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roman

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nr Torthorwald

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Roman Road nr Tor


we found buried cobbles exposed near the very straight road

Straight roads in Scotland

They're a rare sight, to be sure. Most roads meander like drunken goats through the countryside, but there are a few exceptions -- military roads and old roman roads. It got tothe point that we'd both exclaim, "look! a straight road! Must have been General Wade!" when we happened to end up on one.

This gravel road, though follows the track of an old roman road - buried now under a couple of feet of dirt. In a few places, such as near the top o the road, which is by XX castle, you can see the big stone cobbles that made up the road base and follow along to see the roman road markers along the side o the path.

Most of the stone has long since been removed, of course (and we're fairly certain that the wall next to this road was built with some of that stone), but I get a bit of a thrill to walk along the same path that the romans did, a few thousand years ago.

We walked up from the main road to see the castle, and spent quite a bit of time talking to the owner of the castle as he and his son cleaned up. He told us that this road had been a major thoroughfare for centuries -- used by the romans, used by the french, used by the English.

Besides, it was a nice walk.. Walking up the hill beside green fields, waiting for a glimpse of the castle tower through the trees.