Ask your satnav to take you from Edinburgh to Wiltshire, and it produces a small surprise: Toll roads required. The route doesn’t take you through the Dartford Crossing or down the M6 Toll Road, so it’s initially something you might ignore — until you find yourself in a queue to cross the Batheaston Toll Bridge, one of the few places, as it turns out, that you can cross the River Avon east of Bath. It costs a pound.

Look at the bridge the first time and you will see a quite sweet single-lane arch bridge, a charming if out-of-date sign listing prices in shillings and a man in a hi-viz jacket with a cash box (and according to TripAdviser users, a bad attitude). Beyond amusing the tourists, you might wonder what the point is? Look at the cashflow, and you’ll think something else. The toll was 70 pence ($0.88) until 2017; it then went up to 80p; and finally hit £1 during the pandemic. It’s also very well-used: According to the local press, it pulls in over £1.3 million a year. The bridge is owned by the UK’s General Estates Co.