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"The roads were looked after by a man who was responsible for their upkeep, called a 'Road Man'. Because the roads were not covered and sealed with tar as they are today, they were very vulnerable and soon began to deteriorate and holes appeared, kicked up by the horses' hooves. At intervals along the verges were placed piles of stones, so the road mender could fill in the holes. During wet weather the roads became very muddy and dirty with the droppings of the horses and the Road Man was responsible for clearing this away. He was often helped to do this by boys who collected the manure for their fathers' gardens."

"The roads were not curbed and the edges were damaged by the horse drawn traffic. It was then the Road Man's job to keep the edges level by cutting them back using a line and a spade. Water tended to collect on the roads and he had to cut gullies in the verge, to allow the excess water to run into the ditch instead of staying on the road."

"It was always interesting when major road work was being done. Steam rollers were used to rip up the old road. Great big giant machines they were, driven by steam power, with steam and smoke belching from their chimneys. The roller was on the front and was steered by a chain fixed to each side of it, coupled to the steering wheel. At the rear was a plough which ripped up the road when it was lowered."

"The new road was made in layers. First, the larger stones were laid on the road bed, and rolled in, with some smaller ones to bed them in. Then came layers of smaller stones until, on the top layer, a fine gravel was put. Dry stones would not bed down tightly together so a water cart, with a sprinkler bar, was used to put water evenly on the surface. Then the roller was driven over it many times to make a hard, level surface. Lastly, a very fine, almost powdered, stone was rolled in to finish off the highway. The surface when finished was quite hard but the horses hooves tended to displace the stones and holes were soon formed to be filled in by the Road Man."

"These 'MacAdamised' roads must have been a great improvement on those before, but they let the wet in and they soon deteriorated with the frosts of winter. Later, they were improved by spreading a layer of tar and stone chippings over the surface. Later still, as today, the tar was mixed with the stone chippings and called Tar MacAdam, to make a waterproof road."

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Copyright - John Peirson 2000