Pathways

Synopsis

Today we walk mainly for pleasure, using the many ‘rights of way’ that criss-cross Britain, with little thought for their original purpose. But for England’s first foot travellers, paths, tracks and ways developed because they had to. In many cases it was for work: herding cattle, or trudging to and from a mine. Other tracks and roads stemmed from military or political control, from the roads the Romans laid across the countryside, to Anglo-Saxon dykes, right up to more modern defences. Then there are routes that people followed for ritual and religious reasons, such as the processional paths in the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron ages and the pilgrimages of medieval times. Only more recently do we find paths created, or enhanced, specifically for leisure: carefully tailored circuits on country estates, tracks across moorland for the hunting of deer, and the much more recent ‘sculpture trail’.In Pathways, David Stewart and Nicholas Rudd-Jones seek out paths, tracks and ways and their oft-hidden original purpose. Telling both the story of the pathway and the people who travelled on it before, the authors describe the historical background of each path, while also bringing to life the experience of walking it today.- Each chosen path, trail, track or road is iconic of its type and has been walked by one or both of the authors. - Photographs and tips for spotters pick out the significant features and the general enviroment of the path.- Each chapter suggests additional walks of the type described