The Transport Revolution

The Transport Revolution

Until late in the 1700’s, in both Europe and America, most roads were

either rough tracks created by hoof and wheel or mere paths blazed

through the wilderness. People traveled by horseback or on foot

between towns. During cold or wet seasons, traffic was especially

difficult or impossible. One of the problem was that each parish had

to mend its own roads. Most people in the parish had to work 4 or 6

days on the roads each year, or pay money instead. Not surprisingly,

they disliked this and skirted the work.

During the eighteenth century, a new system developed. Groups of men

agreed to keep a stretch of road in good repair if they could charge a

fee to every one who used the roads. They put barriers called

turnpikes across the road to stop travelers until they had pay the

toll. Most of the early toll- bars had pikes on them, and it was from

these that the roads got their name. The price of the toll depended on

the length of the road and the nature of the traffic (see source 1).

Between 1790 and 1830, the network of Turnpike roads spread all over

the kingdom. In that time, a lot of Turnpike Acts were passed. There

were parallel improvements in road vehicles, wagons and carts replaced

gradually packhorses, farm- carts and horses for the carriage of

goods. Great advances were made in stage- coach travel. Coaches in the

mid eighteen century were heavily built and without proper springs,

which made them slow, uncomfortable and very expensive. But by the

turn of the nineteenth century, they had improved to such an extant

that it was faster to send mail by coach than by postboy or horseback.

These advances we...

... middle of paper ...

... In the bottom two layers, the stones

had to be of about the same size and weigh no more than six ounces.

The top layer sometimes had smaller stones. The coach wheels packed

these stones down tight and broke off a fine grit which bound the

surface together. After a while water would run off the surface and

not wet the soil underneath (see source 6). He also realized that

improvements would have a greater effects if groups of trusts

amalgamated to produce long, continuous sections of good road. He

succeeded in persuading Parliament to consolidate all the Turnpikes in

the London area under one Metropolitan Turnpike Trust (1825) to which

he was appointed Surveyor General.

His methods are still nowadays used.

Bibliography:

- RJ Cootes Britain Since 1700.

- Ben Walsh GCSE British social and economic History.