Turnpikes and Dorset Coaching Days
At the September meeting Rob Curtis spoke on “Turnpikes and Dorset Coaching Days”. He started by talking about his own family tree. The first tracks 10,000 years ago were probably animal droves, these were the ridgeways, being high they had the advantage of draining well so were dry. The Romans decided to build their own roads using slave labour, this amounted to 8,000 miles. After the Romans there was not much call to travel long distances so the roads fell into disrepair.
In 1555 an Act of Parliament put the onus on the Church to keep the roads in repair, this was only repairs and not renewals. Pack horses were used to move large amounts or long wagons. By 1660 there were time tables of the coaches, but because the roads were in such a terrible state services were often cancelled in the winter. In 1663 another Act of Parliament allowed for tolls for making new roads. At this time 40,000 Highland Cattle were walked to London, averaging 12 miles a day with regular overnight grazing on the way. 500 turnpikes were created in 1770, most of which are the main roads of today. In 1835 it was decided to drive on the left. There was a long list of people who were excempt from paying the tolls. Toll Keepers had free accommodation, they were not popular with the people and were easy prey for burglaries, many of them found the temptation of handling the money to much and they became dishonest.
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