ROAD BOOKS
Road Books
Complementary to cyclists’ maps were road books. These were successors to the Georgian road books such as those by John Cary, Daniel Paterson and many others, which flourished around the end of the 18th century, but which had largely been made redundant by the railways, though most of the later cycling road books relied heavily on the older volumes for their distances. The new breed of road book for cyclists could give supplementary information of importance to them but which could not be shown or deduced from maps and for that reason they are deserving of some comment in this treatise. They can also provide some interesting insights to the early cycling scene.
Although the old turnpike trusts, whose roads still formed the inter-urban network, were obliged by law to provide milestones, there was no obligation on them to provide direction posts. As a result route-finding could be difficult, even to extricate oneself from the ever-expanding towns and cities.
Of most importance was information on the surfacing of roads, dangerous hills, fords and urban tram lines. This might be supplemented by addresses of cycle repairers, hotels, town market days (best avoided), places of interest and comments on quality of scenery; at their briefest they would be confined to road distances . A common feature was a lamplighting table.
Charles Spencer, one of the earliest cycling pioneers, published both The Modern Bicycle and The Bicycle Road Book for England and Wales in 1876: the latter became The Cyclist’s Road Book in 1891 (interestingly it was subtitled ‘for cyclists and pedestrians’). From around 1900 this became The Cyclist’s and Automobilist’s Road Book and eventually The Cyclist’s and Motorist’s Road Book, which continued in several editions. A copy has been reprinted by the British Library. A rival for the title of the first of the cycle-era road books was British High Roads: Part 1 – North & North Eastern Routes, by N. Salamon, 1877 and published by Tinsley Brothers, London. This faithfully replicated the pattern of the old road books, with strip maps 'drawn on the same plan as those by which Carey illustrated his famous Itinerary’, but was devoid of specific cycling-related content.The intended other three parts never appeared. Salamon also produced the Tourist’s Route Map of England & Wales, which went through various editions and publishers and by me referred to elsewhere as the Bazaar Map. This map had accompanied Tinsley Brothers’ Bicycling: its rise and Development of 1876 whilst also being available separately. Numerous other road books were to follow.
Probably the most detailed, as might be expected, were the Cyclists' Touring Club’s own road books, which first appeared in the 1890s. In fact, a pioneering Road Book for Eastern England had appeared as early as 1881, in BTC days, produced at the instigation of James Sellors, and intended as a prototype for a national series. This was put in hand in 1884. After a long gestation Volume 1 (Southern England) appeared in 1891, but the two for the remainder of England and Wales were much further delayed, not appearing until 1897. Some of the reasons given for the delay are interesting - more roads than expected requiring coverage, some of which “had only become rideable roads within the past year or two.". Other roads, presumably later turnpikes, were not shown on the maps available to the editior and so initially had been overlooked; and a general lack of volunteers to survey the routes. In the meantime three continental volumes had been produced, while W. J. Spurrier, a CTC consul, had produced his own road book. Further CTC volumes covered Scotland (1897) and Ireland (initially in two volumes, 1899 & 1900).
The initial CTC volumes were rather weighty, with the text almost entirely given over to detailed directions, duplicating rather than complementing a map (the Scottish volume, however, was more ‘chattty’,with notes on scenery and historical references). No maps were included in the guides, other than a small-scale key map (printed by Edward Stanford, on waterproof paper) included in a cover pocket. Complementary descriptive articles appeared in the CTC Monthly Gazette and from 1898 some Road Book volumes were supplemented by ‘Companion’ books of the same districts, giving a general tourist guide structured around the routes.
In Ireland, R. J. Mecredy (a former champion racing cyclist, 1861 – 1924) published a well-received Road Book of Ireland. This first appeared as a single volume in 1892, later as two volumes. More information is given on the Mecredy page. Other publications which transmuted from cyclist to motorist guides (in their titles more than their content) were those by T. Throup for North Wales, Northern England and The West Country.
Other popular works were the Contour Road Books by Gall & Inglis (covered in some detail under their heading), which crammed a lot of information in their small size. These gave detailed vertical profiles for the roads as well as distances to ⅛ mile. Cycling magazine published their own profile road book – the Profile Road Book of England - using extracts from the Gall & Inglis originals by arrangement: this was later taken up by E. J. Larby Ltd. There was also the Cycling Pocket Road Book (1907), confining itself to distances and other works on the same lines by Geographia etc.
These rivals undermined the popularity of the CTC road books. Some volumes had expanded to the size and weight of a brick, defeating their purpose as a portable aid. What was the point of all those detailed directions if the book stayed at home? The original series was superseded from 1911 by a new series, more compact in size, incorporating strip maps on a scale of five miles to the inch, and (in a nod to the popularity of the ‘Contour’ Road Books and suchlike) adjacent road profiles for all but the flattest routes. The text now covered features of interest, locations requiring care etc, with fewer observations on road surface. A separate appendix included town plans and descriptions. The three volumes for England and Wales became six. Those for Ireland (now combined as one volume) and Scotland were not revamped and reissued.
Although four volumes of the CTC New Series had appeared before WW1 – Vol. 6 North-West England (1911), Vol. 1 South-East England (1912), Vol. 2 South-West England (1913 ), Vol. 5 North-East England (1913), publication of the remaining volumes 3 East Anglia and 4 West Midlands & Wales was delayed – the CTC no longer had the volunteers on the ground to support the virtual rewriting of the books. Volume 4 did not appear until 1931 , by which time some of the other volumes were out of print. Volume 3 was still ‘in preparation’ according to the 1932 CTC Handbook so may never have appeared. By now, with reliable road surfaces and road numbering, the need for a road book was diminishing: a decent map (more likely to be updated for newly-built roads) was sufficient. General guidebooks, formerly tied to rail-based itineraries, were now more road-based. And as the compilers admitted, more cyclists were spurning the direct main routes of the road books for quieter alternatives. The CTC did bring out a series of over a dozen 'Route Books' during the 1930s, but these were more accommodation guides than touring guides.
Road books in general provide rather dry reading, but the following extracts may be of interest:
P. 27: Reigate Hill: here the cyclist should dismount (Bicycle Union “danger board” is erected on left) for the long winding descent of Reigate Hill, running right down into the town: the first part, ⅓m long, is very steep, with its surface for half its width on the left formed of loose stony gravel, and extremely rough, while on the other half a double row of flagstones is laid for upward vehicle traffic; this descent is unrideable except with a very powerful brake, though it has been ridden down and can be just ridden up by a good rider keeping to the flagstones, but in any case is dangerous… the average gradient on the flagstones is 10ft in 100ft.
P. 140: Birmingham… for a town is very hilly and bicyclists had best give it a wide berth.
P. 140: Birmingham – Wolverhampton… it is a macadam road, and very bad for cycling, being extremely rough and full of holes; tramway laid and heavy traffic.
[so not much changed!]
CTC British Road Book, Vol 2 3rd Ed. 1906:
P. 27: Brynmawr to Crumlin. Cyclists who are strangers to the locality should not attempt to ride into Aber-beeg from either direction.
CTC British Road Book, Vol 4 1897:
P. 357 Circuit of Arran: It is a narrow road,
with very variable surface. On the less frequented portions the surface is
loose and rough, but on the whole it offers fair riding. Tricyclists, however, will
not find the roads in Arran adapted to their machines either with regard to the
nature of the road-surface or to the fact that only a narrow foot-bridge is
provided for crossing some of the streams. The scenery is very
fine throughout. [Such water-splashes
were not unknown on contemporary English and Welsh main roads. Motor cars were prohibited on most of Arran’s roads until 1913, when they were admitted subject to the same 10mph speed lImit that had applied to motor cycles.]
Norwich to Lynn via Bawdeswell and Litcham. This is the old coach route between Norwich and Lynn. Owing to the fact that it passes through no places of importance and that it traverses a sparsely populated district, it has to a large extent fallen into disuse as a continuous route. For cycling, however, it forms a pleasant variation from the main road, via East Dereham and Swaffham; it is sequestered, very open, and takes high ground. On the other hand, the surface is inferior to the main road and in parts, particularly between Litcham and Gayton, is rough and sandy, but regarded as a whole is a very fair road.
CTC British Road Book, New Series, Vol 6 North-West England 1911, p110:
Honister Hause. Probably vilest coach road extant, though improved. Descent by new private road, rideable, despite gates. Pay 2d at low end if keeper there; otherwise lift machine over last gate.
[The reference to ‘at the low end’ suggests imposters were bilking travellers for payment at the top! 1930s improvements to the public road rendered the toll road redundant, though it can still be followed by bike].
CTC British Road Book, New Series, Vol 6 North-West England 1911, p139:
Route 79. Marske – Middleham – Kettlewell: Track very steep and stony near summit… only for hardy riders; surface fair to Bradley, then poor; descent at first unrideable [into Wharfedale]. Swaledale is deepest and narrowest valley in N. Yorks; somewhat gloomy and with few good inns.
Contour Road Book of England, S.E. Division 1898, General Notes:
From the north, the Great North Road from Doncaster to London is the best and should be chosen if at all convenient… from the west the Bath Road is the best main highway; from the south-west the road by Winchester.Strangers who are visiting London will find the seven miles of “suburbs” into, or out of the city very wearisome, and are recommended to take the train. Riding in “the City” is highly dangerous to the uninitiated, and even to the initiated very risky… The trains on the underground railway run every few minutes to all parts of London. Cycles go in the van next the engine.
[The early ‘cut & cover’ lines were still steam operated. The later, deeper ‘tubes’ have always been electrified and not conveyed bicycles]
Contour Road Book of Ireland, ‘Royal’ Edition, 1902:
At the present moment hardly any county [in Ireland] can be said to have the pre-eminence in regard to superiority of roads. The average main road is very bumpy wherever there is heavy traffic, and were it not that footpath riding is sympathetically looked upon by the Constabulary, the tourist would have a bad time of it in many districts. In Phoenix Park Dublin, the cyclist may ride on the footpaths.
[The reference to footpath is to what in modern parlance would be footway: it was a test case concerning a cyclist wheeling his machine on the footway that led to a bicycle being defined as a carriage and its use confined to the roadway. It does not render riding on a footpath not forming part of a road illegal. Few rural roads ever had a ‘footway’, which in practice would have been no more than a verge, and such that existed have mostly long been subsumed into widened carriageways. Footway riding seems to have been more widely tolerated in Ireland than Gt Britain.]
Contour Road Book of Scotland, 1903:
Tyndrum to Fort William: This is a bad road. From Tyndrum to Inveroran the surface is poor – in fact rather stony – thereafter the road becomes much worse, and though it improves a little near Kingshouse it is very rough and stony down Glencoe, and has several very nasty turns at 24¾m. As the streams in heavy rains often sweep the road, it is sometimes in parts more like a river-bed. After Claichaig the road is good, though undulating to Ballachulish. Thence to Fort William, undulating at first, is a magnificent road.
[A new line of road was built from Tyndrum to Kingshouse in the 1930s and forms the present A82. Its original carriageway width was 18ft – the modern standard is 7.3m (24ft) plus margin strips. The old road, abandoned north of Inveroran, is now a cycle route]
Contour Road Book of England, Northern Division, 1906:
Ilkley to Aysgarth: From Ilkley the road has a very good surface all the way to Buckden, but between Addingham and Linton there are a number of steep and rather dangerous hills. Particular care will need to be taken at the very short sharp hill just before Bolton Bridge. Beyond Buckden it is a wretched road over the hill to Bishop Dale, until the foot of Kidstones Bank is reached, when it becomes a fair road to Aysgarth.
Mecredy’s Road Book of Ireland, Volume 2, 6th edition c. 1912:
Dublin to Killarney: At date of publication arrangements have been made to complete the steam-rolling of the entire road from Mallow to Killarney via Banteer, Millstreet, and Rathmore, which will then be much superior to the Cloonbannin route. The work, as it is completed, will be indicated on Mecredy’s Map of Ireland, a new edition of which, showing all the steam-rollered roads coloured blue, is published every summer.
Gap of Dunloe – There is a long walk to the top, and for 6d. the assistance of a youth can be had to push one’s machine.
Short Spins Round London, Arrowsmith & Inglis, 1906:
The Ruislip Road, Route 28: Though not the direct, this is the easiest and prettiest route [from London] to the popular cycling resort of Rickmansworth. It is a quiet lane through the heart of Middlesex, passing spots of such arcadian beauty as Perivale, Greenford, and Ruislip.
[The modern London cyclist cannot read this book without shedding a tear]
The Romford Road, Route 45: Tramlines to Chadwell Heath, and the usual bad paving – stone and wood alternating – succeeded by lumpy macadam that prevails for almost the entire length of the road. 10½ miles of streets. The route is far easier reversed, having in the forward direction a nearly continual rise to Brentwood, the last bit steep (reversed, a happy hunting ground for the local constabulary!)
[From 1903 the rural speed limit was 20mph for both motor vehicles and cyclists, but most towns imposed a 10mph limit. ‘Scorchers’ cycling ‘furiously’ could typically attract a 5s fine. In this respect, Reigate “possesses an evil reputation in its uncharitable regard for cyclists”]
Scottish Hill Path Contours, Harry R. G. Inglis, c. 1930:
The Larig Ghru, Aviemore to Braemar: Every few years a cyclist takes his bicycle to speed his journey, and although warned not to do so, invariably makes the attempt. As the bicycle has to be carried about 3 miles, it is difficult to understand why it is done.
[The Larig remains probably the toughest off-road challenge in Britain]
Gradually the Road Book developed from one primarily devoted to the condition and suitability of the road to a more general guide book of the district covered, and directly or implicitly also aimed at the ever-increasing number of motorists. Such guide books, many by local publishers, are simply too numerous to mention. I would make exception for Hugill’s Road Guide to Northumberland & the Border (1931, invaluable even today), the Roadfaring Guides by Reginald Wellbye (1913 onwards, by the former touring columnist of Cycling magazine), and the Cycle Touring Guides by Harold Briercliffe. Some of the Briercliffe guides have been republished in facsimile.
The Roadfaring Guides, by Reginald Wellbye, included some idiosyncratic maps, giving overall impressions of a particular district or locality – ‘pretty villages’, ‘interesting church’ etc - rather than simply aiding navigation. The books included suggested tours, a gazetteer and literary associations.
Books of cycling routes, generally accompanied with bespoke maps, have made a comeback since the nadir of cycling in the 1970s and 1980s, but these do not pretend to be comprehensive ‘A to B’ descriptions of inter-town routes in the manner of the original road books. Increasingly the emphasis is on ‘off-road’ routes or guides confined to specific long-distance cycle routes. There are even guides for cyclists who like to ride up hills. At the same time, the expansion of motorways and other bypass routes rendered the old-fashioned road book of little value to motorists. They have passed into history.
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