This month has seen the anniversaries of two major events that shaped world history - Paschaendale 100 yrs ago and the Partition of India 70 yrs ago.

There is also a 3rd anniversary coming up on the 15th, much less prominent but perhaps did more to shape the world we know than either of the other two events - the 300 anniversary of the birth of John Metcalfe, born 15 Aug 1717, sometimes reckoned as Britain's first road engineer (apologies to the Romans, maybe). Metcalfe and fellow engineers Macadam and Telford pioneered the surfacing and proper development of what had been a network of muddy cart tracks, almost impassable in adverse weather.

Before Metcalfe - a coach might take 2 hours to travel from St James to Kensington, London, in wet weather, and the journey time London to Edinburgh averaged 10 days in summer, 12 in winter; post Metcalfe it was down to 42 hours travel time. Economically, a pack horse could draw a load of up to 100 kg on an unimproved road; on an improved one it could manage 500-600 kg. Of course the potential canal load was greater, and the rail load greater still, but the economic impact of these road improvements, going more places than the canals or rail ever could, nevertheless cannot be overestimated.

More details at http://fooddeserts.org/images/000RoadTraffic.htm