"The Roman Way" is a 174-mile walk, on the theme of Roman roads, using public rights of way. It follows a triangle formed by three Roman roads from Chesterton, near Bicester in Oxfordshire, to Cirencester in Gloucestershire, and on to the Roman walled town of Silchester in Hampshire, returning to the Roman military fort at Alchester near the starting point. The route follows Akeman Street as it crosses the limestone heights of the Cotswold Hills to Cirencester, then south-east following the Ermin Way across the Wiltshire Downs, through the village of Speen in Berkshire, descending to cross the River Kennet as the Romans did. The way continues through the heathlands and pine forest north to Dorchester on Thames. From this Roman settlement, the route goes directly north beside Oxford and across Otmoor, the marsh where the Romans built a bridge to reach the fort at Alchester. The book divides the Roman Way into 17 sections, all of which have suggested access points for shorter distances, information about public transport, a list of tea shops, pubs and accommodation.
Each day's walk is accompanied by the relevant sections of the Ordnance Survey map and is vividly illustrated throughout giving archaeological, historical, botanical and local anecdotal detail.
Author Biography
Elaine Steane (nee Fullard) is the daughter of a cartographer and a geographer so grew up being able to identify glacial moraines and U-shaped valleys. She has an enduring love of maps. Her first book, The Seven Shires Way, a 234-mile walk around the Oxfordshire county boundary, has been adopted by Girlguiding Oxfordshire for their 2010 centenary Big Walk Challenge. As a nurse, she specialised in the prevention of heart disease and stroke for which work she was honoured with an MBE. The 'Human MOT' was part of this work and promoting walking across the countryside was among the recommendations for benefiting physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Elaine is a member of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and the Oxfordshire Ramblers. She holds the Advanced Diploma in Environmental Conservation from the University of Oxford's Department for Continuing Education.
