Thomas Telford's Milestones

I have been so busy telling various interested parties about this that I have forgotten to mention it here until now. At long last my article on the Telford milestones, a spin-off from this walk, has appeared in print.

It was not something I had set out to do when I began the walk, but my interest in the subject deepened as I went on, especially once I realised that Telford intended the Anglesey limestone, and the same design, to be used all the way. I really had to get to the bottom of whether he managed to achieve that. This meant one or two return visits, mostly to bits of Telford's road that weren't Watling Street, the road I had originally decided I wasn't going to follow.

A few positive outcomes from the research (so far) are two milestones newly listed by Historic England, their descriptions of other listed milestones improved, and the Trunk Road Agency in Wales starting to repair some damage. Also, three original milestone plates which somebody, sometime must have pinched from the actual milestones turned up at an auction and, thanks to some quick action involving myself, the Milestone Society and the Trunk Road Agency, were recovered back into the possession of the highway authority. There is still hope that they could be reinstated. The picture shows me with them, on a loan from the highway authority when I was giving a talk about my walk.

No more spoliers here. I can't reproduce it all here - but readers may join the Milestone Society for only £12.50 to get a copy!