SIR, — I wish to draw your readers attention to the historical heritage of St Albans which has been neglected, being out of sight, out of mind. I, like many others, use the path around Beech Bottom Dyke frequently. There is a need to widen the path from

SIR, - I wish to draw your readers' attention to the historical heritage of St Albans which has been neglected, being out of sight, out of mind. I, like many others, use the path around Beech Bottom Dyke frequently. There is a need to widen the path from the East Dyke to the Ancient Briton. Also, there are few signs giving information about the history. Where they appear they are old and quite ugly.

I have a suggestion for additional information which could be displayed:

"Beech Bottom Dyke is a massive ditch running across the north edge of St Albans flanked by banks on both sides. It is up to 30 metres wide and 10 metres deep and is visible from just under a mile along the northern edge of the city. It was constructed towards the end of the Iron Age, most likely between 5AD and 40AD. This and other similar earthworks in the district were built by the powerful Celtic tribe, the Catuvallauni, to define areas of land around their tribal centre of Verulamium, later the Roman city. Beech Bottom Dyke is thought to have joined up with Devils Dyke and another ancient earthwork known as 'Slad' to create a defensive earthwork running from the River Lee to the River Ver, enclosing an area of approximately 86 acres (35 hectares).

M.M. SHAAFI,

Sandridge Road, St Albans.