THIS reader’s lovely image of winter that featured in the Star a few weeks ago raised a question from Margaret Gibbons, who is the chair of St Helens Heritage Network.

She wrote to me about the picture that shows the lane off Cooper Lane in Haydock.

Margaret wrote: “Can you ask readers if they think it is either an ancient field boundary or a sunken road?

“This usually comes about by constant walking by people and animals.”

The previous chair, Bill Highcock, used to tell me he thought that several sunken roads in Haydock dated back to Roman times. He thought people in the area made a living by mining for iron ore and taking it to the Roman encampments at either Wigan or Warrington via the nearby Roman Road for smelting.

Or maybe they smelted the ore in Haydock and took the iron to the Romans where it could be sold to make weapons or other implements. Maybe some metal detector enthusiasts have have found clues?

If anyone can help please drop me a line.