Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
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Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Just noted Bob did a ride taking in a Roman Road. I cimmented on it wondering which is the longest we know of as it feels like it could be a bit of a challenge riding 10 or 20 miles in a straight line. He tells me that the longest he knows of is High Street in The Lakes (ta Bob).
I google it and it turns out there's a High Street Mountain up there and also a walk called High Street taking you to a Roman fort. That got me wondering wver more about properly broken Roman roads and this thread was born. So, Roman Roads, what do we know and is there some super long mtb ones here and there.
I google it and it turns out there's a High Street Mountain up there and also a walk called High Street taking you to a Roman fort. That got me wondering wver more about properly broken Roman roads and this thread was born. So, Roman Roads, what do we know and is there some super long mtb ones here and there.
Last edited by redefined_cycles on Sat Jun 18, 2022 7:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Can we talk about Riman Roads? Please..
The A5 between London and Shrewsbury Shaf.
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Re: Can we talk about Riman Roads? Please..
Yes, Bob mentioned that alpt are probably now busy roads. But I forgot to say I'm talking of the 'not horrible dangerous ones'.The A5 between London and Shrewsbury Shaf.
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
We were actually meaning Roman roads that haven't been reused by modern highways. Look at Dere Street and Watling Street, they "exist" on the ground but modern roads use a large proportion of their length.
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP
The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....
"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....
"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Sarn helen? what that one like?
- Bearbonesnorm
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
The problem with Sarn Heln is that we only know of reasonably short sections for certain. Everything else is a guess.Sarn helen?
May the bridges you burn light your way
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Thanks Reg. I'm gonna click it now. I do hope it's not a Benny Hill sketch or the sort
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Andy Curran ( Audax rider) , Andy's Adventures on YouTube, seems to have a thing about following roman roads and has tried to follow a few as closely as he can. Pretty much all road though IIRC
The Fosse Way he's even done on bike sort of dressed as a centurion... https://youtu.be/bhId2TSrrUM
The Fosse Way he's even done on bike sort of dressed as a centurion... https://youtu.be/bhId2TSrrUM
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Aaah, the Fosse Way. Doing that thsi Tuesday and I was wondering on that...Moder-dye wrote: ↑Sat Jun 18, 2022 8:24 pm Andy Curran ( Audax rider) , Andy's Adventures on YouTube, seems to have a thing about following roman roads and has tried to follow a few as closely as he can. Pretty much all road though IIRC
The Fosse Way he's even done on bike sort of dressed as a centurion... https://youtu.be/bhId2TSrrUM
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
There's the goodly off-road section between Brecon and Neath mapped as 'Sarn Helen' which is a good ride. Like Stu suggests though, you can find bits of 'Sarn Helen' all over the place - for example to the north of Lampeter which is considerably to the west of the above mentioned Brecon-Neath track!Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Sat Jun 18, 2022 8:20 pmThe problem with Sarn Heln is that we only know of reasonably short sections for certain. Everything else is a guess.Sarn helen?
We go out into the hills to lose ourselves, not to get lost. You are only lost if you need to be somewhere else and if you really need to be somewhere else then you're probably in the wrong place to begin with.
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
My memories of the Fosse Way between Kemble and Hulavington which is pretty much all off-road is that in wet weather it could be a nightmare, especially sections used by agricultural vehicles. That said, I haven't ridden it for a number of years.
We go out into the hills to lose ourselves, not to get lost. You are only lost if you need to be somewhere else and if you really need to be somewhere else then you're probably in the wrong place to begin with.
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Peddars Way, the North/South one on the map below. Pre-dates the Romans and passes through the homelands of Boudicca and the Iceni who gave the Romans a bloody nose and smashed up Colchester in return for the Romans two-faced behaviour.
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
An overview map of Roman Roads here ... https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi ... nia-es.svg
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
There's a byway near me marked as a Roman road
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Not that long but pleasant enough.
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
I had a look on my OS maps, there traces of sarn helen coming down from Bronsaint past Lanbeter to pumsaint then heading east through Mynydd bach (roman camp at Y pigwn and a Roman fortlet nearby) before the road head past Sennybridge then starts head south up to Daudraeth Llityd and Fforest fawr then southwest to Neath.psling wrote: ↑Sat Jun 18, 2022 8:30 pmThere's the goodly off-road section between Brecon and Neath mapped as 'Sarn Helen' which is a good ride. Like Stu suggests though, you can find bits of 'Sarn Helen' all over the place - for example to the north of Lampeter which is considerably to the west of the above mentioned Brecon-Neath track!Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Sat Jun 18, 2022 8:20 pmThe problem with Sarn Heln is that we only know of reasonably short sections for certain. Everything else is a guess.Sarn helen?
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Yes, the track/lanes past the Roman fort are a convenient route between Llandovery and Brecon avoiding the main road. A real dog leg in the traditional 'straight' Roman road tradition!Diesel73 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:49 pm
I had a look on my OS maps, there traces of sarn helen coming down from Bronsaint past Lanbeter to pumsaint then heading east through Mynydd bach (roman camp at Y pigwn and a Roman fortlet nearby) before the road head past Sennybridge then starts head south up to Daudraeth Llityd and Fforest fawr then southwest to Neath.
We go out into the hills to lose ourselves, not to get lost. You are only lost if you need to be somewhere else and if you really need to be somewhere else then you're probably in the wrong place to begin with.
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Thanks everyone for your knowledge. I also took a look at that vid with the chap in the centurion uniform. I reckon the takeaway message is that they're a hassle to find a really long uninterrupted one but the length of Fosse way I've done every other year is about the length I'm probably gonna get without needing to jump over wall/fences/shrubery.
Might try and retrace some of them on that map shown above and see what it finds me (pardon the grammar ).
Thanks again...
Might try and retrace some of them on that map shown above and see what it finds me (pardon the grammar ).
Thanks again...
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
This is a real good map Moder-eye and tells me alot of what I need to know for cycling I suppose...Moder-dye wrote: ↑Sat Jun 18, 2022 8:40 pm An overview map of Roman Roads here ... https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi ... nia-es.svg
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/roman-britain/
This map shows Roman roads plotted over modern road map, albeit at a massive scale of 1:625000
This map shows Roman roads plotted over modern road map, albeit at a massive scale of 1:625000
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
Worsted Street Roman Road, which essentially links Cambridge and Haverhill. It's a restricted byway, so all off road, although not the longest by any stretch.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31945160
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31945160
There are theories at the bottom of my jargon.
Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
There are a lot more than you think
https://www.romanroads.org/gazetteer/lancspages.html
West Cumbria is stacked with them
https://www.romanroads.org/gazetteer/lancspages.html
West Cumbria is stacked with them
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Re: Can we talk about Roman Roads? Please..
There's one alongside the main road on the south side of the Pentlands in Edinburgh/Midlothian. Forms part of the Capital Trail