The Welsh Way is part of the drovers route from Wales to the South East. The drovers came through Gloucester and then onto the A417. Five Mile House was a drovers inn. They diverged from the A417 via Perrotts Brook, Welsh Way, Barnsley to reach Fairford where the Oxpens still exist. The Welsh Way kept the droved animals out of Cirencester and probably saved a nit of distance and probably some tolls. There are very wide verges along some parts to allow plenty of space and grass for the animals to graze as they went My understanding is that the name Ready Token relates to the need for ready money at the Inn. The drovers usually used credit on their outward trip and came back with the money once they had sold the livestock. Tocyn means ticket in Welsh so I don't know if that is relevant to the name
I am genuinely relieved that the message was from a trusted contact and that you did *not* pack up and head out based on the ravings of one of us internet randos!! 🤣
Green lanes are fast disappearing, what were once well trodden routes fell into disuse due to the expense of paving roads, initially for horse drawn carriage, but ultimately due to the expensive tarmacadam surfaces required by those new fangled horseless carriages. Disuse led to inaccessibility, some becoming absorbed in the fields during the grubbing out of hedgerows to accommodate mechanised agricultural practices.
There’s also a Welsh Road in Warwickshire, running from Cubbington to Priors Hardwick via Southam. I believe it was a drove road, used to drive livestock to London.
It goes beyond Priors Hardwick into Northamptonshire at Upper Boddington, continues to Aston le Walls before evaporating near Edgcote battlefield. Some sources say the original drove road ran to Buckingham!
Another great video Paul, always like the ones with local interest for me. In this case my great grandmother was born in Edgeworth and was married in the church there. Indeed many of my paternal ancestors lived in the villages along the stretch of Ermin Street between Gloucester and Cirencester. Good shout by another commenter about the Welsh Way possibly heading for the Severn crossing at Newnham, later used by the Romans.
I love the weekly videos and the ramblings all over the countryside but today I realised I also loved something else about them. Seeing you sitting there using 'real books' made me feel that perhaps all is not yet lost!
One source which we use when reading and interpreting Welsh l places in Wales is the old field names, in Welsh of course, and generally , each field was named and passed down. I believe this is so in England too. There were places, often near inns, where the animals would be quartered and grazed, whilst the drovers and additional fellow travellers who joined for safety would be fed ,(sometimes bedded) at an inn. Old maps might therefore identify this as a drovers' route
Fascinating, as ever, thanks! However I don’t think a ’Welsh Way’ from Cirencester/Bisley was necessarily heading to Gloucester. There was an important drovers road that crossed the Severn between Arlingham and Newnham-on-Severn. Livestock was driver across the river there, and ferries for people existed there for centuries until about 70 years ago. St. Augustine is recorded as crossing into Wales there. Until the ending of the last ferry, these two villages were ‘adjacent’ with much inter-marrying of villagers in the parish records. Today the villages are ‘20 miles’ apart with the nearest river-crossing point 10 miles upstream at Gloucester!
Nice one, I lightly researched the Welsh Way some 10 years ago and drove along as much as I could trace from east to west. A couple of features I especially recall is the occasional sharp 90 degree turn, I forget the reason for this but there was an explanation. Also the hedges are often set much farther back from the road than normal with big grass verges, to accommodate large flocks and herds. This is marvelous stuff, your note about a ford at Newnham also rings a bell.
I'm so glad you are laying the ground work for when Wales takes it's rightful place as the rulers of England. Expansion to the east and all that. We can reclaim Shropshire for starters. And then the rest of Britannia!!!!
A suggestion: The best and cheapest way to invade would be to sail east along the south coast and HM Coastguard will meet you mid-Chanel and bring you in to Dover, put you up for free in a nice hotel and then HM Govt will sign you up for a whole bunch of benefits and freebies. Women and children might have to disguise themselves as 'military age men', or at least claim that's what they identify as. See you on the next high tide; in the meantime we'll put the kettle on 👍😁
Thanks to your marvelous Roman Roads videos, I planned a route from Kent to Bourne in Lincolnshire that would suit a 67 year old classic motorcycle. I did the right thing and printed off a map of Roman Britain, and started on Watling Street at Gravesend in Kent, then tuned right on Shooters Hill to the Woolwich Ferry and followed the Circus to Ermine St, and followed it to Peterborough, where I joined King St. A most beautiful and historic route, and only 3 main roads. Now besides the roads, 😁
I grew up in the Cotswolds and still have a lot of family. We had/have broad local accents and its probably the least represented on British TV. To my surprise one day I tuned into a movie and heard people speaking like us and it looked like Witney so I was trying to identify landmarks for about 40 minutes before realising I was looking at Cardiff and the actors were Welsh. That was my aha moment: apart from a bit of a burr on the R's and a stretching of some vowels, the Cotswold accent is clearly a variant of Welsh - even after a thousand years of separation. Another little piece of evidence is a particular voice some Cotswold people have - it sounds a bit like a boy's voice at puberty but you only hear it in women. The only other place I have heard that same voice is in Wales. That road must have been well trod.
Perhaps a better way to consider it is that both your accent and the Welsh are remnants of old Brythonic accents, ie. tracing back well over a thousand years to the days before England even existed, and all UK was effectively British - ? The seat of the British kings was south Wales, not far from you.
@@gaz8891 The Cotswolds and northern Wales were under the same Mercian kings at one time, but its not just the accent, the *people* remind me of each other. I know it sounds kind of subjective but sitting on a Welsh bus I easily forget I'm not at home. Another strange thing is that there is an odd *voice* that some people in the Cotswolds have and the only other place I've heard it is Wales. I really can't guess how far back the connection goes, but it must be stronger than official history suggests. I've got zero talent for learning Welsh though, I've tried.
@@sianwarwick633 I'm sure linguists have plenty of recordings somewhere - but I've never seen or read any serious work on plotting the connections and differences between regions and linking them to historical migrations. To my ear, southern Irish isn't far from the accent of Devon in some respects and the "Irish" accent of Australian Markella Kavenagh in "The Rings of Power" seems to merge them rather easily. On the other hand, I struggle to hear much similiarity between the accents of southern Scotland and that of Northumbria - even though many claim it is historically "Scotland". Accents might tell us things about history that history doesn't.
@@kubhlaikhan2015 Well, the Cotswolds are just next to south Wales, and clearly linked by ancient routes. And I think it's not really about who was ruling the land, which has changed a few times, but about who the normal people were. It's only now that we have a border between England and Wales that we think of the regions as separate, but before the Anglo-Saxons took over the rulership of England, all of England and Wales were united under the British kings. So it was largely one culture and one language presumably. Unfortunately, we've had this long period of Ancient British history almost wiped from our memories, but there is still a lot of evidence out there if you look for it. It lasted from about 1800BC to 600AD. See the fantastic work of the Ancient British historian, Alan Wilson, who has done some excellent films about this period of our history. It will give you a good insight into those times, and you'll see the close connection between today's Wales and the rest of England, probably closer than it has been ever since.
Paul...... the biggest clue to me with this one is the location relative to Bagendon north of current and Roman Citencester. Bagendon is maybe the location of an iron age 'oppidum', and perhaps the original ancient cotswold 'capital'. The reason why the Welsh Way curves round to the north of Cirencester, is that Bagendon pre-dates Cirencester.......
I can offer a Welsh-speaker's viewpoint ..."Rhyd yr ychen" could become "Rhyd ychen" . Also, you need to know that d and t are interchangeable sounds in certain circumstances . And the meaning ? ...the Ford of the Oxen. This makes much better sense as it relates to the drovers and the cattle.n So "token" takes the d from rhyd over to ychen and anglicised it becomes... Token. Incidentally, the Welsh name for Oxford is a direct translation , namely Rhydychen
There is another “Welsh” Road at Tarvin in Cheshire North East of Chester, where there is a fascinating raised causeway and 3 packsaddle bridges in series at Hockenhullplatts. Well worth a visit! This placename has a fascinating bilingual (Welsh and English) entomology, as does Tarvin (Terfyn in Welsh = [national] boundary) and many other Cheshire placenames nearby (eg Ince = Ynys = Island).
Th original Lloyds Bank building, a terraced house, can still be seen opposite the church on the hill as one approaches Llandeilo from the Towy Bridge ( designed by the local vicar!)
As usual, great stuff. Paul's pace with regard to information presentation seems so natural and effortless, yet I wonder if he merely makes it look easy.
Great vid! I am not a cattle herder etc etc, but if I were driving livestock from Wales over the Cotswolds escarpment, I'm not sure I would choose to go down and up the steep sided Frome valley if I didn't have to, unless there was a great pub at the bottom I suppose. This makes me think of option 4, that the Welsh Way (if it does have a Welsh droving connection) may have left Gloucester via somewhere like Birdlip following the ridge down, roughly the same course as the Ermin Way, to the where the Welsh Way peels off. Who knows? It could be a combination. The LIDAR layers on NL Scottish Maps show what I mean a bit better. Interestingly, on the old OS maps, where Ermin Way meets Welsh Way, there is a 'Mounting Stone' which seems like better description than 'Stepping Stone' !
Paul, a fascinating video of places I know very well, thank you. I was born and lived in that part of Gloucestershire for many years. I was rather shocked to see just how bad Ash Dieback has become in the Frome/ Golden Valley. Freeze frame at 6.18 and the damage is there to see. Heartbreaking!
You will be pleased to know there is an inoculation for ash trees which is placed in the tree root just above soil level, protecting the ash tree. It is expensive, so your local council is nor likely to inoculate all trees, but if you wanted to oreserve certain ash groves, that is entirely possible. I can photograph such a tree and send it to a social media account of your choice. We had ash die-back due to emerald ash-borer about a decade ago where I live, and throughout the ecological zone where i live.
Indeed the word 'Wales' or 'Welsh' comes from the Old English 'walisch', which was used to describe any foreigner, not just those which came from what we now know as Wales.
And apparently is behind the name of Corn'wall' too....where the Strange Celts went ...according to the Anglo Saxons anyway.....LOVE these videos SO interesting......
@@01jvb It's a bit erroneous though. Modern people have interpreted it to mean that the Anglo-Saxons were calling ancient Britons 'foreigners' but we now think that it was more nuanced than that and was likely more akin to 'speaker of a different tongue'.
@@michaelfoyYou'll find Wall all over England, Wallasey, Wales and Walsden in Yorkshire, etc. Because England was full of ancient Celtic kingdoms. Many from these places probably ended up in what was/would become Wales, either driven out or a natural movement of people migrating towards centres of similar language speakers.
I found an excellent copy of the 3rd edition of the Margary book so that I can follow your adventures on Roman roads. I’m finding it great fun to read!
@@pwhitewick You can say that again! My copy came with a dust jacket protector, which is something everyone needs for reference books, especially going into the field.
I would suggest that this is a drove road heading to London or Portsmouth. I would remind you that the drove road through Stockbridge in Hampshire had advertising for a local Inn in Welsh. Another clue would be how the road tends to avoid large settlements, most drove roads do that in order not to inconvenience the locals too much. Sometimes age can also be demonstrated by how such roads ran along old Parish boundaries because of their remoteness from the main settlement. The exceptions to this 'avoid settlement' rule is where a river has to be crossed (eg Stockbridge again) or where water is scarce in limestone areas (especially), cattle have to watered. A final point: very often these roads headed towards lush paturelands a few miles short of their destination, after walking from as far away as Pembrokeshire (in Wales), the animals needed fattening for a few weeks before reaching market.
I’ve followed the Welsh Way west from the Fosse Way, North of Cirencester. I believe I may have lost interest due to it being staggered annoyingly but the obvious route is to Gloucester, perhaps via the Air Baloon roundabout for a land bridge, unless Ferries were part of routes in those days. Also why are you astonished about a route called the Welsh Way, doesn’t almost every town have a London Road whether it be in Cornwall, Northumbria, Cumbria or anywhere in between? There is definitely an ancient Samual Smith’s pub in the middle of nowhere to the west. 😎😇
Although many towns have 'London Roads', there are relatively few Welsh Roads (probably no more than 6) which are known to have been drove routes, well used highways connecting Wales with London.
I live by the side of a large common in the Chilterns that carried a major drove route and several drivers inns. The edge of the common has many Scots Pines, which are not common elsewhere, so maybe yes.
Hi Paul, a lovely walk through the countryside finding long lost routes, very enjoyable to watch. Despite all the hedges I didn't spot a single rabbit hole ..... That stone is fascinating. I don't think it was for mounting horses as normally these aren't required. Maybe for loading something like a stage coach where you need to gain height. Its a real mystery and a great find. All the best!!
Its the WELSH WAY Paul, and has always been known by this name locally. Part of the way from Lechlade to the A417 at Daglingworth was once used by the London - Gloucester Mail coaches
Google says: _"The Welsh Way was a British Iron Age trade route and track-way that originally carried trade between South Wales and the Oxford area of England across the Cotswold Hills. There is evidence it was utilised and improved by the Roman army following the conquest of Britain as a link between Akeman Street and the Fosse Way."_ So, if it's Iron Age, it was in Celtic Britain. But the word "Welsh" comes from the Anglisch-Sachsen word for _"foreigner",_ so must have been renamed at some point. And, NO. "Welsh" does not mean _"The Defeated",_ as my English mate keeps telling me! {:o:O:}
I don't think Wales really means foreigner, it just came to mean that. I'm pretty sure that it comes from Gwaeles or 'the gaels', ie. the gaelic people. The 'G' got dropped in modern times in the same way that the 'Gwent wood' became the 'Went wood.' The main seat of the British kings was in south Wales, so we can expect to find ancient routes radiating out from there to the rest of the kingdom. And of course, yes, there were ancient Iron Age trade routes from the mines of south wales to London and beyond ...
@@gaz8891 *_"'the gaels', ie. the gaelic people."_* The Gaels were the Goidelic Celts in Ireland, Mann, Argyll & Bute and some of the Hebrides. Those in the mainland were Brythonic Celts. There was no _"main seat of the British kings"_ in Wales, certainly not the South. The ancient kingdoms were quite small and formed a patchwork all over what is now England & Wales. Owain of the Red Hand _("Owain y Llaw Goch")_ is a tale in the Mabinogion. He was allegedly "King" of Glamorgan. Even in the days of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (1282 - Bury me in a Free Wales) the largest unit was Gwynedd in the North and he was a Prince, not a King.. In pre-Roman times the Druids controlled the gold routes all the way across Europe. There was tin in Cornwall and iron in South Wales so there were ancient trade routes going back at least 2,500 years, and Neolithic trade routes for flint, shells, amber, copper and other materials even before that. {:o:O:} _(Edited for tyops)_
@@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095 Well, there are two views of Ancient Britain. The common modern 'academic' view of most (sceptical and disinterested) historians is that there were only small kingdoms, but the texts and specialist researchers in this period make it very clear that it was actually a two-tier situation, with a dynasty of high kings that ruled over all the smaller kingdoms and princes. So from the evidence, it's clear that Britain was indeed over-ruled by one king, with the country divided into 3 realms, one ruled directly by the high king and two ruled by under-kings (eg. a younger brother of the king): Wales and the bulk of central England being one realm and ruled directly by the high king ('Cambria and Lloegria'), the south-west of England ('Cornwall') being another, and northern England & Scotland ('Albany') being the third. We have the complete list of these high kings and a lot of details of the princes and their constant wars. And the seat of the high king was in south Wales; there is a lot of evidence for this, both on the ground and from texts. The main stronghold at Caerleon-on-Usk is still just about visible on the hillside above the Roman remains. And by the way, the main period of Ancient Britain was 1800BC to 600AD, after which Britain was reduced to roughly the Wales we know today by the Saxons. From that time, there were indeed several and varying small kings of provinces (but these are not part of the period of history of 'Ancient Britain'). See the work of Alan Wilson, and also the Ancient British chronicle, translated by Oxford University, which covers all the kings of Ancient Britain. I'll try to send a link separately.
Interesting video, that little stone bridge certainly looked like a small clapper bridge, wish we could have seen more of it to be sure. I doubt that area has too many whereas here, Devon and Cornwall, and in Wales they are pretty common, I'd be tempted to call that a clue personally.
Lechlade has prehistoric remains dating back to the Neolithic and possibly earlier. 2x Cursus, pit alignments etc, so a very old settlement and crossing area for the Thames. Also later Bronze age barrows and Iron age settlements. Maybe this is where your Brithonic connecton crossing towards the West comes into play for your Welsh road. Mind you, the whole wider area is riddled with prehistoric settlements, remains and ritual landscapes longside all the Romano British remains to, so your guess is as good as mine.
Very interesting Paul, I found myself just recently studying the map and looking at The Welsh way and Akerman street. I then went out for a bicycle ride and rode along it stopping at Ready token :)
@@pwhitewick No I didn't cycle too far West but recall being intrigued by the road name and thought perhaps I had discovered a nice quieter road that would take me into Wales but sadly when I looked on Google maps the route was lost where it meets the A417. I thought at the time perhaps it could have been an old drovers road or something but certainly very interesting. In many cases we just have road and place names to go by. I am reminded of an old saying "every third generation forgets the first, but the most enduring things are roads and paths" :)
Bonjour from Nantes 🇨🇵. First time I see you on YT and although not getting all, I enjoyed that trip through the landscape. And reassuringly, for once, not feeling alone anymore... I bore my friends when I get into hypothetical local history...
Fascinating video. My understanding is that ‘welsh’ was an Anglo Saxon word referring to people who spoke the Celtic (Brythonic) language. Could the Welsh Way be an English name given to the route because of the Brythonic place names along the way?
Hi Paul. Been enjoying your videos. Very informative and professionally done. Look forward to the next ones. Could you please tell me what laptop you use for your video editing. I need a better laptop but it’s all down to cost at the moment.
Lots of large blocks/stones like that here in Wales. They were indeed for horse/cart access. Could just have been for deliveries to a lost local farmstead.
Intriguing. An old Roman road you say? That may be the origin of the name " Welsh Road". The various Germanic peoples who migrated into the former territories of the Western Roman Empire settled alongside the former citizens of said empire. The Anglo Saxons were one such group. They called the surviving Romans " Wealisc" ( i.e. Welsh.) That is what the word means. Roman. Not foreign as is often misstated. The Flemish, descendants of Germanic migrants, live next the the Walloons, the descendants of the Roman inhabitants of that area. The word Walloon means " Roman.' It is recognizably related to the English word Welsh. " Wall" in Cornwall means the same thing. There was a variant of Wealisc ( pronounced Welish) in Anglo Saxon " Walisc" ( pronounced Walish). It is the origin of the surname Walsh. Germanic settlers in what is now Romania ( which means the land of the Romans) refered to their Roman descended neighbours as Wallachians. You can see the family resemblance in all these names. There is a dialect word in Austrian German for Italian ( the undoubted descendants of the Romans of old) namely Welsch. Food for thought!
@pwhitewick Where did you find the info about turnpiking (and de-turnpiking)? I live in an interesting small village in Lincolnshire (not going to dox myself in comments though!) It’s got a wide high street with a considerable number of large houses set back from the road. Local hearsay has it that this is because it was on a coach route from London to Lincoln but I’ve never seen any hard evidence for this. It is on a route starting at The Great North Road running pretty linearly to Lincoln. The first part of the road is called Toll Bar Road. It feels like it was likely an alternate route avoiding Newark. There is also evidence of Roman settlement nearby (potential villa) and the village is even thought to be the location of a named Roman settlement (seen this documented since early 1800s but not sure the original source). Would love to know how I’d go about finding out more!
Brythonic place names don't necessarily mean pre-Roman; brythonic speaking communities in England persisted well into the seventh century. The Saxons referred to them as 'Welsh' because it means 'foreign' in Old English.
This is fascinating. Was it the ancient route from the River Frome to the River Colne and thus effectively the route from the Severn to the Thames and a water way route across England? Don't know, but fun to speculate.
It’s probably not a Roman road, Several important roads were built by King Beli mawr father of king Llud , the name Llud is remembered in London as Lud gate , also The first name for London was Troe Newydd , new Troy, Tysylio tells us
Yes, it's a shame that few people are aware of how much was going on in this country before the Romans arrived. And even when they arrived, they mostly left the rulership to the British people. They mainly required just that the taxes be paid. And the Romans didn't continuously control this country for the 400 years that we are taught, as for much of that time, at least half the time in the early days, some of the British kings would decide not to send the agreed taxes, and the Romans would have to get heavy-handed and re-invade to persuade the British over again. Some of the British kings were pro-Roman and went along with Rome, but others weren't interested. So those 400 years were a much more mixed-up affair than we are led to believe ... as the Chronicle of Brut (Tysylio) tells us.
One of whom named Williams, was walking back home (to hus farm near Castell Coch) from Agincourt with his mate, also an archer, who was going to his farm up North - his surname was Jodrell, and the farm is now the site of the famous Jodrell Bank observatory!
I wonder if Ready Token may be an Anglicised version of Rydd y tocyn ? Although tocyn can be a token or ticket, it can also mean fare or fee. Perhaps suggesting that this part of the road may have been toll free ? Just a suggestion .
@@pwhitewick Old English assumes there was nothing there before. Portway can be found on maps, as well as Stoneway, Greenway. There is an overland way between Brackley and Tewkesbury using many such names. Walk and Walkers and (Walk) Kings are all to be looked on as routes.
@@pwhitewick M40 (j10) look for Fritwell just to the north then Portway Farm find grid line 30 then follow it west past Dane Hill - Nether Worton - Hawk Hill - Raven Hill - Walker's Hill - Cow Hill - Horse Hill then keep heading along it till you get to Cleeve Cloud and all the hills of the Cotswold escarpment where you come out "Twixt the burys" (Tewksbury) you will have taken a stone age short cut to the River Severn.
The drovers maybe walked but often rode too. If he were to be checking stock in a grazing area and making safe, he would tie up the pony/ horse and do the task. Then, remount and off to the inn at the end/ start of the day. Look at the nearby fields ! Maybe this is an explanation for themounting block stone ?
Why wasn't yhe stepping stone ever destroyed or re-used ? Is it because it's located on a particular property, and the owner didn't use it on his farmed land ? Or that it was in use until metalled roads were surveyed and constructed.
If you are ever in Hertfordshire again, it might be fun to draw some parallels between the remains of the London WW2 ditch in Wormley Woods and the Bronze Age dyke in Wheathamstead.
I don't think that a road has to lead to Wales to have acquired the name "Welsh Way". As others have pointed out, 'Wales' is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word 'wealas' (IIRC) meaning simply 'foreigners'. Ironic, huh? Cornwall gets the ...wall bit from the same root. So a route well-known to, or dating from the time of, the 'foreigners' that the Sassenach/Sawsnek incomers displaced would naturally be called (in Saxon, of course), a "Welsh Way", particularly if that was to distinguish it from the Roman ways in the same area. The Saxons would have been very hazy about where these roads had originated, though, (I guess), because by this time *all* the roads were ancient, and they didn't have Paul to enlighten them via RU-vid.
I really don't think that Wales/wealas originally meant foreigner, rather it came to mean this. I think it is much more likely to mean 'the land of the Gwaeles' or the gaels / gaelic people. The 'G' would have got dropped in the same way that the Gwent wood (in Gwent) has become the Went wood today.
Thanks for another fascinating video. You've used a word several times in this video that I've not heard before, and I think I've misheard it as I can't find anything on Google about it: "Briphonics". Please could you correct me if that's wrong as that sounds really interesting.
I grew up in a place called Aldridge there’s a church there that looks a bit castle tower like, it’s in the doomsday book there’s a cricket pitch behind it on the edge of that there’s a big lump you get a good view down the little valley of farmers fields, rumour has it there used to be a windmill on the lump need to do some research on it.
Q: Type of stone the stepped stone was? Was it notched for construction perhaps? Welsh bluestone? Neolithic, Roman or Victorian? More Q than A. Interesting watch though.
