Here you will find the archive of all my published blogs.
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On yer bikes!
A group of Ripley cyclists about 1914 Bicycles only became practical transport in the 1890s, with the arrival of the chain-driven ‘safety cycle’ fitted with pneumatic tyres. Priced at about…
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The Horsey World
A jolly holiday crowd at Matlock Bath Today it is easy to forget the importance of the horse before the twentieth century. Leaving cavalry and racing aside, they were critical…
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Cromford to Langley Mill in six gates
Toll cottage at top of Bullbridge Hill The Cromford Bridge to Langley Mill turnpike wasn’t the snappiest name, but the road was intended to provide access to Nottingham from Cromford…
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Reinventing the wheel?
The wheel is often cited as a critical invention in the development of our civilisation, and today wheels are so abundant it is difficult to imagine life without them. Yet…
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Salt
Saltways in central and northern Derbyshire (Dodd & Dodd, 1980) Today salt is cheap and easily available, so it’s easy to overlook its vital importance in the past. It was…
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The romance of the road
Give to me the life I love, Let the lave go by me, Give the jolly heaven above And the byway nigh me. Bed in the bush with stars to…
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The ferryman at Anchor?
Anchor Church today On the steep south bank of the River Trent, a short walk from Ingleby village, this rock-cut structure may have been used since the ninth century. Although…
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The hermit of the bridge
The causeway in the old days Swarkeston Bridge was once the only crossing of the Trent between Burton and Nottingham, carrying traffic on the north-south route through the Midlands to…
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Snowmotion
A recent winter view of Youlgreave Winter has never been the best season for travel, but in the past it must have been far more difficult than today. Not only…
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Traveller’s Tree
The yew tree in St Helen’s churchyard at Darley Churchtown is a well-known example of an ancient tree in a sacred setting. Growing near the west church porch, it is…
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Bilberry crumble?
Writers of Matlock tourist guides in the nineteenth century described megalithic remains on Riber Hill, above Starkholmes, which are variously labelled dolmen, cromlech and rocking stone, and appear to have…
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Wayside worship
Altar to the Quadruviae in Germany For at least two thousand years European roads were marked by shrines and sanctuaries, giving travelers the chance to rest, make offerings and pray…
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551 signs … and counting!
An early sign being restored Have you ever found your footpath ploughed up, or a stile that would challenge a mountain goat? Help is available, thanks to one of Britain’s…
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Harboro’ highlife?
Harboro’ Rocks seen from the High Peak Trail A couple of miles west of Wirksworth, just above the High Peak Trail, Harboro’ Rocks are a distinctive limestone outcrop rising to…
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Baslow and beyond
Driving on the busy A623 through Baslow today, it is easy to miss the medieval bridge next to St Anne’s church. Yet this was part of an important route in…
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Gell the Roman?
When I was a child we were occasionally driven into Derbyshire as a holiday treat, and coming down the Via Gellia was one highlight of such trips. It seemed a…
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Mr Wright paints Cromford
Paintings and prints can help us understand the development of the road system, and reveal historical features not shown on maps. As Matlock Bath became an established tourist attraction in…
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On the road with Joseph Andrews
Many of the earliest novels were effectively ‘stories of the road’, their plots centred on the journeys their heroes were making – books such as Don Quixote and The Pilgrim’s…
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Clegg’s travels
James Clegg (1679 -1755) was for many years a minister at Chinley Chapel, near Chapel-en-le-Frith in north Derbyshire. There are no surviving pictures of him, but we know more about…
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Afoot with Karl Moritz
Karl Moritz was a prolific German writer who, in 1782, spent two months touring England, reaching as far north as Derbyshire. Clearly an adventurous character, what is especially striking is…
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Too many ways?
It took 30 years for the first national long-distance trail, the Pennine Way, to be opened. In 1935 an article by Tom Stephenson suggested the creation of the route, inspired…
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Riding with Cobbett – 2
In the early modern period, gentlemen – and the more daring ladies – preferred to travel on horseback. William Cobbett, touring England in 1822 for his masterpiece ‘Rural Rides’, explains…
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The mystery of the milestone
Walking near Tissington the other day I stopped for a drink of water, and propped my walking pole on what I took for an old gatepost, embedded in the rather…
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Riding with Cobbett -1
William Cobbett (1762-1835) was a radical farmer, journalist and campaigner who travelled extensively in England in the 1820s and 1830s, inspecting the state of farming and farm workers. His reports,…
The Old Roads of Derbyshire 