19thC Travel: Time and Distance
In Chasing the Heiress, Colin and Lucy spend perhaps half the book on the road. And by our measures, they don't even travel very far!
Colin begins his journey in Holywell and meets up with Lucy outside Shrewsbury, then by a rather circuitous path, the two continue on toward London. The distance from Holywell to London was 208 miles, according to the 1822 16th edition of Paterson's Roads; being an entirely original and accurate description of all the direct and principal cross roads in England and Wales with Part of the Roads of Scotland, edited by Edward Mogg.
Colin and Lucy take around a month for their journey, but if one weren't evading villains, how long would the trip take?
Mail coaches in 1819 could travel 7 miles an hour, making a trip between the Holywell and London take around 32 hours.
But in 1819, private coaches--depending on their quality--could go around ten. As a result, wealthy travelers with their own carriages should have been able to reach London from Holywell in no more than 21 hours--or two very long days, if one were in a hurry and had good access to new horses.
By comparison, today in the US, one needs only around 30 hours to drive from New York City to Albuquerque, New Mexico--or, in another comparison, from San Diego to Atlanta.
Even in the UK, one can travel from Land's End, Cornwall, the southernmost tip of the island to John o' Groats, Scotland, the northernmost tip, in a little less than 16 hours.
So, next time you plan a road trip, mark off 208 miles and see how far it gets you! and in how much time.
Here's some benchmarks: Chicago to Indianapolis is 183; Dallas to Oklahoma City, is 206; Lexington, KY to Nashville, TN, is 214; Houston to Dallas is 239; and New York City to Boston is 226.
Colin begins his journey in Holywell and meets up with Lucy outside Shrewsbury, then by a rather circuitous path, the two continue on toward London. The distance from Holywell to London was 208 miles, according to the 1822 16th edition of Paterson's Roads; being an entirely original and accurate description of all the direct and principal cross roads in England and Wales with Part of the Roads of Scotland, edited by Edward Mogg.
Colin and Lucy take around a month for their journey, but if one weren't evading villains, how long would the trip take?
Mail coaches in 1819 could travel 7 miles an hour, making a trip between the Holywell and London take around 32 hours.
But in 1819, private coaches--depending on their quality--could go around ten. As a result, wealthy travelers with their own carriages should have been able to reach London from Holywell in no more than 21 hours--or two very long days, if one were in a hurry and had good access to new horses.
By comparison, today in the US, one needs only around 30 hours to drive from New York City to Albuquerque, New Mexico--or, in another comparison, from San Diego to Atlanta.
Even in the UK, one can travel from Land's End, Cornwall, the southernmost tip of the island to John o' Groats, Scotland, the northernmost tip, in a little less than 16 hours.
So, next time you plan a road trip, mark off 208 miles and see how far it gets you! and in how much time.
Here's some benchmarks: Chicago to Indianapolis is 183; Dallas to Oklahoma City, is 206; Lexington, KY to Nashville, TN, is 214; Houston to Dallas is 239; and New York City to Boston is 226.
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Brent
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Aug 06, 2016 06:53AM
I take a group of students to London pretty regularly, and one of tge things that always surprises them is how the city is really a collection of nearby towns, related to one another by the pre-automobile distances of a brisk walk.
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Hi, Brent! Nice to see you here! That's a great way to describe the relationships between the various towns: "pre-automobile distances of a brisk walk." I've enjoyed using period maps and tourist guides to re-imagine what the relationships felt like to a contemporary, and it's always illuminating!
