Road
Chapter 1 of 15 Introductory Material
- Running time
- 4 h 23 min
- Language
- English
- Readers
- Anita Hibbard, Beau Wood, Beeswaxcandle, Devorah Allen, LaBouna and 5 others
Chapters
About this recording
"We are arrived at a chief turning-point in the history of the English highway. New instruments of locomotion, a greater volume of traffic, a greater weight in loads, and vastly increased rapidity in road travel have between them brought us to an issue: either some very considerable and immediate change in the character of the Road, or a serious and increasing handicap in our rivalry with other nations through the strain and expense of an out-worn system.
"The moment therefore calls for some examination of the Road, its theory and history. That need has prompted me to write this essay; but I must say at the outset that I approach my task with no expert qualification. My only equipment for the general sketch I intend is historical reading and the experience acquired in the writing of certain monographs upon the topography of the Road in the past. I can do no more than suggest lines of thought which, if they lead to practice, need a detailed science I do not possess. ...
"We have had (as I shall develop in more detail) five great moments ... in the history of the English road system: the moment when the British trackway was superseded by the Roman military road; the moment when the…