154 THE COACHING AGE. 



Cheapside, respecting which there is this notice in the 

 ' History of Signboards ' : 'St. Laurent was the sign 

 of an inn, in Laurence Lane, Cheapside, but from a 

 border of blossoms or flowers round it, commonly 

 called Blossoms Inn.' 



Only one mail ran from his inn, and that was the 

 ' Brighton,' a pair-horse concern. It was not by 

 any means a fast one, being allowed within a trifle 

 of seven hours to perform the journey, leaving 

 Brighton about eleven o'clock at night. This gave 

 ample time for it to arrive in London among the 

 other mails with the letters and papers. 



Not many coaches ran from the Blossoms Inn ; 

 but there was rather a noted and fast coach, called 

 ' The Peveril of the Peak,' from London to Man- 

 chester, leaving London in the evening. 



Joseph Hearn, proprietor of the King's Arms at the 

 bottom of Snow Hill, was in the same position as 

 Gilbert as regarded mail-coach work, as he had 

 only one, the Birmingham, a slow mail through 

 Banbury. He also had a very good Birmingham 

 coach, the ' Crown Prince,' through Banbury and 

 Warwick. These were about the only long coaches 

 he had, his business being principally to places in 

 Buckinghamshire, and a good deal of van and spring 

 waggon work. His coaches and waggons went to 

 Aylesbury, Buckingham, and other places to which it 



