The riddle of an old wooden road in Liverpool is a reminder of tumultuous times when the prayer book and the demon drink offered comfort to the poor. David Charters reports. IF IT had not been for the gasmen, a fascinating and mysterious discovery would not have been made in the heart of old Liverpool. Here, the priests in black once bagged souls in dank courtyards and the local publican, a popular figure to one and all, wore a seal-skin waistcoat and a silk topper and fortified the spirits of the poor. For those were the days when the Temperance Society, the churches, the pubs and the music-halls jostled for the custom of newcomers swelling the port's population. Anyway the gasmen came and they dug a hole, as gasmen do, and when they left in their van, the tarmac around their hole had been loosened, revealing the surface of another road. At first glance it did not seem to be of any great significance. The stones had been laid in a regular pattern like those you can seen in films depicting the Victorian England of Sherlock Holmes. But on closer examination, you could tell that the stones are in fact wooden sets buried deep in the ground at Rose Place, Everton, alongside the former Bishop Goss School, now a thriving community centre. This has stirred interest among the local community, historians and Tony Siebenthaler, the "urbanist", who feels that the road should be further investigated for 2007, when Liverpool will celebrate the 800th anniversary of being granted its Royal Charter by King John, and the following year's European Capital of Culture. Information about the road has been sent to John Hinchliffe, the City Council's World Heritage officer, and the archaeology department at the Maritime Museum on the Albert Dock. Two questions arise from the discovery - why was it made of wood and what was its route? So far, examinations have not produced the answers, though Steve Binns, Liverpool City Council's community historian thought that cost would lie behind a decision to use wood. | 
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