Ogilby's map
The upkeep of most roads was a parish concern until the 18 th century, and they were often in a terrible state, especially in winter. The situation then improved, thanks to the Turnpike Trusts - companies that were given the right to charge tolls in return for keeping the roads in a good state of repair. The first Suffolk Turnpike Act was passed in 1741 for the roads between Ipswich and Scole - going by way of Claydon, Stowmarket and Haughley.
A man born in 1891, quoted in Where Beards Wag All , by George Ewart Evans, recalls that, as a child, 'We used to pick stones [from the fields] and put 'em in heaps. The men with the tumbrel [tilting cart] picked up the flints to place on the road. Of course in those days there were no motor cars. There were quite a few bicycles, but they had solid rubber tyres at first.'
Before the advent of the car, the roads also served as the children's playgrounds - with games strictly governed by the seasons - continuing so into the early days of motor traffic when the approach of an occasional car was heralded by a plume of dust, seen from afar.
Milestone at Brome, on the A140.
Stagecoach companies were set up to use the turnpike roads, with fresh horses posted at inns along the route. It became possible to travel from Woodbridge to London, for instance, 'in five hours, for 10 shillings, instead of paying three times that amount and being thirteen hours on the road', according to White's Directory.
In recent times, journey times have been improved in Suffolk, as elsewhere, by the creation of dual carriageway trunk roads and bypasses around towns. The A14, itself connecting the port of Felixstowe with the motorway network, will soon get even nearer to motorway standards, as the stretch between Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds is improved by safer junctions at Haughley and Rougham.
The opening of the Orwell Bridge in 1984 was another significant advance, creating a lower bridging point than had previously existed. It made the rapidly expanding port at Felixstowe more accessible, with traffic able to by-pass Ipswich.
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