BRISTOL COACHING INNS. 355 



sheet they are stated to occupy a period of twenty- 

 eight hours only in performing the journey from Bristol 

 to London, so that with their stoppages on the road 

 — which must have taken a considerable time for 

 changing horses and loading and unloading goods — 

 they must, when in actual motion, have travelled 

 at the rate of five or six miles an hour; and I 

 don't suppose the broad-wheeled waggon exceeded 

 four, if, indeed, it did so much. 



The proprietors did not lay themselves out for 

 the conveyance of passengers by the broad-wheeled 

 waggon ; if they did carry any for a remuneration, 

 and the pace exceeded four miles an hour, they were 

 liable to the duty . for carrying passengers, which 

 it would have been scarcely worth their while to pay, 

 and there were plenty of persons on the look-out to 

 inform against them if they carried passengers without 

 a license. 



Among the things one used to see on the old roads 

 were these indispensable and most useful ponderous 

 broad- wheeled waggons, with their teams of eight or ten 

 horses ; they conveyed the greater part of the goods 

 which were too large and heavy even for the night- 

 coaches. The trade, however, was only partially 

 carried on by them where there was water-carriage, 

 either by barges or canal boats, running almost 

 parallel with the road. For removal of furniture the 



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