The advantage of marching on a Roman road, as Thurgot discovered, is that there are no surprises around the bend. The Ermine Street lay straight as a reed and he strode along seeing few people about their agricultural tasks near the sparse settlements. The weather stayed fair and only one brief shower had him sheltering under a tree but the weak sun managed to cheer the wet landscape after the short interlude. In this way, he covered the leagues without much fatigue also because the route contained few hills. Towards evening, he came to a hamlet called Couenebi, which was the ideal place for an overnight stop. Firstly, the settlement was where he would have to leave the Roman road, otherwise, it would take him north to the Humber estuary to a place where the Romans legionaries could wade a
