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The First Coaching Period

Coaches in the first period were sturdy, lumbering vehicles with no springs and no glass in the windows. They must have been very uncomfortable to ride in. Their drivers were as bad as the coaches and, in the words of this quotation from the time: 

“not fit to be trusted with any other cattle* than a team of tired plough-horses.”  

The writer goes on to say that their lack of skill was the usual cause of accidents in those days.

As if bad roads, heavy unsprung coaches and poor-quality horses weren’t bad enough, both the horses and the drivers were worked far longer and harder. Coachmen drove such long distances that they often fell asleep from sheer weariness. All of these factors made early coach travel quite hazardous.

And on top of that, there were highwaymen!

You would have thought that the first coach proprietors would do the obvious thing and change horses from time to time, perhaps also change coachman on a long journey, but they probably saw this as an unnecessary expense.

More significantly, the setting up a network of contracted stables and inns along the route plus drivers ready to take over at specific places and times was probably beyond the capabilities of a businessman in, say, Carlisle, who had bought a coach and some horses and was offering an innovative new service.

So what they did to solve the problem was try to keep the driver awake by making the box on which he sat as hard and uncomfortable as possible. It rested on the bed of the axletree in such a manner as to shake every bone in his body in the hope that he would not fall asleep!

It’s amazing, given all of the above, that the new scheduled services were profitable. But they were.

*Horses were often referred to as ‘cattle’. I’m not sure if this was derogatory or a valid terminology, perhaps like ‘livestock?’


Next: Highwaymen

Section 2:

The Age of Coaching

Introduction


The world of long-distance coach travel

An Early Advertisement

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

Destinations

The list of places you could go to is remarkably familiar to the modern traveller

London Coaching Inns

We’re familiar with railway termini but what were the departure points like in the Age of Coaching?

Famous London Coaching Inns


Here are most of the coaching departure points in London, together withe here you could travel to from each one

Inns and Politics

An example of how politics influenced attitudes in some inns along the road

The Battle of Barnet

Not a war, just passengers trying to grab a bite to eat on the road

The Coachmen


Coach drivers were an elite group, but as the coaching age declined, they lost their importance

An Industry at Full Gallop


The first half of the 19th century saw coaching at its peak

Inns, Drivers & Passengers


Who were the travellers and who owned the horses and coaches? Find out here

One Coach Proprietor

William Chaplin was one of the most successful coach proprietors - and he survived the move to railways

Swan With Two Necks

One of Chaplin’s Inn has an unusual name which comes from history

The Cost of Coach Travel

We complain about rail fares but coach fares were far higher

Cost to Proprietors

What did it cost to run a coaching business?

The Value of Money

To understand coaching prices you must compare them with present day values

Accidents

Coach travel was not without risk. Here are some reported  coach accidents

The Post Office

This is the story of the Mail Coaches, how the mail evolved and what mailcoaches were like

Itineraries

A set of possible journeys that you might wish to make

Death by Steam

The railways effectively killed the coaching industry very quickly. Here’s what happened 

Inns Become Booking Offices

City inns had to change when the coaching trade dried up. Here’s how they coped


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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