Roads and artifacts: 03/07/2011

Milestones, Boundary Markers, Historical Artifacts, Street Furniture, lost roads and buildings.

There are many traces of our ancestors scattered around our landscape. Mile Markers and Boundary stones are there too. The Milestone Society believes that there are approximately 9000 left in the United Kingdom. Some are cherished but others are hidden in hedgerows, some have been unwittingly destroyed by crashes, road equipment or even stolen. Roads have been straightened to make them safer. There are old gateposts still left in place, old buildings, and place names that declare an evocative past. The aim is to capture some of this information at least photographically before it disappears.

Although the Fylde Coast does not have ancient history, the Romans apparently struggled to Kirkham. There have been huge changes in the last two centuries from literally a a few fishermans' and agricultural dwellings, to a full blown tourist and light engineering industry.

More historical information can be found here about the Fylde coast.

It also seems that time has marched on and left what appears to be some very respectable buildings... which just should be used, but seem to have no worth.

Links from this Blog

Nearly-Midnight The genealogy website relating to the family. A tangled web of people all related to one another, explore!
Memorials Website dedicated to War Memorials - The majority in the North of England. Visits to churches, but also memorials in out of the way places.
Robert Clark The Father of Henry Martyn-Clark - A missionary out in the North-West Frontier of India. One of the first Europeans to set foot in Afganistan
Affetside Census A small village north of Bury, Lancashire, I can trace many of my immediate ancesters from there. On the Roman Road, Watling Street
Andrew Martyn-Clark My Father and his part in my World. Also my mother and his parents too.
Henry Martyn-Clark My Great Grandfather, his roots and his achievements. Discusses malaria but also his confrontations with Islam.

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

A Stoop close to Tottington Moor Windfarm

On the path that climbs from Bleakholt to top of the the windfarm, passing Waugh's well, and then onto Cowpe Low, is this standing stone. The path does have the appearance of a pack track or a bridleway. The only markings on the stone are shown. This is known as a bench mark.

These usually takes the form of a horizontal line with an arrow pointing up from below.
These marks were cut by Ordnance Survey levelling staff to provide a network of points at which height has been precisely measured (to the centre of the horizontal line) above sea level.
It was policy to maintain about 5 bench marks per 1Km square in rural areas, about 30 to 40 in urban areas, and there was a policy to check and renew marks to compensate for losses due to building and road works.
There used to be about half a million bench marks in Great Britain but they are not needed any more and about half have disappeared.
You can find them mainly on buildings (especially churches) and on bridges.
The name derives from the angle iron which is fitted into the horizontal cut to give a ‘bench’ or support for a levelling staff. I can only believe that the stoop was there long before the Ordnance Survey decided to use it.
Difficult to know the exact age of its erection.

Heading towards Bleakholt

A close up of the bench mark

Looking back up the path towards the Wind Farm

There is more information about markings here