Old Coaching Roads and Toll Houses

4th September 1835, Mr Hancock's steam coach arrived in Coventry from Birmingham at around 11am. The return was the following morning, leaving at 7am.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and information - this website and forum contributors is amazing! I've decided The Coach & Horses Inn on Much Park Street (adjoining the London Road) is a fair bet as a staging inn for coaches to/from London in 1832 (taken from Real Ale Rambles - thanks Helen F - I found this site earlier looking for The Butcher's Arms in New Buildings where there was a pub brawl reported at the time after one of the key witnesses in the Beck's Mill trial, a journeyman from Manchester, was found to have used a false name). My character (a poor weaver on a quest to prove his brother's innocence) will be travelling as cheaply as possible so unfortunately won't get to travel on the grandly liveried, super-fast mail coaches of the day, Kaga. But what a wager you describe! And the prize sounds like a small fortune! The change over of horses must have been something of a pre-cursor to modern F1 pit crew tyre changes, vividly described by Judith Flanders "The Victorian City, Everyday Life in Dickens' London" page 92 quoting a traveller of the day: when the guard's bugle sounded, the barmaid would start pouring an ale and as the wheels sounded in the yard, out ran the "inn-keeper, bar-maid, stable-boys, mischievous urchins... The horses were pulled back upon their haunches, and stopped as if shot; the reins were thrown down on either side; the whip given unceremoniously to the envied occupant of the box-seat; and the coachman descended, with a princely air of condescension... A wooden block... was thrust under the hind wheel... the coachman would nobly toss off the foaming tankard presented to him... and ere a minute had flown by, the guard would say "All right:" as he ascended the back of the coach, the block be withdrawn, and the horses... dart away at a gallop."

Sounding good so far SJT. No queuing up at the petrol station but do you think the coach companies would have had to pay a road tax as well as a toll payment?

SJT, The info I got was from an old Brighton history book and was a true story, The race was from The White Horse Cellars, Piccadilly, London to The Ship Hotel on Brighton seafront, a round trip of108 miles, in the late 1830's. The driver's name was Selby and for £1000. I have all the stops and times. He did it in 7 hours 50 mins, the police in London held up the traffic for him - the reception was tumultuous for him. The upper decks of the horse buses were crowded with spectators, hats flung in the air, women waving parasols and papers, as the sweating horses came to a standstill. Dreamtime, there were 23 coaches a day from Brighton to London - no mention of tolls in any paper I found. Completely off topic. My cousin from Coventry who fought with the Warwick's in WW2 died in a Brisbane nursing home about six years ago - I was on the Gold Coast at the time and had no idea he was out there, only found out recently.

These route maps contain interesting plans of the towns and cities en route, this is Coventrey (sic) in 1675 for example. The main roads are shown, the rivers, the city wall and the suggested route from south (Dunsmore) to north (Bedworth) through the city. Each furlong is indicated by a dot and each mile by a double dot. Note that true north is about 20 degrees clockwise on this part of the map.

Thanks mcsporran, I hadn't worked out the dots... or even noticed them if I'm honest. Advert for a coach service from Coventry to London in 1880 reads: Schedule for coach departing Craven Arms at 6 a.m. for London, by way of Dunchurch, Daventry (Breakfast), Weedon (Change Horses), Towcester, Fenny Stratford (Change Horses), Dunstable (Dinner), Redburn, St. Albans, Barnet (Change Horses) and arrive London at 8:45 p.m. at Castle and Falcon in Aldersgate Street. Ninety-six miles. The three main coaching inns were The Castle in Broadgate, The Bull on Smithford Street and The Craven Arms on the High Street.

And continuing the coaching references - here's an online book Humorous Reminiscences of Coventry life, Coventry coaching, etc

Now that is a book well worth reading Helen. I have a rare original and it is both educational and humorous indeed, very well written. It's still in print in paperback on Amazon, too.

Helen, Just ordered mine too. Thanks for the info.

Joe, The coaching business in Coventry was huge business, the first were brought over from France in 1520 the first made in the uk was 1555, by Will Rippon who was termed the father of coaching in the uk. The first turnpike road was 1662 A coach service ran from London to Coventry,to Chester in 1668 was a private one the journey over three days. The White Bear inn, (later the Craven) Coventry high st was the most popular coach station, ran the Coventry 'flying machine' to carry six inside passengers, 14lbs of luggage three half-pence a lb. The Liverpool express in 1781 ran from Much Park st. To big a story for on here, but fascinating.

The first coaching regular run from London to Coventry (White Bear, High street) was in 1658. Road books were printed showing distances and times.. No money ,jewellery, plate or rings were allowed to be carried, he was allowed 14lb of luggage at his own risk. Often 8 or 10 horses were used because of the bad roads, more like field tracks, although steel springs were fitted. (the design of railway coaches came from placing three horse coaches behind one another) by 1774 a regular service to London ran from the White Bear, at 10pm every sat and wed at One guinea inside, half guinea outside. Returns Tuesday and Friday. From the White Bear coaches to forward people to any town. But other coach firms started up, a fierce rivalry began. The old system of mail by post-boys on horseback ceased in 1784 when the post-master general used the stagecoach for sending mail until the railways. by the turn of the century, trusts borrowed money to improve the roads and upped the tolls. By 1825 there were Pack woods in the high st and Evans at the City Hotel.The production of the city weaving and silk houses went by Coach.

It's ironic to think that the Germans wiped out all five major coaching premises plus the old iron-horse tram system in the city.

Coventry were continually on the stir with excitement to see new arrivals from distant parts to obtain the latest information and news of the day. But many were the accidents which occurred to the various coaches. An accident of a serious nature happened in Coventry by which several people were killed. And in a another near Bablake Church several people were impaled. Here a wheel lost a spoke There an axletree broke At a third, the perch snapped in two A girl lost an eye A man smashed his thigh And the rest were black and blue Then the horses one night From hard driving took fright And rushed down the hill helter-skelter Whilst the passengers all Both great and small Were pitched in a duck's paddle to welter