ROADS 37 



In 1825 the Westmorland magistrates made an order allowing carts 

 to pass through any toll gate within the comity for 4d. instead of 6d., 

 and in 1830 an Act came into force repealing the duty on husbandry 

 horses let for hire for the purposes of travelling. Under the Highways 

 Act of 1835 no animal was to be allowed to stray on the roadside under 

 a penalty of 5s., and all animals so found were to be taken to the 

 nearest pound. 



The first stage coach to pass through Kendal was in 1763 ; it was 

 drawn by six horses at a rate of six miles an hour, and passed through 

 the town twice a week ; the " Fly," another stage coach, first " com- 

 menced rimning over Stainmore from London to Glasgow in 1774." It 

 was not till 1786 that the first mail coach from London passed through 

 Kendal on its way to Edinburgh ; by 1809 a second mail coach road was 

 in use in the county, from Bowes over Stainmore through Brough and 

 Appleby to Eamont Bridge. As traffic gradually increased coaches 

 were put upon the roads from Kendal to the various adjoinmg towns, 

 and by 1825 no fewer than 18 to 20 coaches passed through the town 

 daily — ten years after this date they gradually decreased, and through 

 the opening of the railways this decrease was greatly accelerated. By 

 1849 only one, the old Leeds coach, passed through Kendal, and it ceased 

 running soon afterwards. 



Of the horses employed in these coaches the wheelers were 15 hands 

 I inch at least in height, but anj^hing which could keep clear of the 

 bars was big enough for a leader— an average price for the latter would 

 be about £17 and for the former £22 to £25, and never more than £30. 

 None were bought under five years old, and in a fast mail coach three 

 years would be the average extent of their service, when they were sold 

 to farmers for £5 or £6. 



Stage coaches never entirely ceased running in the Lake District, 

 and during the last half of the century were an increasing attraction to 

 visitors staying in that neighbourhood — a decrease in the number 

 running only taking place through the competition of motors during the 

 past few years. 



On the opening of the canal from Lancaster to Kendal in 1819 

 another means was at the disposal of farmers for reaching the growing 

 markets in Lancashire. Its effect was almost immediately felt ; in the 

 same year the com inspector was removed from Burton to Kendcd, which 



