INTRODUCTION

Victorian romantics painted pre-industrial Glossopdale and Longdendale as a remote, inaccessible, largely uninhabited wilderness. It’s true there weren’t many people, but those there were would have been well-connected to the outside world, as the area was criss-crossed by trading routes, some dating back to prehistoric times. These valleys have always been busy places.

Then came the turnpikes – over 40 miles of them in less than 100 years. And after that, bar a coat of tarmac and some widening and straightening….nothing. The last major turnpike, the Snake Pass, was opened in 1821, and roads designed for carts and carriages now have to cope with volumes of traffic which their builders could never have imagined.

This week’s go-ahead for the A57 Link Road, the biggest new road in over two centuries, makes this a good time at which to look back at the history of road transport through the valleys. We will start next week with the first surfaced roads, whose builders were ruthlessly single-minded and wouldn’t have taken over 60 years to make up their minds!

Outline of the Series

Part 1 – All Roads Lead to Melandra

Part 2 – Ruts and Mud

Part 3 – The Salt of the Earth

Part 4 – Out of the Mud

Part 5 – A Thin Winding Ribbon of Gravel

Part 6 – Back On The Beaten Track

Part 7 – The Road That (Almost) Never Was

Part 8 – Grand Designs

Part 9 – A Road Too Far

Part 10 – Tally-Ho !

Part 11 – A Road To Ruin