Ley Lines, like crop circles and other paranormal weirdness seem to be almost an accepted phenomenon these days. Everyone
has a theory, each a bit more way out than the last. Most people admit that there is probably a scientific explanation for these things, but there are so many theories doing the rounds that its hard to agree on any solid compromise. Wrong!!!!
In 1925 an elderly Herefordshire merchant wrote down his observations regarding the nature and characteristics of the ancient
trackways in his area. These findings have been in print ever since, yet despite the logical and down to earth nature of his conclusions, this is a book which has been constantly over looked in favour of less tangible things, fairies, aliens and mystical energies to name a few.
Alfred Watkins plotted the paths and trackways and discovered that they followed
straight lines across the countryside, very often going against the easiest route in favour of the straightest. Why was this? In a world without modern measuring equipment, the most precise way of keeping a building project on line was to pick out a marker in the landscape, a hill peak, a group of trees, even the rising sun on the horizon, and build towards that. Once you reach your marker you pick another and aim for that. In that way through following one line after another, you can wind your way towards your goal in un-naturally straight lines.
Once established these roads, often trade routes, would then be the natural place for other meeting places, settlements and ritual sites to develop. Over the years these sites are enlarged and the reasons for their placement are forgotton. Its not the special sites that are joined by a road, its the straight road that has caused the other places to be there, and the road is straight due to the practical reasons behind its construction. You can disregard the modern New Age theories, forget about getting your dowsing rods out and meditating on the earth energies, its straight forward roadworks, with out the orange cones.
Its not quite as simple as that though, there are other considerations, which are covered in depth, but that is basically the premise. For an old book its easy to follow, there are plenty of diagrams and maps to confirm the facts laid out before you. What strikes you is that the premise is so obvious, no mystical mumbo-jumbo, no religious overtones, just a logical and practical solution to the question of ley-lines. Not only is it a great answer to those who like to over mystify the argument of ancient trackways, its also good for subduing that group of people who claim the Romans were the only people who could build anything properly in this country. In reality they were only re-surfacing existing roads, ones that had been in use when they were still an Etruscan village.
Its only a slim work compared with others in its genre, and if you read only one book on pre-historic Briton, this one would be a great candidate. Not only does it unravel the mysteries of ancient trackways but gives you an insight into place-names, settlement patterns, trade and construction in a distant pre-Roman world.