Text 1: The long way round, by Bethan Price

An original contemporary blog.

I left Swansea just after six on Friday morning, expecting the coach to reach Newcastle before teatime. The first few hours were uneventful. Then, near Shrewsbury, the driver announced that a fallen tree had closed the road ahead. We turned back and took a narrow route through several villages. It added almost two hours, and by the time we reached the next stop the coach was running late.

The delay meant I missed the connection I had booked for the final stretch. I boarded the next coach, which left nearly three hours later, and travelled on to a different station. My sister collected me from there, but we did not reach Newcastle until well after midnight. I had made it, though the whole journey took almost six hours longer than I had planned.

Text 2: A letter from the post road, by Thomas Vane

An original letter written in a nineteenth-century voice; a period simulation, not an archival document.

In this letter, written in 1838, a young post rider tells his brother about carrying a mailbag between two market towns across a high moor.

My dear William, I reached Harford yesterday, though not by the hour I had promised. A hard frost had left the track over the moor glazed and treacherous. I had to lead the mare over the steepest stretch, for she slipped twice and I feared she would fall with the mailbag.

Beyond the ridge, the stream had risen after the night’s rain. I could not cross at the usual stones, so I followed its bank until I found a shallower place. That cost me near an hour. The mare was tired by then, and I walked beside her for the last miles rather than urge her on. The letters arrived safely, but the inn had already shut its kitchen when I reached the town.

I shall set out earlier next time, though I cannot make the weather obey me. Your affectionate brother, Thomas.