This 1993 book examines the road haulage trade in England when it depended on horses and wagons, chiefly through the letters and papers of one of the largest firms which operated between the West Country and London in the early nineteenth century. Other documents extend the coverage of the firm's history from the seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, making it possible to examine how road transport changed during the course of two centuries. The Russell letters are all extraordinary and unique survival, showing in detail how the firm managed to convey up to six tons at a time in...

Authoritative and very detailed study by acknowledged road transport history expert of the stage coach trade between Bristol and London, 1650s to 1840s, which provides the key to understanding the British stage coach system as a whole. Fully illustrated with maps, charts and contemporary prints, refrenced to sources and indexed.