Towards Durocobrivis

Today's walk included more looking for the Roman road where it isn't under the present road. First off was on leaving St Michael's in St Albans, where the OS map has a dotted line close to, but not exactly on, Gorhambury Drive. The Roman road author Margary said a hint of the agger ought to be visible: some wishful thinking required here. Olgilby's map has the 17th century road on this side of the valley too,  and it was only Telford's improvement which moved the turnpike to the east side side as far as Bow Bridge. Only after that bridge, tracking back, could I find a trace, nothing to see in fields.

Redbourn is a nice little place, although unfortunately the museum wasn't open today. Lots of old inns, mostly no longer in that use. Billy Ryan, landlord of the George which dates back to 1589 at least,  showed me his cellars. He's only recently taken over, and hopes to

find out more about the history.

Friars Wash is the location of a Time Team Roman villa excavation, and isn't - as I had earlier hoped - where friars washed the feet of weary travellers in the ford. An earlier name was Fly's Wash: still don't know why.  What I did get here was a picture of what I think could be a quarry-pit to get road metalling. The road is numbered A5 again from the motorway junction here, but I left it almost immediately to follow 'Old Watling Street', now a minor road, over the hill.

Leland in the 16th century described Markyate (or Market/Markyate Street as it was) as a "straggling roadside settlement". To Pevsner in the 20th it was an "exceptionally pretty village street". I wondered how I would find it today. The Sun Inn, dating back to Leland's time, might be the one thing both observers had in common. It looks fairly derelict now, a peer inside suggesting some historic features still. Overall, the village today wasn't as impressive as Redbourn or Frogmore.

After Markyate, I once again tried to find the off-road Watling Street. Very complicated here, with the modern bypass cutting through a platform of the earlier road. That was probably still there when Margary wrote of the Roman phase being on a different line again, past Manor Farm. This ought then to follow on up Lynch Hill, where the A5 (and earlier turnpike) went rightwards. I wandered around the line of this by various paths and lanes. I did see three possible quarry pits, but not much else.

Then Dunstable. I'm staying at the southern end, so haven't got as far as where Durocobrvis should have been. More of that tomorrow.