A cursory glance at the history books would have you believe that the man who invented tarmac was Scotsman John McAdam. While it's true he invented the method of crushed stone road surfaces he failed to make the stones stick.

This was fine in the days of horse drawn vehicles, but when cars started to become commonplace the surface became inadequate. For one thing, the jagged material meant tyres often punctured.

When it rained, many roads became impassable due to ruts and mud. Instead the honour should go to Nottinghamshire County surveyor Edgar Hooley. In 1901 Hooley was walking in Denby in Derbyshire when he noticed a smooth stretch of road close to an ironworks.

He asked locals what had happened and was told a barrel of tar had fallen from a dray and burst open. Someone had poured waste slag from the nearby furnaces to cover up the mess.

Hooley noticed this unintentional resurfacing had solidified the road - there was no rutting and no dust. By 1902 Hooley had patented the process of heating tar, adding slag to the mix and then breaking stones within the mixture to form a smooth road surface.

Having perfected the operation, Hooley began transforming road surfaces and West Bridgford's Radcliffe Road became the first tarmac road in the world. A five mile stretch was given the tarmac treatment and proved itself by being long-lasting, dust and mud free.