Cultural References
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 A1 claim Turpin ate a meal there, or stopped for a respite for his horse. Harrison Ainsworth, in his 1834 romance Rookwood, immortalised this with a spirited account of Turpin's ride. Historians argue that Turpin never made the journey, claiming instead that the ride was by John Nevison, known as "Swift Nick", who was born and raised at Wortley near Sheffield and was a highwayman in the time of Charles II, 50 years before Turpin. 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.
The Winchelsea Arms was an inn on a long straight section of the Great North Road near Stretton which was reputed to be another haunt of Dick Turpin. It is now called the Ram Jam Inn after a story from those coaching days. A coach passenger undertook to show the landlady the secret of drawing both mild and bitter beer from the same barrel. Two holes were made and she was left with one thumb rammed against one and the other jammed into the other. The trickster then made off.
In literature the Great North Road features in The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. Part of the J.B. Priestley novel The Good Companions features the Great North Road; represented to the northerner Jess Oakroyd as the gateway to such exotic destinations as Nottingham. The Lord Peter Wimsey short story "The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag" by Dorothy L. Sayers features a motorcycle chase along the Great North Road. Similarly, Ruined City by Nevil Shute features an all night drive from Henry Warren's house in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, along the Great North Road as far as Rowley and then up to Greenhead near Hadrian's Wall, where Warren is dropped off to go walking. His chauffeur, keen to get home for a date with the maid, is killed near Retford.
Dick Whittington and His Cat are characters in an English story adapted to the stage in 1605 which since the 19th century has become one of the most popular pantomime subjects, very loosely based on the historical Richard Whittington, a medieval Lord Mayor of London. Dick, a boy from a poor family in Gloucestershire, walks to London to make his fortune, accompanied by his cat. He meets with little success there. Discouraged, as Dick and Cat are making for home by way of Highgate Hill, they hear the Bow Bells from distant London; Dick believes they are sending him a message to "turn again" – and that he will become Lord Mayor of London. They return: Dick makes his fortune and indeed becomes Lord Mayor. A large hospital on Highgate Hill is named after the story, and a statue of Dick's faithful pet stands nearby.
The Great North Road is mentioned in Mark Knopfler's song, "5:15 AM", from the album Shangri La.
Read more about this topic: Great North Road (Great Britain)
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