This account is fascinating for modern readers. These days, we are only too aware that nature has been badly affected by human activity and the focus today is heavily on conservation and helping species to survive. The subject of the article in particular – the Red Kite – was lost in England although a few colonies clung on in Wales. 

This what Wikipedia says about the Red Kite:-

“In the United Kingdom, red kites were ubiquitous scavengers that lived on carrion and rubbish. Shakespeare’s King Lear describes his daughter Goneril as a detested kite, and he wrote “when the kite builds, look to your lesser linen” in reference to them stealing washing hung out to dry during the nesting season.

In the mid-15th century, King James II of Scotland decreed that they should be “killed wherever possible”, but they remained protected in England and Wales for the next 100 years as they kept the streets free of carrion and rotting food.

Under Tudor “vermin laws” many creatures were seen as competitors for the produce of the countryside and bounties were paid by the parish for their carcasses.”

By the 20th century, the breeding population of red kites was down to a handful of pairs in South Wales, but recently a reintroduction programme has successfully brought red kites back to several areas in England and Scotland which include the area that this account describes.

The difference between the attitude of this writer in the late 1800s and our own attitudes today is stark:-

“Within a few miles of Stilton, and between Stilton and Stamford, is a hill called Alconbury Hill. In the days I am writing of, so famous for Miss Worthington and her Stilton cheeses (about the year 1824, and from before that time to 1828 or 1829), there used to be in that part of the country an incredible number of kites — the ‘Forked-tail Kyte,’ ‘Falcon Milvus’ Lin’. ‘Le Milan Royal Buff’, or what in Scotland were called ‘Gleads’, the red feathers of whose forked tail were famous for making the wings of salmon-flies used by fishermen. These birds used to be soaring over the road, and over a wood called Moncks Wood — a wood famed in the Fitzwilliam country; in almost every direction one used actually to see them sitting in the middle of the road, and on one occasion I remember counting as many as twenty-seven in the air at the same time. The preservation of game, I suppose, has got rid of them, for no such bird is to be seen now; and it is wonderful to think how in a few years those birds have become almost extinct throughout England. I have not seen one for at least thirty years, common as they used to be in the days of Stilton cheeses, Miss Worthington, and the old ‘Stamford Regent Coach.’ ” 

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Next: Mail coaches leaving London

Section 1:

Living Memories

Introduction
Introducing the real life stories collected in the late 1800s

London to Stamford

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?

Then and Now

Comparing rail and coach travel in 1888!

An Incident at Wansford

Things didn’t always go smoothly and this amusing incident took place on the Great North Road.

Charlies and Hackneys

A recollection of life in London before taxi cabs, policemen and even electricity.

Perils by Water

One of the many hazards that could be encountered was flood water. This is near St Neots.

Latin

The people who could afford to travel were educated in - among other things - Latin!

Red Kites

Yes, they were common in the early 1800s. They’d all gone by the 1880s. Attitudes were different then!

The Cost of Travel by Coach

What did it cost to make a long distance coach journey?

The Desire to Drive a Coach

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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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