What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

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What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750? L/O – To examine the problems with Britain’s transport system and to illustrate how the roads were improved Starter – How long do you think it would take to travel from London to Edinburgh by Horse and Cart in 1750?

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What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?. L/O – To examine the problems with Britain’s transport system and to illustrate how the roads were improved. Starter – How long do you think it would take to travel from London to Edinburgh by Horse and Cart in 1750? . What have we studied so far?. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

Page 1: What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

L/O – To examine the problems with Britain’s transport system and to illustrate how the roads were improved

Starter – How long do you think it would take to travel from London to Edinburgh by Horse and Cart in 1750?

Page 2: What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

What have we studied so far?

Agricultural Revolution

Industrial Revolution

Transport Revolution

Page 3: What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

Pressures on Transport in 18th Century

1. Growing towns2. Growing population3. Growing factories4. Growing trade with

empire5. Growing movement of

people (work, army)

Explain how each of the above factors would put pressure on Britain’s roads.

Page 4: What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

Britain’s Road System in 1750• The agricultural and industrial

changes meant that a lot more goods and people needed to be transported.

• This left the roads rutted and full of huge potholes. Coaches became stuck and some people even drowned in the potholes!

• To make matters worse, passengers in stagecoaches were often robbed by highwaymen.

Page 5: What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

Time for Turnpikes• Businesses were starting to lose

money because of the state of the roads so the government started to act.

• Britain’s roads were divided up and rented to a ‘turnpike trust’. These trusts promised to improve their road and in return they could charge a ‘toll’

• Turnpike roads had gates at each end where toll keepers collected the money.

Page 6: What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

Consequences of the Turnpikes• By 1830, there were nearly 1000

turnpike trusts improving over 20,000 miles of British roads.

• Before it would take 2 weeks to travel from London to Edinburgh. By 1830 it took only 48hours!

• The money made from the roads enabled inventors to design even better roads.

• Thomas Telford and John McAdam designed cheap and sturdy roads but McAdam’s were more popular.

Answer Questions 1-3 on page 37

Page 7: What was wrong with Britain’s roads in 1750?

Plenary

1. Describe two ways in which Britain’s roads were being put under pressure in 1750

2. Describe two problems with Britain’s roads in 1750.

3. How did turnpikes improve the roads?4. Name 2 types of road that were designed.

Did we meet our learning objective?L/O – To examine the problems with Britain’s transport system and to illustrate how the roads were improved