Geograph - photograph every grid square

Sewstern Lane, or 'The Drift', used as part of the Viking Way long distance path, can be traced from Long Bennington for about 20 miles south where it joins Ermine Street just north of Stamford. The southern part of the lane (south of its crossing of the Salt Way, Roman road Margary no. RR58a, at SK860298) corresponds to the Roman road Margary no. RR580 (Margary, 1955). According to Hoskins (1955) the track has been used from pre-Roman times, and was one of the main north-south routes before being superseded in the seventeenth century by the Great North Road to the east (current A1 between Long Bennington and Stamford). But the lane continued to be used as a major cattle-droving route ('Drift' = the driving of cattle or sheep), as it would have avoided the hard surface, lack of grazing, traffic and expensive tolls on the Great North Road.
Hoskins, W.G. (1955). The Making of the English Landscape. Pelican Books.
Margary, I.D. (1955). Roman Roads in Britain, Volume 1, South of the Foss Way - Bristol Channel. Phoenix House Ltd. (London).