The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

Evening all,

While pondering the nature of southwest London, i turned to OpenStreetMap:

http://openstreetmap.org/

I noticed that the main road heading out towards Portsmouth was very
straight - a Roman road, i assumed. I hadn't realised that. I followed it,
to see how far it went. And was quite surprised by the answer. It goes by
the name of Strutton Ground, and starts here, near Parliament:

http://openstreetmap.org/?lat=51.497...layers=B000FTF

And winds up, er:

http://openstreetmap.org/?lat=41.180...layers=B000FTF

It does go a long way to explaining why, and indeed how, we fought the
Peninsular War, i suppose.

I understand from the Westminster council website that there's a street
market along it. That must be quite a sight.

tom

--
I could tell you a great many more particulars but suppose that you are
tired of it by this time. -- John Backhouse, Trainspotter Zero

The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...
Evening all,

While pondering the nature of southwest London, i turned to OpenStreetMap:

http://openstreetmap.org/

I noticed that the main road heading out towards Portsmouth was very
straight - a Roman road, i assumed. I hadn't realised that. I followed it,
to see how far it went. And was quite surprised by the answer. It goes by
the name of Strutton Ground, and starts here, near Parliament:
And winds up, er:

It does go a long way to explaining why, and indeed how, we fought the
Peninsular War, i suppose.

I understand from the Westminster council website that there's a street
market along it. That must be quite a sight.

tom
-------------------------------
Strutton Ground Market,very nice ethnic mix of Patricians,Plebians & Slaves
& the best Garum this side of Gaul."Laboremus pro patria"

The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...
Evening all,

While pondering the nature of southwest London, i turned to OpenStreetMap:

http://openstreetmap.org/

I noticed that the main road heading out towards Portsmouth was very
straight - a Roman road, i assumed. I hadn't realised that. I followed it,
to see how far it went. And was quite surprised by the answer. It goes by
the name of Strutton Ground, and starts here, near Parliament:

You do know that there were a lot of straight roads before the Roans
invaded, don't you?

A straight line being the shortest route between two points was not a Roman
discovery.

--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."

The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

In article ,
(RobWilton) wrote:

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...
Evening all,

While pondering the nature of southwest London, i turned to
OpenStreetMap:

http://openstreetmap.org/

I noticed that the main road heading out towards Portsmouth was
very straight - a Roman road, i assumed. I hadn't realised that.
I followed it, to see how far it went. And was quite surprised by
the answer. It goes by the name of Strutton Ground, and starts
here, near Parliament:
And winds up, er:

It does go a long way to explaining why, and indeed how, we
fought the Peninsular War, i suppose.

I understand from the Westminster council website that there's a
street market along it. That must be quite a sight.

It also has a shop selling rather good baguettes, two of which I had for
my lunch yesterday and today! It isn't on that alignment, though.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

On Tue, 2 Dec 2008, Brian Watson wrote:

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...
Evening all,

While pondering the nature of southwest London, i turned to OpenStreetMap:

http://openstreetmap.org/

I noticed that the main road heading out towards Portsmouth was very
straight - a Roman road, i assumed. I hadn't realised that. I followed it,
to see how far it went. And was quite surprised by the answer. It goes by
the name of Strutton Ground, and starts here, near Parliament:

You do know that there were a lot of straight roads before the Roans
invaded, don't you?

A straight line being the shortest route between two points was not a Roman
discovery.

Has anyone actually looked at the links i posted? Specifically, the second
one?

tom

--
You are in a twisty maze of directories, all alike. In front of you is
a broken pipe...

The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

"Brian Watson" wrote ...
You do know that there were a lot of straight roads before the Romans
invaded, don't you? A straight line being the shortest route between two
points was not a Roman discovery.

Not as long as the Roman roads, not as straight, not as well built ...

No-one has ever claimed the Romans invented it; their achievement was
egineering, not conceptual.

They are also responsible for the Standard Rail Gauge, too....
--

Andrew

"She plays the tuba.
It is the only instrument capable
of imitating a distress call."

The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

Tom Anderson wrote:
On Tue, 2 Dec 2008, Brian Watson wrote:

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...
Evening all,

While pondering the nature of southwest London, i turned to
OpenStreetMap: http://openstreetmap.org/

I noticed that the main road heading out towards Portsmouth was very
straight - a Roman road, i assumed. I hadn't realised that. I
followed it, to see how far it went. And was quite surprised by the
answer. It goes by the name of Strutton Ground, and starts here,
near Parliament:

You do know that there were a lot of straight roads before the Roans
invaded, don't you?

A straight line being the shortest route between two points was not
a Roman discovery.

Has anyone actually looked at the links i posted? Specifically, the
second one?

Yes. But to be fair to them, they do have up-to-date portrayals of Ariel Way
and Rainsford Road, unlike Google Maps and Windows Live Local.

The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

On Dec 3, 9:19*am, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Tue, 2 Dec 2008, Brian Watson wrote:
"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
th.li...
Evening all,

While pondering the nature of southwest London, i turned to OpenStreetMap:

http://openstreetmap.org/

I noticed that the main road heading out towards Portsmouth was very
straight - a Roman road, i assumed. I hadn't realised that. I followed it,
to see how far it went. And was quite surprised by the answer. It goes by
the name of Strutton Ground, and starts here, near Parliament:


Has anyone actually looked at the links i posted? Specifically, the second
one?

tom

Well I have for one and it's a complete work of fiction. I'm surprised
no one else has commented already. The straight roman road that it
shows crossing the Thames and heading into Victoria simply doesn't
exist. Try looking at Multimap or any other 'proper' map.
Openstreetmap can be amended by anyone, a bit like Wikipedia, and
someone (you perhaps?) has drawn your roman road on it, albeit it's
been quite neatly done. Strutton Ground does exist but not where it is
shown and is an interesting little street market right in the heart of
London (and I agree with Colin that the baguettes are pretty good!).

Peter

The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

In article ,
Tom Anderson wrote:
On Tue, 2 Dec 2008, Brian Watson wrote:

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...

I noticed that the main road heading out towards Portsmouth was very
straight - a Roman road, i assumed. I hadn't realised that. I followed it,
to see how far it went. And was quite surprised by the answer. It goes by
the name of Strutton Ground, and starts here, near Parliament:

You do know that there were a lot of straight roads before the Roans
invaded, don't you?

A straight line being the shortest route between two points was not a Roman
discovery.

Has anyone actually looked at the links i posted? Specifically, the second
one?

Yes, though I had to zoom out a bit to see the rest of London.

Still, any port in a storm, eh ?

Nick
--
Serendipity: http://www.leverton.org/blosxom (last update 19th September 2008)
"The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life"
-- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996

The wonders of Roman roadbuilding
 

On Wed, 3 Dec 2008, Peter Heather wrote:

On Dec 3, 9:19*am, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Tue, 2 Dec 2008, Brian Watson wrote:
"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...

While pondering the nature of southwest London, i turned to OpenStreetMap:

http://openstreetmap.org/

I noticed that the main road heading out towards Portsmouth was very
straight - a Roman road, i assumed. I hadn't realised that. I followed it,
to see how far it went. And was quite surprised by the answer. It goes by
the name of Strutton Ground, and starts here, near Parliament:

Has anyone actually looked at the links i posted? Specifically, the second
one?

Well I have for one and it's a complete work of fiction. I'm surprised
no one else has commented already. The straight roman road that it shows
crossing the Thames and heading into Victoria

You mean Porto. The road shown on the map terminates in Porto. In
Portugal. Having crossed London, southern England, the English Channel,
France, the Bay of Biscay, and northern Spain.

Hence the remark about the Peninsular War.

simply doesn't exist.

Well, no.

Try looking at Multimap or any other 'proper' map. Openstreetmap can be
amended by anyone, a bit like Wikipedia,

I don't think it's quite as open as Wikipedia.

and someone (you perhaps?)

Certainly not!

has drawn your roman road on it, albeit it's been quite neatly done.

The fact that it's a straight line makes me suspect it's based on a simple
error or glitch: someone meant to enter a road linking (eg) points 100 and
734327, but typed 734372 for the end, which happens to be rather far way.
Possibly the sort of thing some simple validation steps would catch.

Strutton Ground does exist but not where it is shown and is an
interesting little street market right in the heart of London (and I
agree with Colin that the baguettes are pretty good!).

I'll have to try them. Maybe next time i'm in Portugal.

tom

--
Big Bang. No god. Fadeout. End. -- Stephen Baxter