THE CAMBRIDGE, ELY, AND
KING'S LYNN ROAD

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

The Brighton Road: Old Times and Newon a Classic Highway.

The Portsmouth Road, and its Tributaries:To-day and in Days of Old.

The Dover Road: Annals of an AncientTurnpike.

The Bath Road: History, Fashion, andFrivolity on an Old Highway.

The Exeter Road: The Story of the Westof England Highway.

The Great North Road: The Old MailRoad to Scotland. Two Vols.

The Norwich Road: An East AnglianHighway.

The Holyhead Road: The Mail-CoachRoad to Dublin. Two Vols.

Cycle Rides Round London.

The Oxford, Gloucester, and MilfordHaven Road.    [In the Press.

THE "CAMBRIDGE TELEGRAPH" STARTING FROM THE WHITE HORSE, FETTER LANE.
[From a Print after J. Pollard.]

THE CAMBRIDGE
ELY AND KING'S
LYNN ROAD    THE
GREAT FENLAND HIGHWAY
BY CHARLES G. HARPER

AUTHOR OF "THE BRIGHTON ROAD" "THE PORTSMOUTH
ROAD" "THE DOVER ROAD" "THE BATH ROAD"
"THE EXETER ROAD" "THE GREAT NORTH ROAD"
"THE NORWICH ROAD" "THE HOLYHEAD ROAD" AND
"CYCLE RIDES ROUND LONDON"

ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR, AND FROM OLD-TIME PRINTS
AND PICTURES

London :  CHAPMAN & HALL LTD.   1902.

(All Rights Reserved)

[Pg vii]

Preface

In the course of an eloquent passage in an eulogyof the old posting and coaching days, as opposedto railway times, Ruskin regretfully looks backupon "the happiness of the evening hours when,from the top of the last hill he had surmounted,the traveller beheld the quiet village where hewas to rest, scattered among the meadows, besideits valley stream." It is a pretty, backwardpicture, viewed through the diminishing-glass oftime, and possesses a certain specious attractivenessthat cloaks much of the very real discomfortattending the old road-faring era. For notalways did the t