FOR more years than I care to remember I have tried to follow our old Roman roads around Haslingden towards Blackburn and around Ribchester.

What I had never done was to find what is said to be the finest stretch of Roman Road in Britain. This is said to be at Blackstone Edge at Littleborough not far from Todmorden. I started my walk from the car park at Hollingworth Lake Visitors Centre.

This pay-and-display area is not expensive and the various plots are shaded by trees to the delight of dog owners.

So it was that I emerged from the car park into the heat of the day. Apart from my camera I had two bottles of cold water - one for me and one for my black Labrador.

Above I could see Blackstone Edge and leading straight up from it I would see a track running straight uphill and now nobbut a footpath.' This is the roman Road, or is it?

"Serious" historians are in dispute. Is this a Bronze Age trade route, a Roman road or a medieval packhorse track? When I started to think about this, I think that it was probably all three. What was the point of the Romans cutting a new route on one which was already well worn?

What was the point in packhorses not following the old Roman route? It makes sense to accept that one road system was built on top of another. Whatever the origins I panted my way uphill to the White House Inn. This is set on the modern A58, but was once a wayside inn called the Coach and Horses in the days of the turnpike system.

The inn was built in 1671 and is situated at 1,300 feet above sea level.

No wonder I needed to take a breather before returning the three miles downhill to my starting point.

As I took off my boots and dripped sweat, I looked at the labrador sitting bold upright as if to say "where next dad."

She looked aghast when I said "back in the car, I'm off home."