Mail was no slower 200 years ago
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JOHN PALMER, an 18th century Bath theatre manager, complained bitterly that his business was suffering because mail to London regularly took two days. He should have been so lucky.
The stage coach, I learn from Road Safety Notes published by the West Yorks Metropolitan Police, covered the distance in 18 hours and in 1784 Palmer persuaded the government to let him send his post by coach with armed guards. The scheme was such a success that it soon
expanded, giving coach travel a great boost.
Two hundred years later coaching has received another big fillip, this time from overpriced and dwindling railway services. But even with luck and a following wind, mail from Bath or anywhere else to London still often takes at least two days and no amount of • complaining makes any difference.