The Old Straight Track

First published in 1925, 'The Old Straight Track' outlined its author's concept of 'ley lines', supposed pre-Roman pathways consisting of aligned stone circles, standing stones and prehistoric mounds, used for trading and ceremonial purposes by our Neolithic ancestors. Based on his surveys of the Anglo-Welsh border country near his Hereford home, Alfred Watkins believed that in ancient times the country was criss-crossed by a network of straight-line travel routes, with prominent features of the landscape used as navigation points. Watkins's theories have intrigued and inspired generations of readers - from historians to hill walkers, and from amateur archaeologists to new-age occultists.