THE STAGE-WAGGONS 119 



flannels, and consignments of butter and lard and 

 miscellaneous goods, shared this vehicle with the 

 passengers. There was nothing in the build of 

 this new comer on the road to distinguish it from 

 the common stage-Avaggons, and it only progressed 

 the quicker because, following the newly -estab- 

 lished practice of the coaches of that period, it 

 changed horses at j^laces on the way, instead of 

 making the whole journey with one — often tired 

 and exhausted — team. The other type of vehicle 

 was the " caravan " or " long coach," the next 

 step higher in the social scale. A " caravan " 

 was put on the road between Shrewsbury and 

 London at the close of 1750. It was an affair 

 greatly resembling modern gipsy-vans, and was 

 fitted inside with benches for eight, twelve, or 

 even, at a pinch, eighteen persons. It was drawn 

 by " six able horses," and professed to reach 

 London in four days, but often occupied the 

 whole of five. The fare to London by " caravan " 

 was 15s. — rather less than a penny-farthing a 

 mile. A six-horsed conveyance answering to 

 this description, but uncovered, is pictured by 

 Eowlandson fifty-six years later, on a road not 

 specified by him. 



In April 1753 the " Birmingham and Shrews- 

 bury Long Coach " began to ply between those 

 places and Loudon, completing the distance in 

 three and a half days ; fare 18s. Here, evidently, 

 were several social grades ; and when the Shrews- 

 bury stage-coach of the same year, charging a 

 guinea for an inside place, and the "Machine" 



