On Sep 24, 7:15*pm, Alistair Bell wrote:
On Sep 24, 8:01*am, Basil Jet wrote:

On 2010\09\24 08:48, Bruce wrote:
The Great North Road went to Peterborough, York and Newcastle, not to
Liverpool. *The "road to Liverpool" was what is now the A41.

For much of its length, it followed the Roman road Akeman Street, and
went via Baker Street, through Swiss Cottage, Brent Cross, Hendon,
Mill Hill, Watford, Aylesbury, Bicester, Banbury, Warwick, Solihull,
Wolverhampton, and Whitchurch (Shropshire).

I'm not sure if you're joking. What era are you talking about? Much of
the route you describe is newish roads - Finchley Road is obviously a
new road because it has lots of crossroads, some at oblique angles - old
roads such as Kilburn High Road have T-junctions at right angles. The
route you're describing also runs from the fields of Belgravia rather
than from the City of London.

Plus, it's pretty obvious if you look at a map that the A41 south of
Hunts Cross (M25 J19) is a 'modern' addition (where 'modern' is about
the 1930s, I believe). Prior to that, the route appears to have
followed the A411 through Watford (of course, using Watford High
Street rather than the current one-way system, and going around the
back of Tesco's), then the A4140 through Stanmore, the A4088, a piece
of the A407, then the A4003 to Kilburn where it ended on the A5.
Finchley Road existed prior to the A41 diversion, but it went (no
surprise) to Finchley before (the) Hendon Way was tagged onto it.

Indeed, my local is an ancient pub (1749!) on said route that served
as the last inn on the road before London (the former stables are now
the car park and storage sheds) when travelling along said major route
from the north, just before Stanmore. There is another pub at the
bottom of the hill that provided additional horses for the hill (as
well as changing them before the final leg into London, or indeed,
after the first leg from London - hence it's name, "The Horse &
Chains").