To get from our house into the City centre we go down the
main London Road but for the last month it has been awash with cones and
construction vehicles. The council are laying pipes down the centre of the
road.
We drove past yesterday and, looking into the hole, we saw the old tram
lines exposed. The centre of London Road did once carry tram passengers so it
came as little surprise to see the rails but why were they in a hole? How did
our road and pavement levels become so much higher in such a short space of
time? The houses along that stretch of road are Victorian and so does this mean
that they had higher steps up to their front doors or were the pavements in
those days raised up from the road? And what would happen if workmen continued
to put new road surfaces on top of old ones?
You only have to view an archaeological dig to see that this
phenomenon does not only apply to newly tarmacked roads. Over the other side of Leicester is The Jewry
Wall with its excavation of an original Roman Bath. It’s considerably lower
than the present pavement level so how did this come about? Is it true that
workmen demolished old buildings and simply built on top of the rubble? Are we
living on top of hundreds of years of dirt, rubbish and old bricks?
I did a bit of Googling and discovered that in the 1580s it
was estimated that the streets of Rome were 30 feet above the level of the
ancient Roman roads. How much higher would they be now? Apparently each year an
inch of dust falls on Rome. This is made up of leaves, pollution, sand from the
nearby coast and a stream of powder from hundreds of ruins dissolving steadily
in the wind. It’s an amazing thought.
If our streets are so much higher than those of our
ancestors then is the world getting fatter? Are we steadily rising up into space? Will we soon be able to reach for the moon? It’s a fanciful
notion... or is it?
Thinking logically, wouldn't pavements be higher because carriages are higher off the ground than cars?
ReplyDeleteArchaeology is every day conversation here in Jerusalem - in fact only last month they dug up a coin and the inscription on it made it clear it was used in the Temple - it made headline news in 2012.
ReplyDeleteYes it seems that civilisations do continue to build on top of previous ones - so I guess the earth must be getting fatter - but I wouldn't worry thre's still plenty of room until we reach the moon :-)
:o) I'd say you've taken "What if..?" to a whole new level today.
ReplyDeleteBTW These thoughts are going to bug me on my afternoon walk.
This is a subject I've thought about too.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC building where I work was only built five years ago...and some excavations were done before it was errected.
Archaeologists went down to the Norman undercroft...and it' at least three to four feet below the ground level now.
Cleverly, the architects have incorporated the is into the building...and put a glass cover over part of the excavation so we see what came before us.
Does the ground only seem higher, because we're shrinking?! Very thought provoking post Rosalind! Julie
ReplyDeleteThey always say in Leicester you should look up to see the best of the City. So many beautiful buildings have been desecrated at ground level. But now Ros, I shall be looking down next time I'm on London Road. I'm giving away my age here but think I just remember trams on Oxford St. Leicester. Was that the last place they operated?
ReplyDeleteThanks for provoking that memory and getting me thinking about all those layers of history beneath my feet.
A fascinating and thought provoking post. I shall be pondering these questions on this afternoon's dog walk.
ReplyDeleteWhat I learned from this post is that I need to pay more attention. I'm sure I never would have looked into those holes as I drove by. I must tune into the world around me more!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. (But in a way, since most of US are getting fatter, it's only fitting that the world do the same.)
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how seeing one thing can set of a whole lot of questions, I laughed out loud at the thought of us getting closer to the moon,maybe the tickets for the first moon flight will be cheaper after all.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little, I remember taking a tour of a city that was under a city. It was weird then and it's still odd now.
ReplyDeleteHi Ros .. great post and will have us all wondering - all areas are built over other things - as can be found 'everywhere' .. so I guess one we will be able to caress the moon - unless it's careened its ovaloid trajectory towards outer space ..
ReplyDeleteThe Roman roads would have been the parameters - so other roads would have been smoothed up - then as cars came in .. onwards and upwards.
There was a tram in Hastings that we used to visit in the 50s as a treat from Bexhill where my grandmother moved to from Finchley ..
Well glad you were looking down! Cheers Hilary
Hi, Rosalind. I'm stopping by to check out your blog. I'm also participating in the A to Z challenge. I look forward to seeing what you blog about in April.
ReplyDeleteSusanne
PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER
Interesting questions! It's funny to think of us getting higher and higher up.. maybe one day we will be able to reach the moon!
ReplyDeleteI love this post. I did archaeology at University (as a mature student) and believe it or not, Darwin did a study about how things get buried underground.
ReplyDeleteHe found out that earthworms bring literally tons of soil up to the surface overnight (As a team, you understand. Not each.)and that is how things get buried so quickly.
All the dust does is settle on top of it.
The earth isn't getting fatter - it's turning itself inside out!