BBC Teach - Why did Britain need a better road network?

BBC Teach Class Clips - Why did Britain need a better road network? - Worksheet to support the BBC video

In the early 1700s Britain’s road networks were simply not up to the task of moving the goods around the country which needed to be moved.

Most of the roads were ancient, potholed and too small for modern business to be carried out.
As Britain began to industrialise, this lack of transport made it very difficult to transport raw materials like coal or cotton.
It was especially difficult for a businessman like Josiah Wedgwood, who reckoned that he sometimes lost one third of his shipments of pottery on Britain’s terrible roads.
In 1706 Parliament passed the Turnpike Act which allowed private road builders to build new roads and charge tolls for using them.
It was a first, important step towards the road transport network we know in Britain today.
This short film is from the BBC series, Why the Industrial Revolution Happened Here.

Written in Publisher and formatted to A3 the resource can be saved as a PDF for A4 printing

A one page resource