CHAP. XI. 



THE WELSH KOADS. 



437 



Although a complete survey was made in 1811, no- 

 thing was done for several years. The mail-coaches 

 continued to be overturned, and stage-coaches, in the 

 tourist season, to break down as before. 1 The Irish 

 mail-coach took forty-one hours to reach Holy head from 

 the time of its setting out from St. Martin' s-le-Grand ; 

 the journey was performed at the rate of only 6| miles 

 an hour, the mail arriving in Dublin on the third day. 

 The Irish members made many complaints of the delay 

 and dangers to which they were exposed in travelling 

 up to town. But, although there was much discussion, 

 there was no money voted until the year 1815, when 

 Sir Henry Parnell vigorously took the question in hand 

 and successfully carried it through. A Board of Parlia- 

 mentary Commissioners was appointed, of which he was 

 chairman, and, under their direction, the new Shrews- 

 bury and Holyhead road was at length commenced and 

 carried to completion, the works extending over a period 

 of about fifteen years. The same Commissioners exer- 

 cised an authority over the roads between London and 

 Shrewsbury ; and numerous improvements were also 

 made in the main line at various points, with the object 

 of facilitating communication between London and 

 Liverpool, as well as between London and Dublin. 



1 Many parts of the road are ex- 

 tremely dangerous for a coach to 

 travel upon. At several places be- 

 tween Bangor and Capel-Curig there 

 are a number of dangerous precipices 

 without fences, exclusive of various 

 hills that want taking down. At 

 Ogwen Pool there is a very dangerous 

 place where the water runs over the 

 road, extremely difficult to pass at 

 flooded times. Then there is Dinas 

 Hill, that needs a side fence against a 

 deep precipice. The width of the 

 road is not above twelve feet in the 

 steepest part of the hill, and two car- 

 nages cannot pass without the greatest 

 danger. Between this hill and Rhyd- 

 dlanfair there are a number of dan- 



gerous precipices, steep hills, and 

 difficult narrow turnings. From 

 Corwen to Llangollen the road is 

 very narrow, long, and steep ; has no 

 side fence, except about a foot and a 

 half of mould or dirt, which is thrown 

 up to prevent carriages falling down 

 three or four hundred feet into the river 

 Dee. Stage-coaches have been fre- 

 quently overturned and broken down 

 from the badness of the road, and the 

 mails have been overturned ; but I 

 wonder that more and worse accidents 

 have not happened, the roads are so 

 bad. Evidence of Mr. William 

 Akers, of the Post-Office, before Com- 

 mittee of the House of Commons, 

 1st June, 1815. 



