Product Description

First published in 1925 THE OLD STRAIGHT TRACK remains the most important source for the study of ancient tracks or leys that criss-cross the British Isles- a fascinating system which was old when the Romans came to Britain. First in the Herefordshire countryside, and later throughout Britain, Alfred Watkins noticed that beacon hills, mounds, earthworks, moats and old churches built on pagan sites seemed to fall in straight lines. His investigation convinced him that Britain was covered with a vast network of straight tracks, aligned with either the sun or the path of a star. Although traces of this network can be found all over the country, the principles behind the ley system remain a mystery. Are they the legacy of a prehistoric scientific knowledge which is now all but lost? And was their purpose secular or religious?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47391 in Books
• Published on: 1994-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
** 'A remarkable book... it will not be long before Alfred Watkins is recognised for what he was, an honest visionary who saw beyond the bounds of his time.' JOHN MITCHELL, author of THE VIEW OVER ATLANTIS

About the Author
Alfred Watkins was born in Hereford in 1855 and was an enthusiastic early photographer, the inventor of much apparatus, including the pinhole camera and the Watkins exposure meter. His revelation took place when he was 65 and caused violent controversy in archeological circles.

Customer Reviews

Still the definitive book on ley lines!
"The Old Straight Track" probably has influenced more seekers of "true" Britannia than any single book. It single-handedly began the ley-line craze, and probably is responsible for most of the current interest in barrows, megaliths, and "mysterious Britain." It's still readable, too. Good photos. Good arguments. Cool conclusions. Even if you don't believe, Watkins will make you WANT to believe. The truth is out there ... and it's been under our feet all the time!

A gorgeous, thick compendium of Britain's aged sight lines.
Excellent, early-century guide to the fascinating ley lines that criss cross Britain. These lines were amply pushed by creating notches in mountains, clearing land to view old church centers and of course the pagan mounds we all know so little about. Watkins's book is a delight and inspiring. Go back in time when people had to rely on contours and landmarks from many miles away. Sometimes older is better. Check it out!

The classic book on ley lines
A thorough and fascinating investigation of ley lines in Britain, particularly Herefordshire. This is a classic in all senses of the word: it's an old book (written in 1925), the first to cover its subject (Alfred Watkins coined the term 'ley lines'), and doing it so comprehensively and logically that any other book on ley lines is almost superfluous.

The chapters and snippets on the origin and derivation of words, place-names and surnames are particularly interesting. For example, the modern meaning of the word 'black' is completely opposite to its ancient meaning!

This is the best book on history - ancient or modern - I've ever read.