Here you will find the archive of all my published blogs.
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Walkers, hikers or ramblers?
Many of our field paths were created by people walking to work, possibly in mines or mills. With the enclosure of moors and commons in the late eighteenth or early…
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Milestoned?
As might be expected, the Romans were the first to use milestones in Britain. Theirs were usually stone cylinders, and a fragment of one is in Buxton Museum. Clearly, they…
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A trip to London in the 1660s
The reality of travel for the wealthy in the 1660s is illustrated by Sir George Sitwell’s description of his ancestor’s annual visits to London from Renishaw Hall, at Eckington near…
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The name of the lane
Road name near Holbrook Although name signs like this are relatively modern, roads have been named for hundreds of years, and today road names are a useful resource for historians.…
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Crossed out?
Anyone who has travelled in the more Catholic parts of Europe such as Bavaria or Brittany may have seen the roadside crosses which frequently mark the route. Medieval England would…
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Inn or ale-house?
How long have inns offered roadside refreshment to travellers? Not an easy question to answer, since many claim to be the ‘Oldest Pub in England’ or something similar. Nottingham has…
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Wells, springs and troughs
Travellers have always needed to drink, and so have their horses and dogs. Yet on the ancient ridgeways, crossing the limestone hills of north Derbyshire, there are few streams or…
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Wayfarers all – 1
Many people imagine that in the past travelling was uncommon, since most folk stayed put all their lives, with the occasional visit to the nearest market town. But in fact,…
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How old is Matlock?
Today it is easy to drive on the main roads through Matlock Bath or Matlock Bank without seeing Old Matlock, centred on St Giles Church and the handful of stone…
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Dark Lanes and Holloways
How many ‘Dark Lanes’ can you find on the Ordnance Survey maps of Derbyshire? I know several, for example the one running from Wheatcroft towards Plaistow Green, but there are…
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Conquering the stoop
Guide stoop at top of Crowhill Lane near Bakewell Nearly fifty of these stone pillars survive in Derbyshire, providing vital clues to the medieval road network. ‘Stoop’ is a Scandinavian…
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A walk around Horsley Castle
This 4-5 mile walk includes a medieval castle and a section of the Portway, plus another ancient holloway. Parking is available at various points, but perhaps the simplest is at…
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The way through the woods
Over time, many routes have been abandoned, due to changes in settlement patterns, agriculture or the construction of better, easier roads. The medieval route through Bow Wood from Castletop farm…
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The story of the stones
It seems likely that single standing stones like the one above, which is over two metres high, have been used as route markers for possibly thousands of years. Stone is…
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Using maps to research old roads
Maps are an obvious choice in researching the road network of the past, but they have several limitations. There are no accurate maps of Derbyshire’s roads before the mid-eighteenth century,…
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Hermits and their hermitages
Hermits are generally imagined to be solitary recluses, who adopted an isolated life to focus on spiritual matters. Yet little is known about the lives of individual hermits, which are…
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Cromford Bridge
It is easy to forget how crucial bridges were to the medieval traveller, who could otherwise be delayed at a ford for days, waiting for the river to be passable.…
The Old Roads of Derbyshire 