LONG-DISTANCE DAY-COACHES. 73 



coaches every stage waggon on the road, If it exceeded 

 a pace at which previous waggons had journeyed, was 

 described as fast, and frequently as flying. In the 

 later coaching days twenty minutes only was allowed 

 for passenger's dinner ; this was the time permitted 

 on the "Telegraph," the fast coach from London 

 to Manchester, and other coaches mentioned else- 

 where. 



The generality of coaches did not travel more than 

 nine and a half miles an hour by day and about eight 

 and a half by night, some exceeded this pace, and just 

 before coaches ceased running the speed was very 

 considerably increased. Long-distance day-coaches 

 were established when the "Wonder" ran to Shrews- 

 bury, 158 miles, in one day. The longest distance 

 previously performed by a day-coach was 100 and 125 

 miles, from London to Bristol. Shortly after this the 

 Exeter day-coach, called the '* Telegraph," was placed 

 on the road, the distance run in the day being 165 

 miles/" and the Manchester day-coach, the "Telegraph," 

 also ran 186 miles during the day. But the time 

 coaches took to perform their journeys was dependent 

 very much upon the condition of the roads. Of course 

 in bad weather the roads were sometimes rendered 

 impassable by reason of floods in low-lying districts, 

 and in winter by heavy snow-storms ; under such 

 conditions the best roads may be rendered impassable. 

 There was a very celebrated coach, called the " Beaufort 

 Hunt," which ran from London to Bath; it used to 

 maintain the extraordinary speed of eleven miles an 

 hour except where it encountered steep hills. 



The " Quicksilver," a Brighton coach, performed 

 the distance from London to Brighton in four hours 



* See page 76. 



