On the Road.
Few parts of England could have been so inaccessible as were Cumberland and Westmorland prior to the middle of the last century. Roads were scarce, unless the dignity of the name be given to the rough tracks which served for the passage of pack-horses, and even these did not reach a great number, having regard to the area which they served. There was little to call the people away from home, to London and other great centres of industry. The journey from the north to the Metropolis was such a great undertaking that men who had any possessions to leave behind them almost invariably made their wills before starting out. The richer sort, of course, rode their horses, and an interesting account of the journey was left by Henry Curwen, of Workington Hall, as to his trip to London in 1726. The most accessible route was very roundabout—by Penrith, Stainmore, Barnard Castle, York, and so through the eastern counties. This journey on horseback occupied thirteen days, including four which were utilised for visiting friends on the way. The roads he described as being very bad, and a ride of thirty-two miles he declared to be equal to fifty measured miles.
People with fewer guineas to spare had of necessity to walk. “Manufacturers made their wills, and settled their worldly affairs, before taking a long journey, and many of them travelled on foot to London and other places, to sell their goods, which were conveyed on the backs of pack-horses.”[19] Even more recently pedestrian excursions from Mid Cumberland to London have been undertaken; there was the well-known case of Mally Messenger, who died in August, 1856, at the age of ninety-three years. Several times before she attained middle age Mally walked to London and back to Keswick, a distance of 286 miles in each direction. On one occasion she was passed by a Keswick man on horseback, who by way of a parting message remarked, “Good-day, Mally; I’ll tell them in Keswick you’re coming.” The pedestrian, however, was the better traveller, for she often used to boast afterwards that she reached Keswick first.
When old-time Bamptonians wanted to see the Metropolis they could not go to Shap or Penrith and thence be carried by excursions for considerably under a sovereign. This is how the vicar went on foot in 1697, as recorded in the parish registers: “Feb. the 7 did Mr. Knott set forward for London, got to Barking to Mr. Blamyres, Friday, March the fourth, to London March the seaventh, remained there 8 weekes and 2 dayes, came out May the 5, 1698, gott to Bampton Grainge, May the 20, at night.”
Even apart from the perils which beset travellers during the times of the Border forays, there were many things which must have restrained the average Cumbrian and Westmerian from wandering far abroad. To those who were obliged to walk or ride far, the old hospitals must have been very welcome institutions. One of these, of which all traces have long been lost, was the hospital on the desolate and remote fells of Caldbeck. “Out of Westmorland and the east parts of Cumberland there lying an highway through Caldbeck into the west of Cumberland, it was anciently very dangerous for passengers to travel through it, who were often robbed by thieves that haunted those woody parts and mountains. Thereupon Ranulph Engain, the chief forester of Englewood, granted licence to the Prior of Carlisle to build an hospital for the relief of distressed travellers who might happen to be troubled by those thieves, or prejudiced by the snows or storms in winter.” The Prior made the enclosure, and doubtless the hospice was a boon to many a wayfarer; the population increased, a church was established, and in the time of King John, the hospital being dissolved, the property of the secular institution was handed over to the Church, and to this day the manor is known as Kirkland. The need for former protection of the kind is still preserved in a landmark in the parish, “the Hawk,” or as the local pronunciation has it, “Howk.” This grotto was a noted meeting-place for thieves.
Even the King’s Judges were not exempted from the perils of the road. Hutchinson’s description of Brampton says that “The judges, with the whole body of barristers, attorneys, clerks, and serving men, rode on horseback from Newcastle to Carlisle, armed and escorted by a strong guard under the command of the sheriffs. It was necessary to carry provisions, for the country was a wilderness which afforded no supplies. The spot where the cavalcade halted to dine, under an immense oak, is not yet forgotten. The irregular vigour with which criminal justice was administered shocked observers whose lives had been passed in more tranquil districts. Juries, animated by hatred, and by a sense of common danger, convicted house-breakers and cattle-stealers with the promptitude of a court-martial in a mutiny; and convicts were hurried by scores to the gallows.”
Even taxes did not, it is to be feared, prevent some of the Cumbrians occasionally throwing in their lot with, or assisting, the vagabonds who were the cause of all the trouble. “It was often found impossible to track the robbers to their retreats among the hills and morasses, for the geography of that wild country was very imperfectly known. Even after the accession of George the Third, the path over the fells from Borrowdale to Ravenglass was still a secret carefully kept by the dalesman, some of whom had probably in their youth escaped from justice by the road.” Such is the record which may be gathered from Gray’s “Journal of a Tour in the Lakes” in 1769.
Coach travelling was an expensive luxury, and those who undertook the journeys between London and the north did not do so solely for pleasure. From an advertisement, nearly a column in length, which appeared in the London Star at the end of 1795 the following is taken:—
Saracen’s Head Inn.
Snow-Hill, London.
Safe, Easy, and Expeditious Travelling.
With every accommodation that can lessen the fatigue,
or add to the pleasure of the Journey, to
most parts of England and the
Principal Towns in Scotland,
by the following
NEW AND ELEGANT COACHES:
Carlisle and Penrith rapid Post Coach, goes with four horses, and a guard all the way, passes through Brough, Appleby, Gretabridge, Richmond, Catterick, Boroughbridge, Wetherby, Alberford, Doncaster, and Grantham (the nearest way by 18 miles) sets out every morning, and performs the journey with the greatest ease and convenience. Passengers desirous to stop on the road, have the advantage of their seats being secured in the next Coach (with only six Coachmen).
WILLIAM MOUNTAIN and CO. respectfully acquaint their Friends and the Public that, still emulous to deserve as well as preserve their invaluable esteem, they have provided Lamps and Guards, that travel throughout with all the above Coaches.
N.B. The Proprietors of the above Coaches from the above inn, will not be accountable for any Parcel, Luggage, Goods, &c., of more value than Five Pounds (if lost) unless entered as such and paid for accordingly.
An earlier advertisement which appeared in the Cumberland newspapers of 1775 shows that the journey to London was done in three days, at a cost of £3 10s. per passenger. The notice ran:—
“Carlisle Post Coach.—In Three Days for London.—Sets out from the Bush Inn, Carlisle, every Sunday evening, at seven o’clock precisely, by way of Burrowbridge, being well known to the public to be the nearest and best road to London (and is also calculated for more ease and satisfaction to the passengers than any other coach). It also sets out from the Bell and Crown, Holborn, every Wednesday evening, at eight o’clock. Each inside passenger from Carlisle to London to pay £3 10s. From the George Inn, Penrith, £3 7s. 6d., and threepence per mile for all passengers taken up on the road. Each passenger to be allowed 14lb. luggage; all above to pay 4d. per pound; small parcels at 3s. each.... Performed by J. Garthwaite and Co.”
Locomotion was still more difficult and costly in the early part of the seventeenth century. In the Household Books of Naworth, extending from 1612 to 1640, are found such significant entries as the following:—“March 22, 1626. Hewing a way for the coach beyond Gelt Bridge, 2s. 3d.” On one occasion, Sir Francis Howard, being sick, hired a coach for his journey from London to Bowes, which cost £18. Lord William Howard’s journeys to London were always taken on horseback, and he was generally ten or twelve days on the road, the travelling expenses varying, according to the number of his retinue and the direction of the route taken. A journey by way of Shiffnal and Lydney occupied eleven days, and cost £30 7s. 1d.; whilst the expenses of another, from Thornthwaite to London with twenty-four men and twelve horses in his train, came to £20 15s. 4d.
In addition to the coaches, people often travelled by what were termed “expeditious wagons,” which carried goods. One notice dated November 24th, 1790, concerning these vehicles may be quoted:—
“In ten days from Carlisle to London, and the same in return by way of York every week. Messrs. Handleys respectfully inform their friends and the public in general that they have erected stage waggons which leave Carlisle early on Tuesday morning and arrive at York on Thursday night, and Leeds on Saturday morning (where goods for all parts in the south are regularly forwarded by the respective carriers), arrive at the White Bear, Bassinghall Street, on Friday night, and set out every Monday morning, and arrive at and leave York on Tuesday morning, Bedal, Richmond, Barnard Castle, Burgh, Appleby, Penrith, and arrive at Carlisle on Friday evening, where goods are immediately forwarded to Wigton, Cockermouth, Workington, Whitehaven, and any other place in Cumberland; also to Annan, Dumfries, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and all other principal towns in Scotland. They hope by their attention to business to merit the favours of all those who please to employ them. N.B.—Their waggon leaves Sheffield on Saturday, and Leeds on Monday. For further particulars apply to Robert Wilson, book-keeper, or J. Birkett, innkeeper, Carlisle.”
A writer in 1812, on the manners and customs of the people of Westmorland during the preceding century, stated that wheel carriages were very little used for private intercourse or trade; for persons of both sexes made short journeys on horseback, the women being commonly seated on pillions behind the men. Very few made long excursions from home, except the manufacturers of Kendal, many of whom travelled on foot in quest of orders for their worsted stockings and linsey-woolsey. Carriers did not employ wagons, but drove gangs of pack-horses, each gang being preceded by a bell-horse, and the owners reckoned a young woman equivalent to half a pack in loading their beasts of burden. The predilection for transporting all kinds of commodities on horseback was so general, that the fuel consumed in Kendal came to the town in this manner. Coals were brought in sacks upon galloways from Ingleton, and the turf or peat was conveyed from the mosses in halts. These were a pair of strong wicker hampers, which were joined by a pack-saddle, and hung across a horse’s back. They were put to various uses in husbandry, which offices are now performed by carts. Halts gave way to carts in the progress of general improvement. These vehicles were ill-contrived, particularly the wheels, which consisted of two circular boards fixed without spokes immovably to the ends of a cylinderical axle. The injudicious nature of the construction required the axle itself to revolve beneath the cart, where it was kept in its place by two pairs of parallel wooden pins, that projected downward from the frame of the bottom.
A question concerning these old “tummel wheel’d cars” was asked in the Carlisle Journal a few months ago, and a correspondent supplied this answer:—“I have seen at least two of these old-time machines of locomotion. They had then been many years out of use. I speak now of a date say 58 years gone past. One of them was stored in an open shed in the farmyard of its venerable owner—the other had less respect shown to its remains, for it stood in a neglected and unsheltered corner. Of course, I never saw either of them in use. The wheels were funny, not to say clumsy, looking affairs. Without spokes or felloes, they consisted of three segment-shaped blocks of wood, fastened together rudely but strongly with ‘dowels’ of the same material, so as to form a circle. The wheels again were similarly fastened to the axle, and the whole revolved in one solid mass. The harness consisted mostly of ropes or girthing with loops at the ends, and having cleets like the modern ‘coo-tee’ to hold them in position. Very little leather was used, and but few buckles. Here is Mr. Dickinson’s description, ‘In old times the horse was yoked to the cart by a rope from the shoulders, and an iron ring sliding on the shaft held by a pin. This was hammerband yoking. The tummel wheelers referred to were seen by me in the Lake District (Ullswater) in the early forties.’”
Before turnpike roads were made, or wagons came into use, the merchandise of Kendal was transported by the following pack-horses:—
Less than sixty years ago the pillion was in constant use in the two counties, and only the well-to-do yeomen thought of taking their wives and daughters frequently to market in the “shandry cart.” It is only a quarter of a century since the old pack-horses ceased to traverse some parts of Westmorland and its borders. Mr. H. Speight, in one of his books,[20] deals with a state of things which existed, not only in the Hawes district, but considerably northward of that place. Handloom weaving was an old local industry, and when a sufficient number of pieces were ready, they were gathered up and conveyed by teams of pack-horses over the mountains to the various West Riding towns. Discharging their loads they would return laden with warp, weft, size, and other articles. When the traffic ceased, hundreds of these sonorous pack-horse bells were sold for old metal, and the brokers’ shops for a time were full of them. Each bell weighed from 1lb. to 2lbs. An old resident in North Westmorland not long ago recalled very vividly the scenes to be witnessed, and confirmed the accuracy of the following description from Mr. Speight’s volume: “In the old pack-horse days it was a sight worth remembering to witness the procession of men and horses with miscellaneous goods, making their way out of the Yorkshire dales, to Kirkby Stephen and the north. The drivers from Garsdale and Grisedale came over the moor to Shaw Paddock, and thence on to Aisgill, and to the old Thrang Bridge in Mallerstang, where they were met by strings of pack-horses and men coming from the east country by Hell Gill. It was a busy and picturesque scene, and the Thrang Bridge was well named. Sometimes on special occasions, as during Brough Hill Fair, the thrifty wives and daughters of the dales used to go up to Hell Gill Bridge, and spread out stalls and baskets, stored with cakes, nuts, apples, and bottles of home-made herb beer, and other non-intoxicants, to sell to passing travellers. And a good business they did too, for there was a continuous stream of wayfarers, who were glad, particularly if the day were hot, to linger awhile and hear the gossip of the country-side, cracking many a joke along with many a nut bought from the buxom stall women. Occasionally herds of Highland cattle passed this way, and when the far-travelled animals showed signs of fatigue, it was no uncommon thing to see one of the men who carried a bagpipe play some lively air as he marched in front of the drove. The animals seemed to enjoy the music, and evidently appreciated this relief to the tediousness of the journey, by walking, as they often would, with a brisker step, while some of them that had lain down in the road would quickly rise at the novel far-sounding strains, which brought many a cottager also to his feet from his home in the echoing glen.”