Part 1

This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler

[Picture: Book cover]

[Picture: Starting from G.P.O. in Lombard Street]

_The_ GREAT NORTH ROAD

The Old Mail Road to Scotland

_By_ CHARLES G. HARPER

* * * * *

LONDON TO YORK

* * * * *

_Illustrated by the Author_, _and from old-time_ _Prints and Pictures_

[Picture: Title Figure (man on bicycle)]

LONDON: CECIL PALMER OAKLEY HOUSE, BLOOMSBURY STREET, W.C. 1

* * * * *

_First published in_ 1901 _Second and Revised edition_, 1922

* * * * *

Printed in Great Britain by C. TINLING & Co., LTD., 53, Victoria Street, Liverpool and 187, Fleet Street, London.

* * * * *

IN LOVING MEMORY OF HERMAN MORONEY

“_I expect to pass through this world but once_. _Any good_, _therefore_, _I can do_, _or any kindness that I can show to any fellow-creature_, _let me do it now_. _Let me not defer or neglect it_, _for I shall not pass this way again_.”

_Attributed to_ WILLIAM PENN.

PREFACE.

[Picture: Preface heading]

_WHEN the original edition of the_ “GREAT NORTH ROAD” _was published—in_ 1901—_the motorcar was yet a new thing_. _It had_, _in November_, 1896, _been given by Act of Parliament the freedom of the roads_; _but_, _so far_, _the character of the nation’s traffic had been comparatively little changed_. _People would still turn and gaze_, _interested_, _at a mechanically-propelled vehicle_; _and few were those folk who had journeyed the entire distance between London and Edinburgh in one of them_. _For motor-cars were still_, _really_, _in more or less of an experimental stage_; _and on any long journey you were never sure of finishing by car what you had begun_. _Also_, _the speed possible was not great enough to render such a long __journey exhilarating to modern ideas_. _It is true that_, _the year before_, _the_ “_Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland_,” _not yet become the_ “_Royal Automobile Club_,” _had in its now forgotten role of a_ “_Society of Encouragement_” _planned and carried out a_ “_Thousand Miles Tour_,” _which had Edinburgh as its most northern point_; _but it was a very special effort_. _Those who took part in it are not likely to forget the occasion_.

* * * * *

_To-day_, _all that is changed_. _Every summer_, _every autumn_, _sees large numbers of touring automobiles on the way to Scotland and the moors_, _filled with those who prefer the road_, _on such terms_, _to the railway_. _From being something in the nature of a lonely highway_, _the Great North Road has thus become a very much travelled one_. _In this way_, _some of its circumstances have changed remarkably_, _and old-time comfortable wayside inns that seemed to have been ruined for all time with the coming of railways and the passing of the coaches have wakened to a newer life_. _Chief among these is the_ “_Bell_” _on Barnby Moor_, _just north of Retford_. _The story of its revival is a romance_. _Closed about_ 1845, _and converted into a farm-house_, _no one would have cared to predict its revival as an inn_. _But as such it was reopened_, _chiefly for the use of motorists_, _in_ 1906, _and there it is to-day_.

_But_, _apart from the tarred and asphalted condition of the actual roadway in these times_, _the route_, _all the way between London_, _York and Edinburgh_, _looks much the same as it did_. _Only_, _where perhaps one person might then know it thoroughly_, _from end to end_, _a hundred are well acquainted with the way and its features_. _It is for those many who now know the Great North Road that this new edition is prepared_, _giving the story of the long highway between the two capitals_.

CHARLES G. HARPER.

_April_, 1922.

THE GREAT NORTH ROAD

LONDON TO YORK

MILES Islington (the “Angel”) 1¼ Highgate Archway 4¼ East End, Finchley 5¾ Brown’s Wells, Finchley Common (“Green Man”) 7 Whetstone 9¼ Greenhill Cross 10¼ Barnet 11¼ Hadley Green 12 Ganwick Corner (“Duke of York”) 13 Potter’s Bar 14¼ Little Heath Lane 15¼ Bell Bar (“Swan”) 17¼ Hatfield 19¾ Stanborough 21½ Lemsford Mills (cross River Lea) 22¼ Digswell Hill (cross River Mimram) 23¼ Welwyn 25¼ Woolmer Green 27¼ Broadwater 29½ Stevenage 31½ Graveley 33½ Baldock 37½ Biggleswade (cross River Ivel) 45¼ Lower Codicote 46¾ Beeston Cross (cross River Ivel) 48¼ Girlford 49¼ Tempsford (cross River Ouse) 51 Wyboston 54 Eaton Socon 55¼ Cross Hall 56¾ Diddington 60 Buckden 61¼ Brampton Hut 63¾ Alconbury 66¼ Alconbury Weston 67 Alconbury Hill (“Wheatsheaf”) 68 Sawtry St. Andrews 71½ Stilton 75½ Norman Cross 76 Kate’s Cabin 79½ Water Newton 81¼ Sibson 82 Stibbington (cross River Nene) 83¾ Wansford 84 Stamford Baron (cross River Welland) 89 Stamford 89½ Great Casterton 91½ Stretton 96 Greetham (“New Inn”) 97½ North Witham (“Black Bull”) 100½ Colsterworth 102½ Great Ponton 106¾ Spitalgate Hill 109¾ Grantham 110¼ Great Gonerby 112 Foston 116 Long Bennington 118¼ Shire Bridge (cross Shire Dyke) 120½ Balderton (cross River Devon) 122¼ Newark (cross River Trent) 124½ South Muskham 127 North Muskham 128 Cromwell 130 Carlton-on-Trent 131½ Sutton-on-Trent 133 Weston 134¾ Scarthing Moor 135½ Tuxford 137¾ West Markham 139½ Markham Moor 140½ Gamston (cross Chesterfield Canal) 141½ Retford (cross River Idle) 145 Barnby Moor 148 Torworth 149½ Ranskill 150¼ Scrooby 152 Bawtry 153½ Rossington Bridge (cross River Tome) 157¾ Tophall 158¾ Doncaster (cross River Don) 162¼ Bentley 164 Owston 167¾ Askerne (cross River Went) 169¼ Whitley (cross Knottingley and Goole Canal) 174 Whitley Bridge 175 Chapel Haddlesey (cross River Aire) 175½ Burn (cross Selby Canal) 179¼ Brayton 180¾ Selby (cross River Ouse) 182¼ Barlby 183¾ Riccall 186 Escrick 189¼ Deighton 190½ Gate Fulford 195 York 196¾

CONTENTS.

I Various Notes On Roads In General. 1 II Road Construction And Makers. 10 III Makers Of Coaches: G.P.O. Mails. 13 IV Post Office History. 26 V Stage Coach Timings. 33 VI Travel Expenses And Difficulties. 39 VII Journey Stages: Islington: Holloway. 49 VIII Highgate: Dick Whittington. 53 IX Highgate: Archway. 57 X Highgate: Footpads. 61 XI Finchley: Tally-Ho Corner And Common. 65 XII Whetstone: Building Of New Road. 72 XIII Barnet: Prize-Fighting. 75 XIV Hadley Green: Potter’s Bar: Hatfield. 80 XV Digswell Hill: Welwyn: Knebworth. 87 XVI Stevenage: Posting Charges. 96 XVII Baldock: Biggleswade: Tempsford. 101 XVIII Some Cycling Records. Eaton Socon. 109 XIX Buckden: Brampton: Matcham’s Bridge. 113 XX Alconbury Hill: Stilton. 121 XXI Norman Cross: Wansford: Burghley. 129 XXII Stamford: Daniel Lambert. 145 XXIII Stretton: Bloody Oaks: Ram-Jam Inn. 154 XXIV Travellers. Some Road History. 164 XXV Coming Of The Railways. 171 XXVI Witham Common: Great Ponton. 175 XXVII Grantham. 180 XXVIII Oliver Cromwell: Gonerby Hill. 188 XXIX Newark: Ringing For Gofer. 193 XXX North And South Muskham. 203 XXXI Retford. 210 XXXII Barnby Moor: Scrooby. 213 XXXIII Bawtry: Rossington Bridge. 222 XXXIV Tophall: Doncaster: St. Leger. 226 XXXV Askerne: Brayton: Selby. 235 XXXVI Riccall: Invaders: York. 242

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE To the North in the Days of Old: Mails starting Frontispiece from the General Post Office, Lombard Street Old and New Swan Nicks: Vintners’ Company 16 Modern Sign of the “Swan with Two Necks” 17 The “Spread Eagle,” Gracechurch Street 19 The “Saracen’s Head,” Snow Hill 23 The Mails starting from the General Post Office, 27 1832 The “Louth Mail” stopped by the snow 43 Entrance to London from Islington, 1809 47 Islington Green, 1820 50 Old Highgate Archway, demolished 1897 63 The Great Common of Finchley: A Parlous Place 67 Turpin’s Oak 70 “The Whetstone” 72 High Street, Barnet 77 Hadley Green: Site of the Battle of Barnet 81 Old Toll House, Potter’s Bar 82 Ganwick Corner 83 Bell Bar 84 Welwyn 89 The “Six Hills,” Stevenage 95 Trigg’s Coffin 102 At the 39th Mile 106 Biggleswade 108 Buckden 115 Matcham’s Bridge 119 Alconbury Hill: Junction of the Great North Road 123 and the North Road The “Bell,” Stilton 127 Norman Cross 129 French Prisoners of War Monument, Norman Cross 132 Sculptured Figure, Water Newton Church 133 Water Newton Church 134 Edmund Boulter’s Milestone 135 The “Haycock,” Wansford 137 Sign of the “Haycock” 138 Wansford Bridge 139 Burghley House, by Stamford Town 143 Entrance to Stamford 147 Stamford 151 Daniel Lambert 152 The “Highflyer,” 1840 155 Bloody Oaks 157 Interior of a Village Inn 159 House, formerly the “Black Bull,” Witham Common 163 Foster Powell 168 Great Ponton 177 Great Ponton Church 179 The “Angel,” Grantham 182 The “Wondrous Sign” 187 Newark Castle 195 Market Place, Newark 199 Newark Castle 201 Jockey House 210 An Old Postboy: John Blagg 212 Scrooby Church 216 Scrooby Manor House 217 The Stables, Scrooby Manor House 220 The “Crown,” Bawtry 224 Coach passing Doncaster Racecourse 229 Brayton Church 237 Market Place, Selby 239 Micklegate Bar 245 Micklegate Bar: Present Day 246

[Picture: Old steam train]

I.

THERE was once an American who, with cheap wit, expressed a fear of travelling in the little island of Great Britain, lest he should accidentally fall over the edge of so small a place. It is quite evident that he never travelled the road from London to York and Edinburgh.

You have to perform that journey to realise that this is, after all, not so very small an island. It is not enough to have been wafted between London and Edinburgh by express train—even although the wafting itself takes seven hours and a half—for one to gain a good idea of the distance. We will not take into consideration the total mileage between Dover and Cape Wrath, which tots up to the formidable figure of eight hundred miles or so, but will confine ourselves in these pages to the great road between London and Edinburgh: to the Great North Road, in fact, which measures, by way of York, three hundred and ninety-three miles.

There are a North Road and a Great North Road. Like different forms of religious belief, by which their several adherents all devoutly hope to win to that one place where we all would be, these two roads eventually lead to one goal, although they approach it by independent ways. The North Road is the oldest, based as it is partly on the old Roman Ermine Way which led to Lincoln. It is measured from Shoreditch Church, and goes by Kingsland to Tottenham and Enfield, and so by Waltham Cross to Cheshunt, Ware, and Royston, eventually meeting the Great North Road after passing through Caxton and climbing Alconbury Hill, sixty-eight miles from London.

The Great North Road takes a very different route out of London. It was measured from Hicks’s Hall, Smithfield, and, passing the “Angel” at Islington, pursued a straight and continually ascending course for Holloway and Highgate, going thence to Barnet, Hatfield, Welwyn, Stevenage, Biggleswade, and Buckden to Alconbury; where, as just remarked, the North Road merged into it. From London to Hadley Green, just beyond Barnet, the Great North Road and the Holyhead Road are identical.

In these volumes we shall consistently keep to the Great North Road; starting, however, as the record-making cyclists of late years have done, from the General Post-office in St. Martin’s-le-Grand, to or from which, or the neighbouring old inns, the coaches of the historic past came and went.

We travel with a light heart: our forbears with dismal forebodings, leaving duly-executed and attested wills behind them. In the comparatively settled times of from a hundred to two hundred years ago, they duly returned, after many days: in earlier periods the home-coming was not so sure a thing.

These considerations serve to explain to the tourist and the cyclist, who travel for the love of change and the desire for beautiful scenery, why no one in the Middle Ages travelled from choice. From the highest to the lowest, from the king in his palace to the peasant in his wattled hut, every one who could do so stayed at home, and only faced the roads from sheer necessity. No one appreciated scenery in those days; nor are our ancestors to be blamed for their shortcomings in this respect, for outside every man’s door lurked some danger or another, and when a man’s own fireside is the only safe place he knows of, it is apt to appear to him the most beautiful and the most desirable of spots.

We cannot say whether the Romans appreciated scenery. If a love of the wildly beautiful in nature is dependent upon the safety of those who behold it, and upon the ease with which those scenes are visited, perhaps only the later generations of Roman colonists could have possessed this sense. The earlier Romans who made their splendid system of roads were, doubtless, only military men, and, well aware of their dangers, found nothing beautiful in mountain ranges. Their successors, however, during four hundred years had leisure and plentiful opportunities of cultivating taste, and travel was highly organised among them. A milliare, or milestone, was placed at every Roman mile—4854 English feet—and “mansiones,” or posting-stations, at distances varying from seven to twenty miles.

Roman roads were scientifically constructed. The following was the formula:—

I. Pavimentum, or foundation. Fine earth, hard beaten in. II. Statumen, or bed of the road. Composed of large stones, sometimes mixed with mortar. III. Ruderatio. Small stones, well mixed with mortar. IV. Nucleus. Formed by mixing lime, chalk, pounded brick, or tile; or gravel, sand, and lime mixed with clay. V. Summum Dorsum. Surface of the paved road.

So thoroughly well was the work done that remains of these roads are even now discovered, in a perfect condition, although buried from six to fifteen feet, or even deeper, beneath the present surface of the land, owing to the hundreds of years of neglect which followed the abandonment of Britain, and the decay of Roman civilisation; a neglect which allowed storms and the gradual effects of the weather to accumulate deposits of earth upon these paved ways until they were made to disappear as effectually as Pompeii and Herculaneum under the hail of ashes and lava that hid those cities from view for eighteen hundred years.

When that great people, the Romans, perished off the face of the earth, and none succeeded them, their roads began to decay, their bridges and paved fords were broken down or carried away by floods, and the rulers of the nation were for over five hundred years too busily engaged in subduing rebellions at home or in prosecuting wars abroad to attend to the keeping of communications in proper repair. Social disorder, too, destroyed roads and bridges that had survived natural decay and the stress of the elements. Even those roads which existed in otherwise good condition were only fair-weather highways. They were innocent of culverts, and consequently the storm-water, which nowadays is carried off beneath them, swept across the surface, and either carried it away or remained in vast lakes on whose shores wayfarers shivered until the floods had abated. Thieves and murderers were the commonplaces of the roads, and signposts were not; so that guides—who at the best were expensive, and at the worst were the accomplices of cutthroats, and lured the traveller to their haunts—were absolutely necessary.

To the relief of travellers in those times came the Church, for the civil and secular power had not begun even to dream of road-making. The Church did some very important things for travellers, praying for them, and adjuring the devout to include them in their prayers for prisoners and captives, the sick, and others in any way distressed. The very word “travel” derives from _travail_, meaning labour or hardship. This alone shows how much to be pitied were those whose business took them from their own firesides.