The importance of Design can be found in almost every facet of day to day life. Is design relative to our access network? Design needs to be a planned and structured study to achieve an end result, but design is also found in random forms, unravelling design in history may solve riddles because when the pattern is found then the forces behind can be better understood and in nature the appearance of incomprehensible patterns often give comprehension, when underlying factors are recognized.
To the map purist marking a map is 'criminal', especially if that map is a public record and I expect that in the later part of the the 20th century this was the most likely way that anyone could have looked at pre-war OS maps.
The Library of Scotland has made available 'online' a great many historical maps and the 1900 edition of OS 6 inch per mile is a particular snap shot of more than the position of stuff, it also shows where people were walking when to walk was the main form of travel*, if the trails left by our forbears were just shortcuts* from that time the residual pattern would be likely to confirm this.
I have highlighted most of the off road ways, which see to have some degree of connectivity in green. A few yellow highlights are those that would seem to be domestic paths and local shortcuts. The red highlights are roads some lanes others trunk roads, but only those part of the roads that seem to give common cause to the direction of the footpaths.
The length of footpath near a mile long left out of our network today has intrigued me, halfway along it's lenght there appears to have been a dwelling without any track for access, but the dwelling is offset from the line of travel and a short length of path is shown joining the main way, all of which is trodden way. This anomaly is marked (1) on the map made up from 4 sheets of the 1900 edition OS joined together, a luxury afforded by today's technology and software, which allows the highlighting in virtual reality of these old maps. Since the passing of the 2000 CRoW act the assumption that there is little need to study the very maps that show the pattern or random design of the network on which much of our definitive Map is based on, seems endemic in all who should have an interest in the DM. Is there more to the off road network of ways as shown by the OS mapping started in the 19th century as a secret defense weapon, to counter a possible invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte?
I have had a certain leaning to the shortcuts theory, shortcuts to church, local village from outlying hamlets/farms, even the ways to work*. The introduction of canals and railways have obviously created additional shortcuts, they also highlight those ways that went before by showing the points old ways were recognized by providing means of crossing.
Those of us, who design our own walks will see a possible route by the ways being highlighted by the green of type of right of way on the 1:25k OS, this often is a combination of tracks and footpaths. If we want to do a circular walk the OS maps give an instant point of focus, the part of the design of the map with green access. The added features and interim destinations that the green access will allow makes up the quality of the route.
This is the difference between walking for leisure and having to walk to a destination out of necessity*. By highlighting the predominantly walking ways on the 1900 2nd edition map in green and sections of highway in red and sort of design does appear, which contradicts the notion of shortcuts.
Some of the pedestrian ways of footpaths seems to use the roads for connection to maintain their independent direction. This appears as a continuity of way, which is independent of the road network and over considerable distance. It does not show as mere short cutting to the directions of travel offered by those roads, which have developed into today's highways.
What could this value of additional continuity of way be? Other than to bring access to parts of the countryside not today accessible, the diagonal of the 4 joined sections of map is approximately 7 miles, should we be walking with destination and purpose in mind as our forbears did, in fact be walking linear routes. Perhaps some of us have already been looking for this in our access network.
When I spoke to the owner of the farm at Moortown he told me there used to be a footpath (2) across the fields to the station, Crudgington, an old shortcut, he did not take into account the continuation of this shortcut back to Rowton, Ellerdine, Osbaston and Walton, but these would have been erazed before his living memory by the airfield.
I nearly ignored highlighting the drive to Shirlowe (3) as a greenway until looking at the footpath disappearing off the bottom edge and realised the map below shows a very strong line north to south, though this route is include in the DM.
Why did some paths follow a parallel course to roads and why did the pedestrian traffic not share the roads then? I have previously mentioned my suspicion that foot travel and livestock being driven to market did not mix well and will not repeat those ideas, but being cognisant of the landowners argument that today's walking is for leisure only and the danger presented to the unprotected person on the edge of busy highways it must put some value on the design shown here. The leisure industry is a fast growing factor in the national economy not to be written off lightly*.
More playing with this map could reveal more explanation but it has become a rather top heavy file for my graphics programme and is proving slow to add to the tracings. It has provided me with enough evidence to think that the current thinking on lostways is sadly very shallow from all quarters.
*Line of reasoning in Harry Cotterrel's articles.