The Georgians

Transport

The eighteenth century was the hey day for the stage coach and the' coach and four', and the coaching inn which was the equivalent of our railway or bus stations.

The roads saw some improvement, although travellers had to wait until the nineteenth century for the road improvement schemes of Thomas Telford and John Macadam. In 1700 it had taken 65 hours of travel to get from Birmingham to London. By 1800 the same journey took 25 hours.

Main roads were provided with milestones for the first time since the Romans!

It was also the heyday of the 'Knights of the Road'. Who were they?

Click the picture for an answer.

The eighteenth century industrial revolution was bound up with problems of transport. Iron and coal were too heavy and bulky to carry on horse drawn wagons over bad roads - it would have been far too costly.

A means had to be found for the easy movement of vast masses of raw materials and finished goods around the country and to the ports.

James Brindley cut a new type of canal and its success, in carrying goods cheaply, led to a mania of canal construction. In the Midlands canals radiating in all directions were cut from Birmingham.

Great shire horses easily pulled the laden, flat bottomed barges and narrow boats through England.

What is the very early example of a new type of lighting shown in this picture?