Root and Branch

Also on the Wintershall Estate, an ancient sunken road bordered by ancient trees like one. (The picture is not up to my preferred standard, I took it with my ten quid ebay point and shoot digital compact)

BTW - There is another sunken roadway featured in this post from last year..



This begs several questions. Why do we regard sunken roadways as ancient? Are they really worn into the landscape by years of animal and cart traffic? One theory is that large stones get picked up by travellers over the years and thrown to the side, which makes the road lower and the banks higher*

Secondly, did the tree chose a bad spot to grow after the road was already there, or did the road wear away the soil round its roots...

*This is a poor theory. Rather like the Victorian theory that brow ridges on ancient skulls were caused by constant furrowing of the Neanderthal brow when faced with the worrying and difficult process of walking fully upright (!) 

Aah, how I wish that particular theory was true :-)

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