fifty miles per day. A wish to hear mass or the organisation of a train by the rich could shorten the travelling day to twenty miles. Roads were described as so muddy and difficult between November and February that to finish the journey by daylight one could barely stop to eat; however a "royal highway" or alta via regia strata was passable in winter between York and Durham, and this could have been Dere Street. Heavy packhorse loads were taken on the route, for example of wool. Clerics, traders and the nobility were more likely to travel than others, and some people rarely travelled at all. Travelling in style involved the use of carts for luggage, but carts bogged down in winter mud, so traders with packhorses travelled more easily in winter than the rich. See also Piercebridge Roman Bridge Roman roads in Britain Gallery Notes Further reading The Roads of Mediaeval Lauderdale, by R. P. Hardie, Edinburgh & London, 1942. External links A look at some of the ancient roads passing through East Lothian, including a section of Dere Street h2g2: Dere Street – From York to Melrose in Seven Days Roman roads in Scotland Roman roads in England History of the Scottish Borders History of Northumberland Roman sites in County Durham Roman sites in Northumberland Archaeological sites in the Scottish Borders Roads in Yorkshire History of North Yorkshire Scheduled monuments in Scotland