19th Century Cycle Routes

19th century Navigation for Cyclists

How did cyclists find their way around Great Britain in the early days of the Cyclists’ Touring Club, which was founded in 1878?

One-inch to the mile Ordnance Survey maps became available in 1891, but long distance cyclists would need to carry a lot of these and the more practical Bartholomew’s half-inch maps hadn’t been invented yet.

The discerning cycle tourist wanted to know much more.

• Which is the best route between two towns? 
• What are the roads like? 
• Where are the hostelries along the way (including the local CTC Hotel)?

The British Road Books, edited by Frederick Cook and published in three volumes by the CTC between 1891 and 1897, answered these questions.   To quote from the Introduction: “A MODERN and comprehensive Road Book has been an admitted want since the time when Cycling first became a recognised pastime and a pleasurable method of locomotion”.

Advertised in 1897

There had been previous Cyclists’ road books, but according to Cook “owing to their contents being compiled, to a large extent, from the antiquated maps of the National Survey…their value to the present generation is largely discounted.”

Preparing these three volumes, which covered Great Britain with a total of 1389 detailed routes, was a massive undertaking. The club relied on its Chief Consuls, who had to be persuaded of the urgency of the work, and who frequently demonstrated that the capacity for topographical description does not exist universally among cyclists. Many reports had to be rejected as practically worthless, and new ones obtained. To ensure accuracy, between two and seven independent reports were obtained for each length of road (averaging 9 miles). Drafts were compiled and distributed to Chief Consuls and local riders for checking, with up to nine iterations of this process before the editor felt warranted to include them in the final draft.

Each volume contained a foldout map showing the numbered routes, so that the long-distance tourist could piece together the routes needed for a particular journey or tour.

Routes contained a detailed itinerary, divided into stages, with an abbreviated version describing the route in reverse. Many routes utilised main roads, such as the great trunk roads radiating from London and other great highways.

Subsidiary routes linked these main routes and places of secondary importance. The surface of the road is described under normal conditions during an average season and relative to the general condition of roads in a particular area. So a ‘good’ surface in rural Wales might be considered a ‘poor’ surface in Hertfordshire. I found it fascinating to read that the Edgware Road at Marble Arch was paved with wood. I wonder if it was made that way for similar reasons to this wooden street in Havana.

Steep gradients up or down were indicated with arrows and those having three feathers were considered dangerous, based on the opinion of local riders, although the editor recognised that hills to which a feathered arrow is assigned will doubtless be considered perfectly safe by strong riders and “scorchers”.
Railway stations are always mentioned, along with the company that works the line. Level crossings could be particularly dangerous, with railways and tramways often crossing the road at an awkward angle.

Many of the routes are easily recognisable today and these volumes help us to appreciate how pleasant they must have been to cycle along at the time, before the main roads became dominated by motor traffic. However, there was a downside in the form of poor and dangerous road surfaces and piles of horse droppings.  I would not have liked to ride on wooden roads in the wet, especially with nineteenth century brakes and rims.