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Seeing Roman Britain by TR2


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I recently acquired an old book that I had read many years ago while in school entitled "Seeing Roman Britain" by Leonard Cottrell. Some here may recall him. Cottrell was a writer and presenter for the BBC in the '50s and 60s and was a keen student and popularizer of archeology. He also was motoring enthusiast. "Seeing Roman Britain" was just one of series of books that he wrote where he traveled the paths of ancient armies, but in this one he did his travels in Britain in his TR2, most likely in the summer and fall of 1955. In several photos illustrating the book he managed to include his TR2, certainly a sign of a man who loved his car. It has/had the registration 516FMC. I wonder if it still exists.  Anyone know?

TR2-Fosse-Way.pdf

TR2-Fosse-Way.jpg

Edited by Andy303
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Hi Andy,

                     handy book to have and a nice photo.

About 4 or five years ago a bunch of us lead by a TRR member, Alec Pringle, had a couple of Archaeology week-ends walking over Roman / Saxon hill forts.

Alecs Friend Julian Richards would pass on all his professional knowledge to us.

Sadly Alec has now joined the spirits of all the Saxon and Roman inhabitants. But Alec and Julian gave us some wonderful memories.

 

Roger

 

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1 hour ago, Andy303 said:

. It has/had the registration 516FMC. I wonder if it still exists.  Anyone know ?

Andy

it doesn’t seem to appear on the public access DVLA database :(

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Here is another that I scanned, from the County Durham, not far from Hadrian's Wall. I forgot to mention that the book was published in 1956 (its as old as I am then).  I found a copy by a simple Google search. Cottrell wrote the book very much as a driving itinerary and he took his TR in some pretty dodgy lanes probably better suited to a Land Rover.

it would make a dream vacation for me to hire a TR and try to retrace some of his routes. where the modern roads deviate you can easily see the outlines of the Roman roads in Google earth. Fascinating stuff.

TR2-Ebchester.pdf

TR2-Ebchester.jpg

Edited by Andy303
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  • 7 months later...

Interesting. My wife and I are archaeology/history enthusiasts and have travelled much of Britain, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece exploring Roman and earlier sites. A love of old cars, old buildings and history seems to run a theme here.

Some of our highlights were a great week in York volunteering on a dig, a week on the outer Hebrides, exploring ancient Ireland and exploring Roman Italy avoiding the tourist sites.

Do all the editions of this book feature the TR2?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/19/2019 at 1:29 AM, Lebro said:

Mine is a 1st edition I think, as it has no indications otherwise. It contains many photos, two of them have the TR in them

Bob.

Just two, which I have posted above. But still worth a read.

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You could have had mine, I've read it now !

Bob.

 

P.S.  It's quite a "hard" read,  but may suit you very well, as you could drive all around Britain, following in his footsteps.

Edited by Lebro
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  • 4 months later...

An idea for a Roman regularity event perhaps?

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Oh, they did, they did, but seriously, isn't it appealing? A modern event around the theme of tracing someone's  footsteps? Maybe too muddy come to think of it.

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3 hours ago, David Brancaleone said:

Oh, they did, they did, but seriously, isn't it appealing? A modern event around the theme of tracing someone's  footsteps? Maybe too muddy come to think of it.

Absolutely! It would be a dream holiday for me. I think many of the Roman roads are either under or are very near to modern roads, i.e. the A5 or Watling Street for example being the most well known, so it need not be too damaging to the paintwork.

Here are some Roman road " rabbit holes" to fall in:

http://roadsofromanbritain.org/index.html

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/Topics/Engineering/roads/Britain/_Texts/CODROM/home.html

  https://omnesviae.org/

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Great find Deggers.

Interesting to see how the roadside bushes are much larger. Failure to manage roadside growth, particularly in front of critical road signs, does seem to be an ongoing issue these days.

Miles

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10 hours ago, Lebro said:

Following in the footsteps wheel tracks of the author could be fun.

Bob.

Just an idea... the beginnings of a proposal... Tracking Cottrell's TR. A modern run through Roman roads. A Register Summer Event... Tracking and Mapping the Past... the outcome would be a cross-group initiative resulting in having a good time... and making a map to go in to TRAction with sn illustrated story told by several participants. Keeping a photographic record and a diary of what happened along the way. A bit likr Chaucer's Cantetbury Tales, stories and more stories... Then participants write theirs up and we put together a single, final story. Fitting for 50th too?

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Another thought, on method, or how one might think of such an initiative. A bit of external publicity, writing it up beforehand, as a Club event in the Events column of Practical Classics and other similar publications, sending the editors a "Press Pack" showing one or two action shots of TRs on country lanes. Then careful planning of routes AND some historic research to go in to the Pack and in the article as snippets cutting in to the story. A team effort approach, I would imagine.

If I know magazine editors, chances are they'd send a photographer along and then turn it into a feature. We have fun and promote the Register to new people who sort of get a taste of the (TR) "Action".

Just thoughts

Edited by David Brancaleone
Adding functional details to complete the draft proposal.
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