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Section 2:
The Age of Coaching
The world of long-distance coach travel
A coach advertisement from 1706
Beginning to End
How long did the Great Age of Coaching Last?
Two Coaching Periods
The age of coach travel falls into two distinct phases
The First Coaching Period
Coaches in the early period were uncomfortable, slow and dangerous
Highwaymen
The scourge of the early coaching industry, these robbers eventually disappeared
Transition
The change from the early period to the late happened because life in Britain was altering
The Second Coaching Period
This is the Great Age of Coach Travel - surprisingly familiar; just slower and wetter
Facts and Figures
A look at prices, costs and numbers involved in coaching
Different Ways to Travel
There were stagecoaches and mail coaches, and more besides
The list of places you could go to is remarkably familiar to the modern traveller
We’re familiar with railway termini but what were the departure points like in the Age of Coaching?
Here are most of the coaching departure points in London, together withe here you could travel to from each one
An example of how politics influenced attitudes in some inns along the road
Not a war, just passengers trying to grab a bite to eat on the road
Coach drivers were an elite group, but as the coaching age declined, they lost their importance
The first half of the 19th century saw coaching at its peak
Who were the travellers and who owned the horses and coaches? Find out here
William Chaplin was one of the most successful coach proprietors - and he survived the move to railways
One of Chaplin’s Inn has an unusual name which comes from history
We complain about rail fares but coach fares were far higher
What did it cost to run a coaching business?
To understand coaching prices you must compare them with present day values
Coach travel was not without risk. Here are some reported coach accidents
This is the story of the Mail Coaches, how the mail evolved and what mailcoaches were like
A set of possible journeys that you might wish to make
The railways effectively killed the coaching industry very quickly. Here’s what happened
City inns had to change when the coaching trade dried up. Here’s how they coped
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Anecdotes written by people who actually travelled on the coaches
The coachmen, the inns, the coach proprietors - they’re all here. Come in and meet them
Britain’s roads were pretty impassable for most of our history. Coach travel was very difficult until they improved
Wheeled transport evolved over many years. Find out how coaches developed
Sources and information about how I came to create this website
Home Page of the Coaching Website
Barnet, being about nine miles from the centre of London and its many busy coaching inns, was the first stage out of London for many coaching proprietors. The town also stood on the early part of two great thoroughfares — the Great North Road and the Holyhead Road — before they divided a little further north so it was a particularly busy and thriving place. It prospered on the coaching and posting traffic that passed through.
When the Stamford “Regent,” the York “Highflyer” and the other northern coaches, together with the early morning coaches for Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool arrived with their passengers, the scene was set for something which became known as the daily “Battle of Barnet”.
The majority of coaches left the capital very early in the morning, so most of their passengers had generally not found time for breakfast before setting out. By the time they reached Barnet they were very hungry and were delighted to see the food which they found ready prepared and waiting in the cosy rooms of the old hostelries. You can imagine the scene as they hurried in and set to on the food which would disappear before their onslaught in less than no time.
This speedy devouring of the food became known as “The Battle of Barnet” and was “fought” every morning. The combatants were not men-at-arms and they didn’t fight over the Crown of England. They were just famished travellers who struggled to get something to eat and drink before the guard made his appearance at the door with his fateful cry, “Time’s up, gentlemen; take your seats please.”
Then, as the horn sounded in the yard, desperate men would rush forth from the inns with hands full of food, and try to finish their repasts as best they might on the coach.