Geograph - photograph every grid square

Human footprints have been found preserved on English shores from over 11,000 years ago. Footpaths very often tell the story of the poor, as it was they who generally walked them. Prehistoric ridgeways following chalk and limestone hills, such as the South Downs Way, were part of a wider network of early routes. These included causeways made of twigs, split logs and planks across low-lying, water-logged places. Parts of the Sweet Track on the Somerset Levels can be traced back over 5,000 years. Many routes were used for the transport of goods: for example packhorse trails, drovers' roads and miners' tracks. Many such as the Pilgrims Way also have a strong spriritual dimension. Today footpaths vary from very short cut throughs to extremely long routes such as the Pennines Way. And best of all, unless you’re very unlucky, NO cars!

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