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The dividing line between the two coaching periods is roughly halfway through the 18th century. This was a period of unprecedented development and change. At the beginning, in 1700, Britain, like every other country, was a rural economy. No longer operating under the Feudal System, it none-the-less struggled to produce enough food to feed all but the ‘upper classes’. Change was slow and happening over centuries rather than years. And new innovations - like the introduction of the first scheduled coach service - were rare. But it all changed during the 1700s and at the end of the century Britain was the first industrialised nation..
Politically, the people of Britain had suffered during the 1600s. There had been Civil War (1642-51), Cromwell’s “Protectorate” (1653-58), the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, the Great Plague of 1665 and the Fire of London in 1666.
By the early 1700s things had settled and there was a surge of confidence. The cottage I live in was built in about 1730, as were most of the older cottages in the local villages. It’s noticeable that there are almost no domestic buildings from the previous century. Now, in this new stable society, people began to innovate.
Firstly, agriculture saw a quiet revolution take place as the Norfolk Four-Field system of crop rotation was introduced along with selective breeding of farm animals. This resulted in an unprecedented increase in food production which meant that the population could be fed at lower prices with less effort than ever before.
By the later years of the century it culminated in the Enclosure Acts which created the patchwork of fields that we know today. Roads were marked out and defined by walls or hedges where they had previously been wide tracks across open land.
This was the Agricultural Revolution.
Secondly, as the population became healthier and did not have to spend so much time just feeding itself, there was an explosion of creativity and innovation in which new inventions exploited these resources and industry expanded massively.
Britain already had a vast supply of mineral resources such as iron and coal and these began to be exploited as innovation and invention swept the land. Steam power began to be used to pump water out of mines, inventions in the weaving industry transformed the production of cloth, and new factories were built to industrialise the production of goods.
Industry relies on transport and so there was an increase in demand for improved transport services. As Manchester became a big industrial centre, the heart of the world cotton manufacturing industry, the port of Liverpool developed links with suppliers and customers worldwide. The need to transport raw materials and finished goods expanded exponentially as did the need for people to travel for business purposes.
Rivers were used to carry coal, raw materials and finished goods. One horse could haul very heavy loads in a way that would be impossible using a cart on the rutted, muddy roads of the time. And where there was no river, canals were built to connect major centres by water.
But the canals froze over in winter and, in any case, were far too slow for people to use for travel so they rode on horseback. The pressure to improve both roads and coaches increased.
This was the Industrial Revolution.
The result of this century of change is that the second period of coaching was created. Coach design improved enormously and roads were transformed from muddy tracks to stable smooth highways thanks to a bright idea and two surveyors:
The bright idea wasn’t new but it’s time had come at last. It was to make road users pay to use the roads and then spend the money raised on improving them. Turnpike Trusts were set up and the result was better roads at last.
The two surveyors were Thomas Telford and John McAdam. Between them they reduced steep inclines, found shorter routes and built roads with better foundations and a hard-wearing surface.
Over a period of 100 years Britain’s roads were modernised and the era of mass stagecoach travel both for business and pleasure was ushered in. Taking just one example, a journey from London to Manchester which would have taken over four days in 1750 could be done in 26 hours by 1821.
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