The dust kicked up by the Tally-hoes was not long laid in Birmingham before the three Shrewsbury coaches came bustling through the town on their journey to London. Of these the "Wonder" probably had the most world-wide fame of any coach in England. It set the fashion of day coaches running long distances, and was the first ever established to cover much above one hundred miles in a day, the distance from London to Shrewsbury being one hundred and fifty-four; and it was unrivalled in its punctuality. It was horsed by Sherman out of London, from the "Bull and Mouth" to St. Albans, to which place he worked most of his coaches on that road, though he extended the distance in the case of one Birmingham night coach for some time as far as Daventry, a distance of seventy-four miles. Whether this was done because he considered it too good a thing to part with, or that it was so poor a concern that no one would join him in it, I do not know. The "Wonder" was driven out of London by Wood as far as Redbourn, from whence Harry Liley worked till he met John Wilcox, when they both turned back; and between Birmingham to Shrewsbury, Sam Hayward occupied the box. I need hardly say that on such a coach, which was the pride of the road, they were all first-rate artists.
The "Wonder" was allowed to enjoy the fruits of its enterprise, and to go on its way unmolested for several years; but by the year 1830, or thereabouts, its success as a good loading coach tempted opposition, and the "Nimrod" was called into existence. It started from London on alternate days from the "Bull Inn," Holborn, and the "Belle Sauvage," Ludgate Hill, horsed from the former by Horne, and from the latter by R. Nelson, and worked by them, side by side, to Redbourn, and driven by my old friend already mentioned on the "Independent Tally-ho," who drove it to near Stoney Stratford and back, making a drive of one hundred miles a day. On one occasion, in consequence of the up coach being delayed by a broken pole, he was obliged to drive on till he met it below Daventry, which lengthened the day's work to about one hundred and seventy miles without a rest.
This distance is, I think, one of the longest ever driven at one time. Mr. Kenyon has been known to drive the "Wonder" the whole journey from London to Shrewsbury, which is nearly equal; but I fancy it has seldom if ever been exceeded, except by the memorable drive of Captain Barclay, who undertook for a bet to drive two hundred, and won it. But to return to the "Nimrod."
The opposition of these two coaches was, as one would have thought, fierce enough, but it was not sufficient to satisfy the wounded feelings of the "Wonder" proprietors, who were indignant at anyone presuming to oppose the coach of which they were so justly proud. After a few years, therefore, the "Stag" was ushered in by the glowing advertisement I have given in a previous page. It was started to run a little in front of the "Nimrod," which was followed by the "Wonder," and was therefore pretty well nursed. The orders given to the "Nimrod" coachman were, if the "Wonder" pressed to keep first, which caused him of course to run into the "Stag," and then, as may well be imagined, the racing became somewhat exciting, and the "Wonder," we may rely upon it, did not always act up to the pacific course laid down for her in the advertisement, and the result was that the three coaches sometimes arrived all together at the "Peacock" at Islington two hours before time. Perhaps the greatest wonder would have been if a coachman had been found who would not have joined in the fun when it was going on under his eyes.
When the proprietors found they could not kill one another by racing, they tried the suicidal plan of cutting down fares, which were reduced, between London and Birmingham, from two pounds eight shillings inside to thirty shillings, and outside from thirty shillings to one pound. This, coupled with the wear and tear of horse flesh caused by the pace, was, of course, ruinous, and one of them told me that he lost fifteen hundred pounds in a little over twelve months by it. Why an agreement could not have been come to whereby the coaches should have run at different times seems to be a puzzle. One would have supposed that it would have answered better for them to have set out with an hour or two between them, which would have afforded better accommodation to the public. I can only imagine one reason which actuated them, which is, that every traveller would have taken the first coach as long as there was room for him in it, for fear of the others being full, and so the first would have had an undue advantage, and little or nothing might have been left for the last.
There was also another fast night coach between London and Birmingham, called the "Emerald," driven out of the latter place by Harry Lee, whose complexion was of a very peculiar colour, almost resembling that of a bullock's liver, the fruit of strong potations of "early purl" or "dog's nose," taken after the exertions of the night and before going to roost.
Besides all the coaches I have named, the Oxford road was not neglected. The well-known "Tantivy" commenced running over it between Birmingham and London about the year 1832, and must have proved successful, for in 1835 the same proprietors put on another fast day coach, called the "Courier," to start at a quarter before seven in the morning, and precede the old-established coach, which started two hours later.
There was also a third road between the great Metropolis and that of the Midlands which ran through Warwick, Banbury, and Buckingham, and which was traversed by the Birmingham mail, and, if I recollect right, also by a night coach called the "Crown Prince."
It was not, however, on the London roads only that coaches increased and multiplied, for in the year 1834 the "Fairtrader" commenced running to Liverpool, and three other new coaches were advertised in other directions—namely, the "Red Rover" to Brecon, the "Beehive" to Manchester, and the "Criterion" to Chester.
At this time, there was also an exceedingly keen opposition between Birmingham and Derby. One of the coaches was horsed and driven by Captain Baring, and the other was horsed by Stovin and driven by Captain Douglas, who has been already mentioned as piloting the Sheffield mail. He was a most determined fellow, and stood at nothing. Indeed, the animosity between these two Jehus was quite alarming when they encountered one another, and at last became so intense that they resorted to the dangerous expedient of crossing one another, which, on one occasion, caused Douglas to run into Baring's coach, thereby causing a smash and bruising several passengers, but very fortunately none were seriously injured. This is the only instance I ever knew of coachmen driving opposition coaches entertaining a personal animosity for one another.