[SIDENET]

Roman bridge put back together again

It's about time they started fixing some of that stuff.

The Dark Ages have been over for a while.

[Grimmy]

They’re kinda stuck in a “fighting the last war” scenario, but it’s many many wars ago that Hadrian’s Wall was of any real value.

On the other hand, if the Brits could go a bit Roman on their current invaders... might not be a bad thing.

[SunkenCiv]

About five years ago, an expatriate Englishman told me some of what he knew regarding looking for old coins and whatnot using metal detectors. He seemed to have a good working knowledge of Roman Britain. One of the things that sticks with me is that the folk term for the result of a vanished Roman bridge is "birdfoot". The Romans generally took the shortest route from A to B. Especially after the bridges vanished, the various medieval cart traffic had to swing to the left or right to take a gentler slope down to the riversides, creating a Y pattern, hence the "birdfoot". Can't seem to find anything on the web about this.

Roman Roads in Lancashire