Wooden block roads


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Can anyone remember wooden blocks roads ,they was about the same size as normal bricks,but laid on their sides,and was tarred over,or has old age finally overtaken me.

I remember you could go down to the corporation yard on London road and get a barrow load for 9d (0old pence)they was great for burning as logs,but you needed to get the sweep in regular.

I think they was on the roads around sneinton market.

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Its the first time I have heard of them and can't remember wooden block paved streets but you are absolutely correct .

There are a couple of stories , one from 1935 where the wooden blocks surrounding the disused tram lines on St. Anns Well Rd were in bad repair and a letter writer to the Evening Post said they needed replacing and that he wondered if the council were waiting for a heavy shower so that they would float away !

There is another earlier story where the council were digging up a wood block road off St James St and a crowd of people went to "assist" the workmen . In no time the road was cleared and the closing comment of the story was "no doubt the people of Nottingham, sitting by their roaring fires this evening will forgive the Corporation their extravagance of building wood block roads ".

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The reason I mention Cheapside is I was told a story by a friend.

He worked as a telegraph lad from about 1947 and spent an awful amount of time in the market square in fact he describes it has his play ground and I am sure he mentioned floating wooden road blocks.

I will see him tomorrow for a pint and will ask the question.

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NOT SURE BUT I THINK IT WAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH HORSES AND THEY DID NOT SLIP SO EASERLY ON THEM MANY FARRIERS USED TO HAVE WOODEN BLOCK FLOORS FOR THE SAME REASON

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Saw my mate today and he confirmed all the roads around the market square were wooden blocks most covered with a thin layer of asphalt with grit on top. Thinks it was something to do with the tram tracks but not sure.

He did confirm he had seen the road 'floating' after very heavy rain. The water would get under the blocks and lift them slightly and give a sort of wave action if you walked on them.

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shapeimage_1.png

Not many pictures around but apparently this was one of the last wooden block streets in London

"Wooden Block Paving

This is the last surviving wood paving in London. Wood was introduced in the Victorian era as it was quieter under iron-rimmed wagon wheels, and safer for horses (again, iron-shod) than stone or tar, especially on hills. However, it was harder to keep clean, absorbed smells – and needed great skill to lay.

Chequer Street EC1"

Good article here on wood block roads , not necessarily Notts , but looks like posh streets got hard wood blocks and poorer streets had a soft wood block and that wood absorbed all sorts of liquids including horse pee !

If there was a heavy shower a heavy wagon passing over these cheaper wood blocks could squirt a smelly liquid mess up to 15 feet up a house wall .

http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/wood/

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On BBC4 last night there was a repeat (for the 300th time) of a programme about the history of trams in Britain. It included an advert from the 1890s for the newly-built tram system in Bristol, and it's interesting to see that wooden roads were considered worth mentioning.

tram1-1.jpg

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There's a well-worn story (possibly apocryphal) of a lady who approached an electric tram for the first time, having only been used to the horse-drawn sort before. She nervously enquired of the conductor whether she would be "electrified" if she put her foot on the rails. "No lady," he replied, "Not unless you put your other foot on that wire overhead at the same time."

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I think it would be basic economics, if wood was readily available and cheap it was used.

Here in W Australia from Perth up to Wanneroo around 40 odd klms (25 miles) one of the first main roads was constructed of Jarrah timber blocks ! why, because the surrounding forests were full of old growth Jarrah tree's some around 80-100 meters tall and over 2.4 meters diameter !

In our Kings park in Perth there is a trunk of one on an old wooden wheeled cart that is maybe 40 meters x 2.4 still on show, and that had been cut in half to facilitate moving around !

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