Roads of Thames Ditton

From Dittopedia

A horse-drawn bus leaves Kingston, bound for Esher, in 1904—two years before trams rendered them obsolete.

It is often said that England's roads were in a better state towards the end of Roman Britain than they were 1,400 years later. Surrey was not famous for its Roman roads. Stane Street (Stone Street) was best known. ^[1]

Announcement in the Surrey Comet of 3rd March 1906 of new electric tramcar services from Window's Bridge. Services ran every 10 minutes to Kingston Hill and Richmond.

Much of Surrey remained inaccessible. Arthur Young, who had toured the south of England, wrote of Surrey roads in 1769 that they were the worst he had encountered. ^[1]

Parliament had decided that maintenance of the roads was to be left largely to parish officers. Surveyors of Highways, nominated at Vestry meetings, did what they could with insufficient funds. But the terrain was difficult, with streams, flooding and marshes making the lives of road contractors very difficult. Turnpike roads, financed on some main roads at toll-gates, helped in some areas. But the word turnpike was no guarantee of road quality. ^[1]