Dorset roads...

[briantrumpet]

I cycled this route yesterday: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18511864 - I'll admit I found it quite a toughie (not least because I had to be in Dorchester by noon). I have a habit of trying to work out the logic of why roads take the course they do. In places like the lake District or my pre-Alpine haunt, road placement is mostly dictated by the topography. I can usually find some logic even in Devon roads. But I was completely stumped by Dorset - there doesn't seem to be much use of valleys or strategic 'cols' or ridge routes - at times it feels like the roads have been randomly drawn on a map without considering the hills that make up so much of the county. Even driving back on the A35 I was reminded how bonkers the roads are.

Any Dorset road historians on here to enlighten me?

 

[robjh]

I'm not a Dorset historian, but I did ride the Dorset coastal road in the other direction last year and can vouch for the steepness and frequency of the hills!
I would think in the case of that particular road there is not much mystery. The terrain there consists of mainly high ground with deep north-south valleys that come down to the sea, and all the villages are in these valley mouths, so any road that seeks to link the coastal communities will run across these valleys. The alternative would be a much more inland route with long fingers running down the valleys to the villages by the sea.
The other difference with the Lake District or the Alps is that there the difference between passable valleys and impassable high ground is much more marked. In Dorset it is more undulating terrain throughout without clear boundaries between zones, and the higher areas are still dotted with villages and fields which have always had networks of roads and paths between them - although the gradients may be steep these areas are not particularly remote.

 

[briantrumpet]

Hmm, yes, I've just put the ridewithgps map onto 'Esro topo' mapping, and I can start to see the logic there, though the dive down into Abbotsbury and back up to get over to Martinstown, when there's an easy ridge there to follow is odd. The A35 sticks out as being a crude modernish attempt to avoid villages and go in a straight line - it definitely doesn't work with the contours. The sorts of 'working with contours' things I expect to see are: using valleys where possible; getting out of valleys by working gradually up the side of the valley, or (more rarely in the UK) doing a zigzag; following contours round 'lumps'; following ridges.

I guess I'm being a bit nerdy when I ride a road like this cheeky little hill (near me in Devon) and wonder why it didn't just turn up the valley to get from Westwood to Clyst St Lawrence instead of making a gratuitous top-of-the-hill diversion - but the fact that it stands out as being odd rather demonstrates to me how the norm is to work with the topgoraphy: you can normally see the logic of the solutions.

 

[briantrumpet]

Dorset roads were the reason I decided not to move there some years ago! I decided that I would probably end up not cycling at all because of all the hills. Apart from that, it's one of my favourite counties.

Devon has its fair share of hills too, and it was the fact that I could actually see more logic in Devon roads (despite many of them being just a little bonkers) than in Dorset ones that prompted me to ask...

If someone had the time and the expertise, it would be fascinating to see an animation, from a series of historical maps, how the road system of a county like Devon's (or Dorset's) evolved over time, reflecting not just the topography, but also the history of population. There are roads in Devon which were obviously really important in previous centuries - because of agricultural trading, or whatever - but now are just minor roads (and lovely for cycling!) I think if I were doing my education all over again, I'd want to do a mixture of geomorphology and geography (historical population studies). Seeing how landforms have evolved, and how humans have interacted with those landforms is fascinating.

 

[Ajax Bay]

wonder why it didn't just turn up the valley to get from Westwood to Clyst St Lawrence instead of making a gratuitous top-of-the-hill diversion

Perhaps bitd it tended to be too marshy in the re-entrant?
On your route, btw, there's a useful and faster cut through Lyme Regis, turning left (SO) as the road turns down into town, loses less height, and cuts out the traffic lights at the bottom.

there doesn't seem to be much use of valleys or strategic 'cols' or ridge routes

Secondly, I think you'd have found using the ridge route north of the A35 a better option from Bridport to Poundbury (given you were in a hurry): less than a mile longer and 500ft less climb. From just N of Bridport (Bradpole), this is the return line of the Dorset Coast 200 audax.

 

[briantrumpet]

Perhaps bitd it tended to be too marshy in the re-entrant?
On your route, btw, there's a useful and faster cut through Lyme Regis, turning left (SO) as the road turns down into town, loses less height, and cuts out the traffic lights at the bottom.

Secondly, I think you'd have found using the ridge route north of the A35 a better option from Bridport to Poundbury (given you were in a hurry): less than a mile longer and 500ft less climb. From just N of Bridport (Bradpole), this is the return line of the Dorset Coast 200 audax.

Yes, I thought about the Lyme diversion, but decided not to wimp out.

That Bridport-Dorchester ridge looks a real gem - thanks! Must try it. I've been to the fort on Eggardon Hill - it's a cracking view. Actually, this time I was happy to stick to main-ish roads, in case of icy untreated roads.

 

[psmiffy]

I guess I'm being a bit nerdy when I ride a road like this cheeky little hill (near me in Devon) and wonder why it didn't just turn up the valley to get from Westwood to Clyst St Lawrence instead of making a gratuitous top-of-the-hill diversion

It could be it it was a bit boggy in the bottoms

 

[Grant Fondo]

Thats interesting and only just thought about it after many years of cycling around Dorset. There is a lot of varied topography, but look at a geological map of Dorset its like a single country in one county! Thats what i most liked about cycling there, you could see half a dozen types of countryside by doing the big loop of Poole harbour, coast, clay vale, chalk hills, woods into heath into pine forest....thats about the first 5 miles anyway lol.

 

[briantrumpet]

It could be it it was a bit boggy in the bottoms

View attachment 334811

Interesting - what's the source of that map? But, even so, it's a gratuitous hill. I reckon the farmer with the building on the top bribed the road builders, back in 1524.

 

[briantrumpet]

Interesting - what's the source of that map? But, even so, it's a gratuitous hill. I reckon the farmer with the building on the top bribed the road builders, back in 1524.

Haha, just seen the 'BGS' stamped all over it. My brother, a geologist, would be ashamed of me.

 

[Ian H]

Parts of your route (Lyme to Charmouth) is a rerouting inland of the original road which fell into the sea (and is marked as a Roman road on old maps).
There are turnpike roads created in the early 1800s – much of the current A35 between Honiton and Axminster for instance.
As said above, the route via Whitchurch Canonicorum, Broadoak, Bradpole, Loders and onwards is superb. But then, so is the coast road.

 

[briantrumpet]

Parts of your route (Lyme to Charmouth) is a rerouting inland of the original road which fell into the sea (and is marked as a Roman road on old maps).
There are turnpike roads created in the early 1800s – much of the current A35 between Honiton and Axminster for instance.
As said above, the route via Whitchurch Canonicorum, Broadoak, Bradpole, Loders and onwards is superb. But then, so is the coast road.

I'd wanted to ride the coast road since having driven it last year. I think it'd be a better ride heading west (steep up, gradual down), but even W-E, with not too much wanting to pass me, it was a good ride. But the inland ridge does also look splendid.

 

[Winnershsaint]

There are a couple of odd roads in the Isle of Purbeck which on first inspection seem to defy logic or reason so you may have a point. To the west of Corfe Castle the Purbeck Monocline has two roads which go up and over the top. Most of the roads through the chalk follow natural fault lines such as those at Corfe and further east at the Ulwell Gap except for two which are roughly parallel to each other. This is the climb from Furzebrook Lane up over the chalk,

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prz3icW0lBk&t=194s
a little further west is Grange Hill which pretty much does the same thing. Closer examination reveals that both roads pass over a barely distinguishable col at both locations. Why these two roads are there in the first place is questionable but in both cases the topography plays a part in their routes.

 

[Grant Fondo]

There are a couple of odd roads in the Isle of Purbeck which on first inspection seem to defy logic or reason so you may have a point. To the west of Corfe Castle the Purbeck Monocline has two roads which go up and over the top. Most of the roads through the chalk follow natural fault lines such as those at Corfe and further east at the Ulwell Gap except for two which are roughly parallel to each other. This is the climb from Furzebrook Lane up over the chalk,

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prz3icW0lBk&t=194s
a little further west is Grange Hill which pretty much does the same thing. Closer examination reveals that both roads pass over a barely distinguishable col at both locations. Why these two roads are there in the first place is questionable but in both cases the topography plays a part in their routes.

Excellent! Have ridden those roads many times. Some good pubs around Worth Matravers as well...although the local scrumpy takes its toll.

 

[Winnershsaint]

Excellent! Have ridden those roads many times. Some good pubs around Worth Matravers as well...although the local scrumpy takes its toll.

Steep little climb that one. At around 2 m 15s in the video you can see a fence line to the left which shows the 15-20% towards the top. Mind you it wasn't the worst of the day and at around 10 miles in the legs were reasonably fresh. This on the other hand was 30 miles in and I was regretting having the pro-compact on the front.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZoNUiEXk5A&t=30s