The Great North Road ...... on the wireless now

 I have just bing listened to the North Road by Rob Cowen, and what a fascinating listen it is on Radio Four.*

 Sign beside the A1(M), South Mimms, Hertfordshire, 2002

My Wikipedia tells ma that "The Great North Road was the main highway between England and Scotland from medieval times until the 20th century. It became a coaching route used by mail coaches travelling between London, York and Edinburgh. 

The modern A1 mainly parallels the route of the Great North Road. Coaching inns, many of which survive, were staging posts providing accommodation, stabling for horses and replacement mounts. Nowadays virtually no surviving coaching inns can be seen while driving on the A1, because the modern route bypasses the towns in which the inns are found".**

All of which made me want to listen to "The award-winning writer, Rob Cowen, makes his way to London to begin his journey long the Great North Road, but there are questions about where to begin. Meanwhile, he unearths Smithfield's bloody history. Joseph Ayre reads.

In his new book Rob Cowen sets out to explore The Great North Road, the 400 mile highway which has run like a backbone through Britain in one form or another for 2000 years. 

As Rob walks the route he uncovers stories of those who went before him, from wealthy merchants terrified by murderous highwaymen, to boxers locked in a brutal and bloody fight. In Doncaster, where his great-grandfather Bill Cowen made a living down the mines, he learns about the high price paid by many who worked in the collieries. Lastly, he takes a journey with his mum to the road's end leading to profound reflections on time past and time passing.

Rob Cowen is an award-winning writer. His first book, Skimming Stones, won the Roger Deakin Award from the Society of Authors. His best-selling debut book of poetry, The Heeding, was published in 2021. Rob has contributed to the New York Times, the Guardian and the Independent.

Abridged by Katrin Williams

Produced by Elizabeth Allard 

Five episodes and available for 28 days

Location; Along the Great North Road"

Picture; Sign beside the A1(M) at South Mimms, Hertfordshire, by Michael Reeve, May 25th 2002, Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License.

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*The North Road by Rob Cowen, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002b6r6

**The Great North Road https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_North_Road_(Great_Britain)