They travelled in trains of up to forty animals. In the hill districts of Dartmoor, the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District, locally bred ponies were used. One favourite was a sturdy animal derived from a German hunter called a Jaeger another was the Galloway from south-west Scotland. To allow clearance for these panniers, the parapets of the bridges were very low, often alarmingly so to a modern walker. Goods were carried in panniers slung on either side of the horse from wooden pack frames. Packhorses were a flexible and reliable means of transport, able to carry up to about 400lb (180kg) each. It was a common sight, especially in mountainous areas. The packhorse train was as vital to the economy of the 18th century as the TIR lorry is to today’s. In the Lake District, for example, no wheeled vehicles could travel west of Keswick until after 1750. The Edale packhorse route walk, featured in the book, is free to download once you have joined as a member of Walkingworld.īelow you can read the full chapter from the book.īefore the improvements to the road network in the 18th century, which allowed wheeled vehicles to reach the major points of population for the first time, most goods were carried by packhorse. Very simply constructed, narrow and with low parapets so as not to impede the bags hanging from the animals, they are regularly found in Britain's hills (and in many places abroad). The iconic mark of a packhorse trail is the packhorse bridge. Running a packhorse train was a regular source of extra income for farmers. Before the advent of canals and trains, goods of every conceivable kind were carried strapped on the backs of horses and ponies. Packhorse trains were the long-distance lorries of yesteryear. Pathways > The Pathways book > Packhorse routes Packhorse routes
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