i6o STAGE-COACH AND AT AIL IN DAYS OF YORE 



well-remembered snowstorm Avliicli disorganised 

 the railway service quite as effectually as that 

 of 1836 did the coaches, and broke down and 

 destroyed nearly every telegraph-post and Avire 

 in the land. 



The famous snowstorm of 183G affected all 

 parts of the country, and only on two mail routes 

 w(n'e communications kept open. Tourteen mail- 

 coaches Avere abandoned on the various roads, 

 and for periods ranging from two to ten days 

 the travels of others ceased. The snowstorm itself 

 continued for nearly a week. The two routes 

 remaining unconquered during this extraordinary 

 time were those to Portsmouth and Poole, but 

 precisely why or how they were thus distinguished 

 is not made clear. There is no doubt that the 

 coachmen and guards on the Portsmouth and 

 Poole Mails were strenuous men, but that quality 

 was common to many of those engaged upon the 

 mails. Nor can Ave find any favouring circum- 

 stance of physical geography to account for this 

 unusual good fortune. On the contrary, those 

 roads are in places exceptionally bleak and ex- 

 posed to high Avinds ; and the strong Avind that 

 on this occasion l)ared the heights and buried 

 the liolloAVs tAventy and thirty feet deep in snoAV- 

 Avreaths Avas an especial feature of the visitation. 

 Portunately for all upon the roads — for those A\^ho 

 laboured along tliem, and for those Avho Avere 

 brought to a standstill in the drifts — the cold 

 Avas not remarkal)ly severe. 



Put never before, Avithin living recollection, 



