Writer and broadcaster to uncover Oxfordshire’s forgotten drovers’ roads at Banbury lecture
Writer and broadcaster Tim Healey will lead a talk on Oxfordshire’s forgotten drovers’ roads at the Banbury Historical Society’s next lecture.
The lecture will explore some of the secret roads used by drovers to transport livestock from the far reaches of West Wales to London and the South East.
Many of the drovers’ roads and paths passed through Oxfordshire and the Banbury area along the way.
They are believed to have been in use from prehistoric and medieval times until the mid-19th century, with their peak occurring between 1700 and 1850.
The roads were primarily used by drovers to avoid paying tolls, but this also put them at risk of encountering feared highway robbers.
The lecture will also uncover the lives of the drovers, their favoured inns on long-distance journeys and the tell-tale marks they left on the landscape, including around Banbury and its surrounding areas.
Mr Healey has presented programmes on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, including a feature on Britain’s drovers’ roads, and has also written about the routes for the Oxford Times.
He is also an experienced public speaker and has delivered lectures on several historical subjects, including Pagans and Puritans – The Story of May Morning Oxford, Sex, Drink and Death in the 17th Century and The Green Man Trail in Oxfordshire.
The lecture takes place at 7.30pm on Thursday, October 8 at the Education Studio of Banbury Museum, with access via Spiceball Park Road and the canal towpath.
Non-members of the Banbury Historical Society are welcome, and the entry fee is £5.
For more information, visit: https://banburyhistoricalsociety.org/