IT sounds like it's going to be dry and academic stuff: "The Kings Highway in Craven, Being Notes on the History of the Yorkshire Portion of the Keighley and Kendal Turnpike Road - with Maps." But this grey-green, 64 pages is not just a fascinating exploration of the development of the main road through the Aire valley, but much more.

Like murder, for instance!

In 1861, the man who lived at the toll-bar house at Hawkcliffe, near Steeton, shot his wife dead. Holdsworth, by name, he fired at her through a bedroom window as she walked on a nearby footpath with her brother.

Nobody ever discovered whether he was aiming at his wife or his brother-in-law, but he was found cowering on the nearby moors sometime later. At his trial he was found insane and jailed for life.

His job would have been to collect the tolls from folk passing along the turnpike. Such highway charges had been possible since 1663 when an Act of Parliament empowered magistrates to levy a toll to maintain highways and in 1706, the first turnpike trust came into effect.

Eventually 23,000 miles of roads were managed throughout the country in this way, including the Keighley to Kendal stretch which replaced much of the previous narrow, winding mountainous track.

Hawkcliffe Bar was one of eight toll-bars between Steeton and Ingleton where users of the turnpike had to fork out cash to pass along given lengths.

The bar-house, which is still there, was built in 1823. The initials JH and the date of 1878, still discernible today, were placed on the house when it was bought by Sir John Horsfall on the abolition of the turnpike trust.

The next toll house along the road was at Snaygill, Skipton, and in 1927 it still stood "by the roadside south of the railway bridge".

Holme Bridge Bar or Gargrave Bar House is still there on the Skipton side of Holme Bridge to where it was moved in 1826 having been first constructed nearer to Eshton Lane end.

Coniston Bar had a chequered history having been built in 1823 and then moved to Hellifield to intercept traffic going to Otterburn. It was still present in 1847 but not by 1927.

Long Preston Bar was set up in 1753 between the village bridge and the Kings Head. The house was still standing in 1927. The bar was removed from there in 1823 to a site south of Runley Bridge, one mile south of Settle.

There is little evidence that a toll-bar was set up in Settle as the next bars are recorded in Clapham where two were ordered, one at the top of the village on the old road to Ingleton. The Ordnance map refers to it as Old Turnpike House. When a new road to Ingleton was planned in 1823, the toll gate was removed on the Settle side of the village to where it was present in 1847.

In 1823, the trustees, who had spent a lot of money improving the turnpike, set up a new toll gate close to the new bridge over the river Greta.

In 1835, the financial highwater mark of the turnpike, the trustees collected £3,317, with Hawkcliffe Bar taking the most cash at £716, the rest collecting amounts between £350 and £500.

In 1856, the tolls for a horse drawn carriage was eight old pence, for a horse drawn wagon with wheel tyres more than six inches wide, four pence, for a horse and empty cart, two pence, a drove of oxen eight pence and and a drove of calves four pence.

For every carriage driven by steam machinery or any power other than an animal, the charge was one shilling a wheel. So a carriage and pair would have had to pay nine shillings and four pence in passing over the turnpike between Steeton and Ingleton.

Human nature being what it is, many people tried to avoid paying the toll and at one stage the trustees planned to place chains across certain lengths, such as at Station Road, Steeton, at Pinder Bridge, Skipton, and at Colne Road, Cross Hills. They never carried out the plan..

The trust, which was set up about 1753, was folded in 1877 and the eight toll-houses were sold for £520 and on October 30 of that year, the surveyor was instructed to accept any reasonable offer for the gates and to see they were taken off their hinges at noon on November 1.

Brigg's book makes reference frequently to Kildwick bridge which carried the turnpike across the river Aire and along its new route which essentially we use today.

The original road is still popular today by South Craven folk and runs through Farnhill and up the steep and twisting road through the woodland and down into Bradley and on to Snaygill.

Even in 1753, Kildwick bridge was recognised for its longevity having been constructed in 1305 under the instructions of the Augustinian monks of Bolton Priory. It cost them £12, 12 shillings and six pence.

It consisted of two rounded and two pointed arches - still present today.

In 1780, to accommodate the turnpike, it was widened and essentially the construction meant that two bridges stood side by side and joined together - as you can see today.