If we are talking cart ruts - don't forget the inter tidal rutways on the
North East Yorkshire coast (if memory serves John Owen did some excellent
work on the subject).
Rick Stewart
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Gosling" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 1:04 PM
Subject: Re: Reaves, boundaries and prehistoric cart tracks in Malta
I have been reading with interest the recent ongoing thread about Dartmoor
reaves. I have deliberately given this email a different subject name as I
am going off at a tangent.
First with respect to boundaries; my father (RIP) was a solicitor and one
of his main specialities all his working life was boundary disputes. He
always said that, despite what may be on a map, in practical terms a
boundary is effectively where the two neighbours agree it is. Often a map is
not detailed enough to show a boundary down to the last few feet, so if a
fence is re-erected a few feet from its previous position and this is not
challenged, then effectively the boundary has moved (this is what happened
in my back garden a few years ago). So my point is that in practice the
exact position of a boundary may change over time.
The main thread has also commented on cart tracks; there is an interesting
place in Malta where the locals (espscially the Tourist Board) claim that
some ruts in the rock are prehistoric cart tracks. I have to say that I have
seen there and am not convinced, although a lot has been written about this.
Just past these ruts (walking roughly south west from where you need to
park) are some cave shelters cut into the rock. Again these are claimed to
be prehistoric; these are not normally shown to tourists, although the "cart
ruts" are. The ruts are near Misrah Ghar il-Kbir and if you use google earth
and "fly to" Misrah Ghar il-Kbir (at near to 35°51'6.60"N 14°23'46.88"E
this will show the cart ruts and the position of the caves (near bottom
right of picture). The cart ruts are clearly visible in the google earth
pictures. This are is well worth a visit if you are ever in Malta and don't
miss the caves by going about 50 to 100 yards past the cart ruts into a
small quarry. You won't need a torch although it could be useful to see the
inner reaches better.
There is more about Malta's cart ruts at
http://www.angelfire.com/ar/magrosalibarchaeo/ including a map of where
these can be found.
So this email also has a link to mining history as the "prehistoric" caves
were cut out of the rock (or mined).
Cheers
Roger
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