamaCon]

Quality waffling is scarce, keep it up!

[@sheilastallard]

My husband as a guide to the Ridgeway we walked a section to look at Waylands Smithy burial mound.Just keep safe. xx

[@paulcgburrows7267]

Great vid very interesting area you visited in October last year, keep hosting content tv not very good at the mo you make very good vids

[@thelastpendragon4758]

Raleigh ford lane leading up scratchyface out toward littleham church is a fairly old road on toward the lepper colony !. So that roughly dates it leppers!. , renames Raleigh ford lane as the cut of the path is a thousand years of feet walking over it!. Got to love Devon!.

[@gaffysmenk]

Brilliant.. What an adventure. There aren't any old ways like that where I live, but from our house i can see two burned mounds and several chambered cairns. One of which had a drainage ditch cut through it in the 1800s and the southern half ploughed out. I'm convinced the stone sump where the field drainage ditch meets the road drainage ditch is the cist from the chambered cairn as its the same as the one in the county museum. Waffle waffle.. Can you tell I've been in lock down for a while. :)

[@johnhext7845]

Great video our history should be preserved for people to explore, the road is similar to the drovers roads in Devon.

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you John. Absolutely agree.

[@alec3972]

Great film, do you the Lidar maps? Some of the Roman road films do with interesting results

[@johnstilljohn3181]

That's fantastic - I need to buy some 19th century maps and look for old roads like that...

[@pwhitewick]

Definitely do that John.

[@AndRewUK24]

Another new local walk for me. I have just moved to Andover a few months ago. Walveton Industrial Estate? Do you mean Walworth Industrial Estate? Thanks for the video.

[@brianfield792]

Great video you two ,very enjoyable.regarding the poem in the comments by GK Chesterton, I wonder if people reading it understand the significance of the last line.

[@philiptownsend4026]

I'm about a year late in commenting but I heard of another contender for Britain's oldest road. Some few years ago I listened to a documentary on the wireless about the present day A303. There are a great many neolithic burial mounds near to that road and also Stonehenge of course. Archaeological evidence points to significant neolithic population and that they ate very well including meat from large animals. So the A303 would have been preceded by lesser roads, trackways etc and even it is thought it may have been a wild animal migration route hence the neolithic population living well on the meat walking past their doors. So the A303 is a very old road, maybe preceding human population of Britain

[@justvin7214]

You said Fareham when you meant Farnham, also Winchester's importance goes way further back than Thomas Becket (I know you admitted you weren't historians but I thought I'd mention it). Btw a friend hedged his new car coming out from under that bridge at the start of the video - scared the crap out of me and sobered me up very quickly lol.

[@bobparsons77]

Great video as I suffer minus 15C and more snow!

[@pwhitewick]

Ouch!

[@wychwoods]

Thanks for an excellent video up to your usual high standard. Just one suggestion: the music track was a lot louder than the voices so I had to keep changing the volume to make sure I didn't wake She Who Must Be Obeyed.

[@pwhitewick]

Yup we didn't get the levels quite right in this one.

[@housemovewoods433]

@@pwhitewick No matter - it is good in all the others. keep up the good work!

[@deanbutler1467]

On the map at 3.42 there are "tumuli" about a mile north of the bit where the book says the route was lost, with a "byway" down that meets your route - I wonder if they are relevant? Your route sort of follows the contours at this point - I wonder if foot / horse traffic used to go straight over the hill, then carts / wagons formed a later route following the contours?

[@andykopgod]

haha, love Portillo's bradshaws guide

[@pwhitewick]

I was genuinely quite excited about carrying the book

[@paul1153]

I like the shoutout to Portillo.

[@pwhitewick]

And Bradshaw's guide of course... ;-)

[@AberystwythStation]

Beautiful production as always. The Harrow Way is certainly interesting in its past and present history. Looks like a lovely place for a walk, though we wouldn't be allowed there now. However, it's definitely a must do when this virus has passed. Keep safe, GWR

[@edwinbentley2469]

Great video say what's happen to your dog. Ain't seen him /her for ages

[@gavinwarren1413]

I'm in Seaton , Devon. I'll have to look for the Harrow way.

[@pwhitewick]

Definitely do that. Let us know how you get on.

[@amnesiac-original]

that was interesting

[@diogenesegarden5152]

I think King Belinius built the first actual road network in Britain, linking settlements around about 390BC. Although there would have been much older routes in common usage I would have thought. I wonder how many of these roads are attributed to the Romans?

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks for that, do you have any more information on this? Could be a very interesting topic!

[@diogenesegarden5152]

Whitewick's Abandoned Railways you could try belinusline.com (and the Belinus line, by Gary Biltcliffe, I think there is a KZbin video on the subject) where I lifted this excerpt: n 1974 Guy Raglan Phillips discovered a network of alignments in an area of northern England called in ancient times Brigantia. The lines were of the Watkins variety found on maps that linked ancient sites called leys. Phillips north-south parallel lines are 12 miles apart, 4 degrees west of the magnetic north axis, and he noticed that one in particular seemed pivotal to this whole system and formed the longest through route in Britain. He named it the Belinus Line after a legendary road building British King referred to by medieval monk Geoffrey of Monmouth in the History of the Kings of Britain. Monmouth (c. AD 1100 -1155) writes that Belinus, a descendant of Trojan Brutus the mythical founder of Britain, ruled the kingdom of Cornwall, Kambria (Wales), and Loegria (England), from c. 380-363 BC and that he …"summoned workmen from all over the island and ordered them to construct a road of stones and mortar which would bisect the island longitudinally from the Cornish Sea to the shore of Caithness and should lead in a straight line to each of the cities on route". He decreed that all the temples in the major cities and the roads that led to them were sanctuaries, (where man was safe from attack or arrest) and that everyone should respect a Highway Code of laws laid down by his father Molmutius. The roads connected fortified cities usually prefixed by ‘Caer’ which means fortified settlement in ancient British or as we know it now, Welsh. Cities like Carlisle , formerly Caer Leer or King Leer’s city of Shakespeare fame. After the Roman conquest many of these cities were Romanised and given the suffix ‘chester’. Interestingly Dorchester, just up the road from me was originally known as Caer Dwr, Dwr being the Welsh word for water as is the dor in Dorset. I understand that the river Stour derives it’s name from is dwr or upper water. All of these city states were built by the descendants of Brutus and the descendants of the Trojans enslaved by the Greeks who settled Britain (possibly taking its name from Brutus) in about 1200BC. It is interesting to learn a bit about the original concept of kingship and development of the city states, we could probably learn something to our advantage from the ancients. According to certain ancient chronicles Belinus led the sacking of Rome in about 370BC along with his brother Brenius and possibly a Gallic King who may have been related to him by marriage. Butus’ story is quite an interesting one worth googling and also the ancient British kings list.

[@johnorchard4]

When discussing the offshoot of the Pilgrim's way it was stated that Winchester's importance was due to the Pilgrim's Way. Winchester's importance had nothing to do with Thomas a'Beckett, it was already a much more important place. Canterbury became the home of the (first bishop and later...) Archbishop's of Canterbury by accident. The king of the Jutish kingdom of Kent was amenable to Augustine's mission in the late sixth century century, but, the then ruler in Lundenwic was hostile. Consequently, the orders of Gregory to re-establish the Roman bishopric of London as the base for the Gregorian mission came to naught - the See of London was not re-established for many years. Canterbury was the capital of the kingdom of Kent, but it was one which soon fell under the hegemony of other kingdoms. Winchester, on the other hand, became the capital of Wessex and was host to the bishopric of Winchester. By the time of Thomas'a'Becket, this Royal vill was much more important since it had been de facto Capital of the united England prior to and at the time of the Norman Conquest. The Bishopric was far and away the wealthiest of the Bishoprics in England. The Pilgrim's way effectively linked Winchester to Canterbury (as other Pilgrim's ways linked other important religious sites), it just happened to have made use of the already existing way which went straight to their destination. Obviously the whole of the path from Canterbury to Seaton was not originally a Pilgrim's way because it predated Christianity. It was obviouslky due to other reasons that it was established, but that is not unlike many other ancient ways, not least the Ridgeways (which topographically most longer distance ways were!). This route is undoubtedly ancient but it is far from proven that it is the oldest - but then I think that point is made in the video too. My own specialist study as an historical geographer is the post-Roman period and the settlement of the English. These tracks, along with water courses and the Roman roads were often important in that settlement - if only as boundary markers to these new settlements, because they were well established and obvious permanent markers in the landscape.

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks John, thats all very interesting. I have no clue why I suggested what I did about the prominence of Winchester. Unfortunately with one project per week the notes are a distant memory. Your insight is extremely interesting, this is exactly the type of comment that we like to see.