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In the late 1800s coach travel had been replaced by the railways, but a nostalgia for the old days arose and there was a surge of interest very similar to our own nostalgia for the days of steam.
A few scheduled coach services even restarted. This poster for the London to Brighton coach dates from 1908. But, unlike today’s heritage railways, there weren’t enough passengers to make them pay and they stopped running, to our great loss.
Several people, who had travelled by coach in their younger days, decided to capture their memories before it was too late. Their stories are a little rose tinted, but they are real living memories, a priceless resource which had become lost in dusty old books … until now.
Here’s the introduction from one of these books:
V. T. C. Birch-Reynardson, 1888
You can read the entire book, completely free of charge, on the internet, at:
https://archive.org/details/downroadorremini00birc/page/n17/mode/2up
Section 1:
Living Memories
Introduction
Introducing the real life stories collected in the late 1800s
What was it like to travel by coach on a winter’s day? Come on the first stage of a journey from London to Stamford.
Driving a Mail Coach
Mail coaches were the high speed elite. What was it like to drive them?
Comparing rail and coach travel in 1888!
Things didn’t always go smoothly and this amusing incident took place on the Great North Road.
A recollection of life in London before taxi cabs, policemen and even electricity.
One of the many hazards that could be encountered was flood water. This is near St Neots.
The people who could afford to travel were educated in - among other things - Latin!
Yes, they were common in the early 1800s. They’d all gone by the 1880s. Attitudes were different then!
What did it cost to make a long distance coach journey?
Young gentlemen often fancied themselves as coachmen. Unlike today, you could often ‘have a go’ with the reins.
Two Short Videos
Although we have no films from the time, modern producers have imagined coach travel for us.
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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