Joseph Edge, the Macclesfield Pedestrian of 1806

All Things Georgian

Joseph Edge was aged either 61 or 62 years of age when he set off to walk from Macclesfield in Cheshire to London (a journey of 172 miles) in fifty hours or less in the summer of 1806. Several large bets had been placed on his progress, amounting to upwards of 2,000 guineas.

Joseph Edge: The Macclesfield Pedestrian by R Bradbury; Silk Heritage Trust

His first attempt ended in disaster – he set off from the Angel Inn in Macclesfield’s Market Place (it’s now the site of th...