Page:Remarks on the Present System of Road Making (1823).djvu/253

 *men say, that in coming up that hill with their carriages, it not being above a furlong and a half or two furlongs in length, they have saved from five to ten minutes time since it was made road; and I have heard coachmen say, that when they brought their horses quite cool to the bottom of that hill, they have been quite in a lather by the time they got to the top of it, from the terror of the horses in slipping about.

That was when it was paved?—Yes.

What kind of stone do you use for making that road?—The pebble of the country, picked from the gravel pits.

Have you converted any other part of Exeter from pavement into road?—There is no other part of Exeter under the care of the trust; but in consequence of the effect which the Chamber of Exeter saw in Fore-street, they have broken up a great many of the streets in Exeter, and, I believe, are proceeding gradually to do them all. In the town of Newton-Abbot there is a county bridge; the county have broken up the bridge bands, and converted it in a similar manner·

John Loudon M'Adam, Esq. further Examined.

Have you, in any instance, made the alteration stated by your sons?—Yes, I have; I found the suburbs of Bristol were entirely paved when I took charge of the roads of the district; those suburbs are within the jurisdiction of the commissioners for the care of turnpike roads; and I found the expense of paving was very heavy, and the effect very bad, and I at once took the whole pavement up, and broke the stone that I found there into a stone road, up to the jurisdiction of the magistrates.

Was that granite stone?—No, a kind of stone called the blue pennet in that county, and part of a light stone called Brandon Hill stone; both tolerably good stones: the blue pennet is certainly not so good as granite; the Brandon Hill