"Although there is no written evidence so far traced of golf before James II's Act of Parliament of 1457, there is no doubt that a form of the game was being played in St Andrews as far back as the thirteenth century and perhaps even further back than that. However, it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that the game really began to spread outwards from Scottland with the main reason the improvement in the transport system provided by the expanding network in Britain. The railway gave enthusiasts access to the existing courses in Scotland, and to the newly developed Victorian seaside resorts in England, as well as north of the border. The first trains ran into St Andrews as early as 1850 but towards the latter part of the century, seaside towns built golf courses as an attraction to visitors and the railway gave easy access to them. It is no accident that virtually all of the great links golf courses of Britain have had, or still have, a railway line running along one of their boundaries. Golf then moved inland where courses were built within train distance of the cities to meet the demand for this newly popular game."