Nicholas Crane, the acclaimed explorer and television presenter, has embarked on a comprehensive investigation into Britain's most ancient pathways, tracing their evolution across eleven millennia. His new book, "The Path More Travelled," documents how these routes have shaped British history and continue to guide modern walkers today.
Britain's network of footpaths, bridleways, and ancient routes operates as what Crane describes as an "internet of feet." These pathways include hollow ways worn deep into the earth by countless travelers, drove roads used for cattle herding, ridgeways following hilltops, coffin tracks leading to burial grounds, and pilgrimage trails connecting sacred sites. Each represents layers of human movement and cultural significance embedded in the landscape.
The oldest paths began forming eleven thousand years ago as ice age conditions receded, long before written history recorded their existence. Over subsequent millennia, these routes evolved from simple tracks into sophisticated networks that connected settlements, enabled trade, and facilitated spiritual journeys. Today's National Trails and National Trust footpaths often unknowingly follow these ancestral routes, placing modern hikers literally in the footsteps of their predecessors.
Crane's investigation reveals that understanding these pathways transforms walking from simple exercise into archaeological and historical discovery. Each curve and dip in a path tells a story. A sudden dip marks centuries of feet and hooves wearing stone and earth away. A curve often indicates the route's original builders navigated around obstacles or optimized travel conditions now long forgotten.
For travelers planning British walking holidays, Crane's work highlights an often-overlooked dimension of hiking. Routes like sections of the Pennine Way, the South West Coast Path, and the Cotswold Way frequently overlap with Bronze Age ridgeways or medieval pilgrimage routes. Walking these paths transforms leisure activity into time travel, connecting contemporary walkers with Iron Age travelers, Roman soldiers, medieval monks