The Age of Bad Roads 73 



the course of a report on agriculture in the county of North- 

 ampton, in 1813, it was stated that the only way of getting 

 along some of the main roads there in rainy weather was by 

 swimming ! 



Nor is there any lack of testimony as to the prejudicial effect 

 on trade and agriculture of the deplorable condition into which 

 so many of the roads had fallen. 



Whitaker, in his " Loidis and Elmete" (1846), speaking of 

 the impediments to commerce and manufactures in the Leeds 

 district prior to the rendering of the Aire and Calder navigable, 

 impediments which, he declares, " it will be difficult for a 

 mind accustomed only to modern ideas and appearances to 

 conceive," says : 



" The roads were sloughs almost impassable by single carts, 

 surmounted at the height of several feet by narrow horse- 

 tracks, where travellers who encountered each other some- 

 times tried to wear out each other's patience rather than either 

 should risk a deviation. Carriage of raw wool and manu- 

 factured goods was performed on the backs of single horses, 

 at a disadvantage of nearly 200 to i compared to carriage by 

 water. At the same time, and long after, the situation of a 

 merchant was toilsome and perilous. In winter, during which 

 season the employment of the working manufacturer was 

 intermitted, the distant markets never ceased to be frequented. 

 On horse-back before day-break, and long after night-fall, 

 these hardy sons of trade pursued their object with the spirit 

 and intrepidity of a fox chase, and the boldest of their country 

 neighbours had no reason to despise their horsemanship 

 or their courage." 



There is the evidence, also, of Henry Homer, author of " An 

 Enquiry into the Means of Preserving Publick Roads," 

 published in 1767. He regarded the state of the roads and 

 the difficulties of internal communication as among the chief 

 reasons for the backward state of the country in the reign 

 of Queen Anne (1702-1714), saying on this subject : 



" The Trade of the Kingdom languished under these 

 Impediments. Few People cared to encounter the diffi- 

 culties, which attended the Conveyance of Goods from the 

 Places where they were manufactured, to the Markets, where 

 they were to be disposed of. And those, who undertook this 

 Business, were only enabled to carry it on in the Wintry- 



