<P> At Alconbury, the Great North Road joined the Old North Road, an older route which followed the Roman Ermine Street . Here a milestone records mileages to London via both routes: 65 by the Old North Road and 68 by the Great North Road . From Alconbury the Great North Road follows the line of Ermine Street north, through Stilton . Ermine Street crossed the River Welland about a mile to the west of what is now the town of Stamford . The Great North Road passed through the centre of Stamford, with two very sharp bends, re-joined the alignment of Ermine Street just before Great Casterton and continued as far as Colsterworth (at the A151 junction). Inns on this section included the George at Stamford and the Bell Inn at Stilton, the original sellers of Stilton cheese . </P> <P> At Colsterworth the Great North Road diverges west of the Roman road and continues through Grantham, Newark, Retford and Bawtry to Doncaster . North of Doncaster the Great North Road again follows a short section of Ermine Street, the Roman Rigg or Roman Ridge . Further north the Great North Road crossed the Roman Dere Street near Boroughbridge from where it continued via Dishforth and Topcliffe to Northallerton and then through Darlington, Durham and Newcastle, on to Edinburgh . A road forked to the left at the bridge in Boroughbridge to follow Dere Street, and Scotch Corner to Penrith and on to Glasgow . Part of this route was the original A1, with a local road from Scotch Corner via Barton to Darlington making the link back to the old Great North Road . </P> <P> In the first era of stage coaches York was the terminus of the Great North Road . Along the route Doncaster--Selby--York was superseded by the route Doncaster--Ferrybridge--Wetherby--Boroughbridge--Northallerton--Darlington, the more direct way to Edinburgh, the final destination . The first recorded stage coach operating from London to York was in 1658 taking four days . Faster mail coaches began using the route in 1786, stimulating a quicker service from the other passenger coaches . In the "Golden Age of Coaching", between 1815 and 1835, coaches could travel from London to York in 20 hours, and from London to Edinburgh in 45 ⁄ hours . In the mid-nineteenth century coach services could not compete with the new railways . The last coach from London to Newcastle left in 1842 and the last from Newcastle to Edinburgh in July 1847 . </P> <P> The highwayman Dick Turpin's flight from London to York in less than 15 hours on his mare Black Bess is the most famous legend of the Great North Road . Various inns along the route claim Turpin ate a meal or stopped for respite for his horse . Harrison Ainsworth, in his 1834 romance Rookwood, immortalised the ride . Historians argue that Turpin never made the journey, claiming that the ride was by John Nevison, "Swift Nick", a highwayman in the time of Charles II, 50 years before Turpin who was born and raised at Wortley near Sheffield . It is claimed that Nevison, in order to establish an alibi, rode from Gad's Hill, near Rochester, Kent, to York (some 190 miles (310 km)) in 15 hours . </P>

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