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The Coaches

Introduction - The Evolution of Coaches

This section looks at how coaches evolved. It’s easy to think of them as primitive – and compared with modern vehicles they are. But at the time they were state-of-the-art, a pinnacle of engineering and manufacturing ability.

Each development represented an advance at the cutting edge of technology at the time of its making.

Even the humble wheel turns out to be an engineering marvel and not the simple slice of tree that we imagine some of child long ago invented.

Of course, coaches are very dependent on the roads they run along, and the evolution of proper smooth roads is another whole story in itself, which is told in Part 3.

So read on and discover what preceded the coach and four, starting with the wheel itself and ending with a countrywide network of timetabled routes operated by crack coaches.

It was the world they lived in, and for the increasing number of people who needed to travel and could afford it, a crack coach timed at eight miles an hour including stoppages was as exhilarating for them as an intercity train or transcontinental aeroplane is for us.



Next: The Wheel

Section 4:

The Coaches

Introduction

The Wheel

Wheeled Vehicles

The First Coaches

Stage Waggons

Flying Waggons

The First Coach Service

Flying Coaches

Stage Coaches

Glass Coaches

Mail Coaches

Coach Names


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Part 1: Living Memories

Anecdotes written by people who actually travelled on the coaches

Part 2: The Age of Coaching

The coachmen, the inns, the coach proprietors - they’re all here. Come in and meet them

Part 3: The Roads

Britain’s roads were pretty impassable for most of our history.  Coach travel was very difficult until they improved

Part 4: The Coaches

Wheeled transport evolved over many years. Find out how coaches developed

Background

Sources and information about how I came to create this website

Home Page

Home Page of the Coaching Website