At one point the UK was a dense forest. From Kent in the South East to Cornwall in the South West, up through Britain to the Midlands and over to Wales, the North and then the lowlands and highlands of Scotland all was thick with Oaks, Beech, Ash and Elms. This was in prehistoric times and humans living on the Island would have found it very hard to navigate or travel very far. What was needed was the making of routes through this woodland so that communities could thrive and communicate with each other. They began one of the biggest deforestations ever experienced by the human race, way more than what we do now.
These forests were thinner near the rivers of the UK. Apart from the water supply, they became the places that humans settled at first because of this. They were able to navigate the rivers to reach others, but this was dangerous and unpredictable. They began to clear specific routes through the forests to contact each other. In this way, the first roads and tracks were developed. As the technology of the ancients developed, they began to expand the roads and paths with clear markers. They built their roads straight; it was not a habit that only the Roman Empire practised.
The Romans built on these roads and paved them with dressed stone. We still use these roads today. Watling Street, the A419, Ermine Street, and the Fosseway are examples of routes still used today by a Same Day Courier Reading service https://uk-tdl.com/same-day-courier/same-day-courier-reading/ for instance.
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