| On an island as small as Britain, it's very easy to | | | | from Southwark to Canterbury in Canterbury |
| stumble across one historic road or another whilst | | | | Tales. Nowadays, the road is not used so much |
| carrying out transport contracts. These ancient | | | | by pilgrims, but rather hauliers carrying out |
| Roman roads or old trap roads intended for horse | | | | transport contracts to or from London. The |
| and carriage can tell us a lot about Britain's history. | | | | sections of Watling Street that pass through |
| Here is a selection of my favourite roads in | | | | London are known better as Edgware Road or |
| Britain; some of them have a past so interesting | | | | Maida Vale, and can get quite busy during rush |
| that I could almost forgive them for the odd | | | | hour. |
| traffic jam: | | | | Devil's Causeway |
| Watling Street | | | | I've been lucky enough to carry out a few |
| Watling Street is the name given to the ancient | | | | transport contracts on the Devil's Causeway, up |
| trackway in England and Wales that was first | | | | in Northumberland. The 55 mile road stretches |
| used by the Britons in the Roman times. The road | | | | from Dere Street in Corbridge to |
| was built to link the modern cities of Canterbury | | | | Berwick-upon-Tweed. The old Roman fort of |
| and St Albans and now makes up the A2 from | | | | Onnum is less than a mile away from the start of |
| Dover to London and then the A5 from London | | | | the road and it's believed that the road was |
| to Wroexeter. The name Watling Street is | | | | patrolled by a Calvary unit that was based there. |
| derived from the original name, Waecelinga | | | | Interestingly, the road is also steeped in Arthurian |
| Straet, which means "the paved road pertaining | | | | legend. King Arthur's first battle was at the mouth |
| to the people of Waecel". It is believed that | | | | of the River Glein and, although there are two |
| Waecel was a variation of the old English word for | | | | places in Britain that this could be, it is likely to be |
| foreigner, a term applied to the Celtic people that | | | | the Northumberland Glein, which was guarded by |
| inhabited Wales at the time. Although the road fell | | | | the bell-hill fort. It is therefore probable that King |
| into disrepair when the Romans left Britain, parts | | | | Arthur and his troops used this road when making |
| of it still remained. Therefore, it is likely that this | | | | the way to what would be King Arthur's first |
| road was also used by Chaucer's Pilgrims to travel | | | | battle. |