Welcome to Rural Roads

Within the UK there is a growing community of road enthusiasts and there are websites giving details of many of Britain's major roads. Check out the links to get access to these. This page is slightly different, in that it makes a tribute to some of Britain's great rural roads, including the Wrynose, Hardknott and Kirkstone passes in the Lake District, the Roads in Dartmoor, the Brecon Beacons, north Essex and Winnats pass in the Peak District.

This is very much a work in progress, and is probably not the sort of site that can ever be described as finished. My intention is to update it as and when I am able, but this largely depends on me getting out and about with a camera to the kind of road I think of as worthy of being on this site. Most of these aren't anywhere near where I live so don't expect an update too often....

What is a Rural Road?

A rural road, in highway engineering terms, is a road that isn't in an urban setting, and, in the case of a new road, is built to the higher standards expected where there is plenty of land around. That is not what this site is about. I am interested in the roads that, by and large, aren't built to any particular standards - they are likely to have evolved gradually over many years from the old pony routes that criss-crossed the country, and any improvements are likely to have been made on an ad-hoc basis. For a road to get on here, it is likely that it is not a strategic route, rather, it is a little out of the ordinary - perhaps because of a feature on the road, or because of the scenery it passes through. If you think that sounds a little vague, it probably is. The main criteria is that I like driving along it. Throughout the site, hover over a picture for a brief description. Clicking on a photograph will open a larger version of the same image.

What's New?

16th October, 2005

At last - the long promised section looking at the A6 over Shap Summit in Cumbria is finally on-line. Very many thanks to Steven Jukes for contributing these pictures. To visit the Shap pages, click here.

Having completed the projects I had in mind for the summer, I can now think about updating The Old Map Site. I've also got more to do around here, but I'll save that for another time.

7th October, 2005

Well, the more observant of you will have noticed a minor face-lift to the site, brought about by me eventually learning how to use Cascading Style Sheets. This should have resulted in a more uniform look to things. I've also finished preparing the pages covering the area around the Lizard in south-west Cornwall, so I can tick off another one of my summer projects from the list. To visit the Cornwall pages, click here.

Click here to find out about previous updates.

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