64 THE BRIGHTON ROAD 



his works at Stratford. It reached Brighton in eight 

 hours thirty minutes ; from which, however, must be 

 deducted three hours for a halt on the road. 



In the following year, February 4th, the " Criterion " 

 coach, driven by Charles Harbour, took the King's 

 Speech down to Brighton in three hours forty minutes — 

 a coach record that not only quite eclipsed that of the 

 1 Red Rover," but has never yet been equalled, not 

 even by Selby, on his great drive of July 13th, 1888 ; 

 his times being, out and home respectively, three 

 hours fifty-six minutes and three hours fifty-four 

 minutes. 



In March, 1868, the first of the walking records was 

 established, the sporting papers of that age chronicling 

 what they very rightly described as a " Great Walking 

 Feat " : a walk, not merely to Brighton, but to 

 Brighton and back. This heroic undertaking, which 

 was not repeated until 1902, was performed by one 

 " Mr. Benjamin B. Trench, late Oxford University." 

 On March 20th, for a heavy wager, he started to walk 

 the hundred miles from Kennington Church to Brighton 

 and back in twenty-five hours. Setting out on the 

 Friday, at 6 p.m., he was back at Kennington Church 

 at 5 p.m. Saturday, having thus won his wager with 

 two hours to spare. It will be observed, or guessed, 

 from the absence of odd minutes and seconds that in 

 1868, timing, as an exact science, had not been born ; 

 but it is evident that this stalwart walked his hundred 

 miles on ordinary roads at an average rate of a little 

 over four and a quarter miles an hour. " He then," 

 concludes the report, " walked round the Oval several 

 times, till seven o'clock." 



To each age the inventions it deserves. Cycling 

 would have been impossible in the mid-eighteenth 

 century, when Walpole and Burton travelled with 

 such difficulty. 



When roads began to deserve the name, the Mail 

 Coach was introduced ; and when they grew hard 

 and smooth, out of their former condition of ruts 

 and mud, the quaint beginnings of the bicycle are 



