Forums Forums Wirral Information Wirral info Cuckoo Lane, Little Neston

What at a pretty place to meander in peace and quiet.

It looks as if it could have been a Roman Road from some of these images.

You need someone on here to tell you. Maybe Archaeo ?

http://slide.ly/embed/7e4ed6dfed50cf196fa5de4b597d8320/autoplay/0

It is indeed Granny, one of the loveliest genuine bridle paths in the area. Thanks for the link to the slideshow, shows it off to its very best, even in the drabness of winter.

As far as horses are concerned, it's really not a nice surface to ride on. The planings give no grip whatsoever so on anything other than a flat stretch of path are dangerous and can lead to horses slipping and riders falling off. If a horse does stumble and go down it will often land on its knees, which on a normal mud path is not a problem, and even on the sandstone would result in just superficial grazing. On the planings you'd almost certainly get some really nasty wounds which would be full of particles of tar-covered stone, most likely resulting in permanent scarring. Also the individual stones which are usually around the size of a small marble are often quite sharp and horses find them uncomfortable to walk on, can get wedged between shoe and hoof, and they can actually damage their feet. All in all, they are neither pleasant nor safe to ride on. Given the number of bridle paths we've already lost to cycle tracks, this is one really don't want to change.

I will certainly be joining the FB group and following the campaign with interest.

Sadly, not if Chester council get there way.

What makes you think it might be Roman?

Hi Cobby, Thanks for that and for joining. Can you do me a favour and repost your comments about the surface over there - many will appreciate your real world experience, not being riders themselves.

Will do - will also post on the main local horsey forum to raise awareness there

Mainly because the Romans used large stones/cobbles to make their roads as are some of those images showing stones/cobbles. Some examples. First two are of the Appian Way, probably one of the oldest roads in Rome

.

not seen anything that would suggest it's a Roman road. The road itself (gut feeling) is almost certainly medieval in date at the earliest, but the surface will have changed considerably overtime, so there's no archaeological impact to asphalting unfortunately.

Thanks very much for your response Archaeo.

Thanks for that and the great pictures. The lane does have sandstone blocks in the floor but in no way are they as uniform and organised as in the Roman road example - so agree there is probably no Roman angle. But there are still numerous other common sense reasons why what Chester West council are doing is just plain wrong.

Anyone with half a brain can see that, but the trouble is we are dealing with the council where sociopaths, pet hobby horses, political correctness and above all greed and money generally drive the agenda.

Thanks for your post over there - sorry they started to drift off topic; hopefully I can bring them back!!