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Transporting Beef: Trails, Rails and Ships

Drovers' Roads: The Long Walk of Welsh Cattle to English Markets

For centuries, cattle from Welsh hill farms walked to English pastures and markets on a network of green lanes and inns.

What was a drovers' road?

A drovers' road was a route for walking livestock to market. Before railways and motor transport, cattle, sheep, geese and pigs all went to market on foot, and the practice dates from Norman times or earlier. Long-distance droving peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries, when London's population grew fast and the capital needed meat. The Herefordshire Through Time essay on droving describes herds of 200 to 400 cattle that travelled several hundred miles from hill farms in Wales and Scotland to fatten on grazing land around London.

The roads were rarely engineered. They were tracks that suited the herd: wide, grassed, with water and overnight grazing, and with as few toll gates as possible.

How big was the Welsh cattle trade?

The numbers were large. By the mid-18th century more than 30,000 cattle from Wales passed through Hereford each year. A local history article on the cattle that swam the Menai Strait reports that in one 18th-century year 9,000 cattle swam from Anglesey and were driven to England, with 6,000 leaving the Lleyn Peninsula and 30,000 coming from Mid Wales.

The same article quotes William Brooke's estimate that England consumed 600 million pounds of beef in 1798. A drive from North Wales to London took about three weeks, at roughly two miles an hour.

Life on the road: shoeing, grazing and inns

Cattle going to England needed shoes. Cattle shoes, called cues, were two half-moon plates for each cloven hoof, and the main shoeing stations were at Kington and at the Rhydspence Inn near Hay-on-Wye. A blacksmith and his team could shoe 60 to 70 cattle in a day, and some smiths rode with the drovers carrying spare cues and nails greased with butter to stop rust.

Drovers set out in early spring and again in autumn and covered about 15 to 20 miles a day, grazing as they went. Overnight fields were often marked by groups of three or five pine trees and rented at a halfpenny per head, which left behind field and lane names such as Halfpenny Field. Only the head drover usually slept at an inn; the other men and the dogs stayed in barns or under hedges. Inns called the Black Ox or the Drovers Arms mark the routes.

Drovers as bankers and traders

The head drover carried large sums between landowners, London and the farmers back home, and robbery was a known risk. From the 16th century head drovers needed a licence, and applicants had to be over 30, married and householders. John Jones set up the first bank in Wales at Llandovery, known as the Bank of the Black Ox, and other banks later joined the network; some were eventually absorbed into what became Lloyds Bank.

Drovers also carried goods. Farnham in Surrey was a major market for knitted stockings that drovers carried from Welsh cottage industries.

Routes to Barnet and Smithfield

From Kington the route ran roughly along the present A44. Herds went on through Bromyard to Worcester or Malvern and joined the Welsh Way, and destinations included the grazing grounds and fairs at Barnet, north of London, and Smithfield. One route ran from Hereford to Ledbury, crossed the Severn, went over the Cotswolds and followed the Ridgeway toward Bedfordshire, then continued into Surrey and Kent.

Scottish herds moved south down the middle of England, and some swam the Solway Firth. Drovers tried to avoid turnpike gates that charged per animal, because counting beasts through a gate made them restless.

Why It Mattered

Drovers' roads moved beef from the places that raised cattle cheaply to the places that could pay for it. The record shows a trade that worked because of specific practices, and one that also carried risks.

It was not safe. In 1645 parliamentary soldiers seized nearly 1,000 beasts from 18 drovers, and robbery of head drovers was a known danger.

  • They moved hill-farm cattle to fattening land near London, where the demand and the price were.
  • They shod cattle at set stations such as Kington and Rhydspence so hooves survived the road.
  • They kept costs down by renting overnight grazing at a halfpenny a head and sleeping outdoors.
  • They licensed head drovers, who had to be over 30, married and householders.
  • They turned trust into finance, with the Black Ox Bank beginning in Llandovery.
  • They avoided per-head tolls where they could, by choosing back routes.

The decline of droving

The railways of the mid-1800s gradually ended long-distance droving, since stock could be sent by train, as the Herefordshire droving essay explains. The Graham Watkins article says cattle were walked again during the 1914 to 1918 war, and that the last drover, Morris Roberts, retired in the 1930s. Motor lorries now carry livestock over even greater distances.

Many routes survive as green lanes, footpaths and place names. For the cattle story on the other side of the Atlantic, see the ranching section of farm.FM, and for a related long-walk story try a farm.FM story about driving cattle on the trail.

Timeline

  1. 1500sHead drovers begin to need a licence
  2. 1645Parliamentary soldiers seize nearly 1,000 beasts from 18 drovers
  3. 1700sWelsh droving to England reaches large scale; more than 30,000 cattle pass through Hereford each year by mid-century
  4. 1798William Brooke estimates England eats 600 million pounds of beef
  5. 1800sLong-distance droving peaks as London grows
  6. Mid-1800sRailways gradually end long-distance droving
  7. 1914-1918Cattle are walked again during the war
  8. 1930sMorris Roberts, described as the last drover, retires

Frequently asked questions

What is a drovers' road?

A drovers' road is a route used to walk livestock to market, often along wide grassed tracks with water and grazing. In Britain the best known carried Welsh and Scottish cattle to English fattening grounds and London markets.

How did Welsh drovers keep cattle from hurting their feet?

They shod them. Cattle shoes, called cues, were two half-moon plates for each cloven hoof, fitted at stations such as Kington and the Rhydspence Inn, and some smiths traveled with the herd.

What ended droving in Britain?

Railways ended long-distance droving from the mid-1800s because livestock could go by train. Cattle were walked again during the 1914 to 1918 war, and one article says the last drover retired in the 1930s.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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