The route to Bishopsgate can still be seen clearly on a current map, wending its way fairly directly via roads and footpaths from Mare Street Narroway down to Virginia Road which, prior redevelopment, joined Shoreditch High Street. We couldn't resist drawing it on a map. The route to Cheapside would have carried on and entered the City at Bishops Gate. The route to Smithfield is less obvious, but there is a stone bench there that refers to the drovers.
2018: walked what they call the Black Path, but they started it way up at the junction of Forest Road with Hoe Street, pretty close to the North Circular. The route from there to where Lea Bridge Road crosses The Lea (what else?) is not so clear to see but the route from the River Lea down to join up with our line at Mare Street, via Powerscroft Road, can be seen on the map.
2025: In a lovely piece about how maps can reveal history, this drovers trail is one of the examples.
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