224 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



At the Angel, passengers, at least by the down 

 night mail, had a good time ; for they not only got a 

 plentiful dinner, but they had an hour or more to eat 

 it in. Those by the up mail, which w^as due earl}\ in 

 the morning, could only have a snack by the w^ay, 

 for the coach w^as in a hurry to get on to Ferrybridge, 

 where a considerable halt for postal purposes was 

 unavoidable. 



That was a journey of close upon seventeen miles, 

 which the ordinary coaches completed in a single 

 stage. The mail, with less time to spare, divided it 

 at Aberford, passing — betw^een Aberford and Ferry- 

 bridge — the old Peckfield turnpike, w^here the Leeds 

 and Hull mail crossed its path, and that house which 

 is still famous in the hunting season, the Bramham 

 Moor Inn. 



So many mail-roads converged on Wetherby, or 

 points in its immediate neighbourhood, that it was an 

 attractive rendezvous for such knights of the road as 

 were disposed to rob the mail. On Saturday, January 

 31, 1819, ' the portmantua containing the bags of 

 letters from London for Knaresborough and Harro- 

 gate, and the bye-bags of letters from Wetherby,' 

 was stolen from the mail-rider's horse, actually under 

 the eyes of the officials at Wetherby post-office 

 itself. 



It was a highly creditable theft, i.e., in point of 

 dexterity and swiftness. The mail-rider was booted 

 and spurred ; his horse stood at the office-door 

 saddled, bridled, and loaded for the journey. The 



