BOUND FOR THE BORDER 221 



When things finally settled down — about 1836 — 

 the recognised route for the Glasgow mail from 

 London was Alconbury Hill, Wetherby, and Carlisle, 

 and for the Edinburgh mail, Alconbury Hill and 

 Newcastle, via York. 



This long hill was well known to travellers of the 

 Edinburgh and Glasgow mails. ' Here we are,' 

 wrote Francis, Lord Jeffrey, from Grantham, on 

 January 31, 1831 ; ' to-night it snows and blows, 

 and there is good hope of our being blocked up at 

 Witham Corner or Alconbury Hill, or some of those 

 lonely retreats, for a week or so, or fairly stuck in the 

 drift.' 



Jeffrey no doubt was thinking of North Witham, 

 nearly ten miles south of Grantham, where, at the 

 Black Bull, the first change was made on the road to 

 London. Alconbury Hill — the coaches ran to the 

 Wheatsheaf — was much further on, 42^ miles from 

 Grantham exactly. To get there he would pass 

 through a number of places of interest, either from 

 quaintness of name or historical association — Earn 

 Jam House ; Burleigh House by Stamford Town ; 

 White Water TurnjDike — which is not, nor do I think 

 it ever was, a turnpike — Kate's Cabin Inn ; Norman 

 Cross, the junction of the Lincolnshire roads ; and 

 Stilton, which has given its name to a famous cheese. 

 It is otherwise known because of Thornhill of the Bell 

 Inn, a noted rider, who won the Kimbolton Cuj) with 

 a mare that he accidentally took on to the course 

 after a journey of twelve miles. 



