ROADS 



fourth joined together Bath and Lincoln, a fifth 

 Bath and Norwich ; Chester, Manchester and 

 York were in communication, and also Man- 

 chester, Lancaster, and Carlisle. Long before 

 railways were thought of, these grand old roads 

 brought together traffic from all parts of the 

 country, and the railways for the most part have 

 been content to follow alongside them. 



We still find roads of all the different sorts 

 we have mentioned in England at this present 

 day. There are narrow paths across fields, 

 through woods and over downs. There are 

 bridle-paths along which we may ride ; and 

 very useful they were in old days when mer- 

 chandise was largely carried in packs or bales 

 strapped on to the backs of horses or mules, and 

 when riding and walking were the chief methods 

 of getting about the country. There are narrow 

 lanes between farms and villages, and roads 

 that are little better than carting- tracks, which 

 lead to out-of-the-way fields and cottages. Then 

 there are other wider roads kept up in each 

 district, along which we can comfortably drive, 

 and finally there are the great high roads of 

 which we have already spoken. 



After a path or road has been freely used 

 for a certain number of years it cannot again 

 be closed up ; a right-of-way has been created 

 through the land. Rights-of-way sometimes 

 exist for particular purposes ; such as a right 

 to cross certain fields to go to church. A path 



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