78 



survives now only in a few out-of-the-way 

 corners of the country, and is regarded as 

 an interesting relic of by-gone days where 

 it does exist, we can form perhaps a vague 

 idea of the extent of the change. About 

 the year 1830 upwards of 1,040 coaches 

 were running daily out of London alone. 



We need not, thanks to " Nimrod " and 

 other chroniclers of the coaching age, remain 

 content with a vague idea of the number of 

 horses then in use on the roads. It is easy 

 to take a single route and reckon up the 

 stud required to work a coach running 

 thereon. The usual " stage" for a team 

 was from eight to ten miles, and making 

 due provision for rests, accidents, &c., the 

 proprietors estimated the needs of a coach 

 at one horse per mile "one way." There- 

 fore a coach running from London to York, 

 200 miles, and back, required about 200 

 horses ; from London to Edinburgh, 400 

 miles, and back, about 400 horses ; from 

 London to Exeter, 175 miles, and back, 

 about 175 horses. 



On roads where the passenger traffic was 

 heavy, coaches were numerous : as many 

 as twenty-five ran daily in the summer 

 during the 'thirties from London to Brighton. 

 The distance by road is about sixty miles, 



