A272 Ode to a Road

The year 2000 saw the publication of an unusual travel book. A 272 An Ode to a Road is unusual for two reasons: firstly because it traces the route of a single, and to-most-people unremarkable road which runs, between the North and South Downs, from Poundford in East Sussex to near Winchester in Hampshire. The more surprising reason is that it was written, not by a native of either of these beautiful counties, but by a Dutchman, Pieter Boogaart, who admits to a 10-year obsession with the road. A revised edition of the book was published by Pallas Athene in 2004.

To some people the A272 is a "lovely, lovely lane". To others it is "the worst bloody road in the south". To Pieter Boogaart it is "the epitome of England".

Author Pieter Boogaart on the A272 - literally - at Dragons Green in West Sussex.