Glass goblet, 1800
The horses on this goblet are galloping towards a roadside inn, pulling a coach full of passengers. The coachman is whipping the horses, making them go faster.
The words cut into the glass tell us that it shows the coaching route between York and Hull. Before railways were built in the mid-1800s horse drawn coaches carried passengers all over Britain. They were the quickest way to get around.
Before railways were built, a national network of horse drawn coaches linked towns and cities. Hullâs only direct coach service was to York â the service shown on this goblet. Coaches from York travelled towards Newcastle, Sunderland, Whitby, Scarborough and London.
A shorter way of getting from Hull to London was to take the ferry across the River Humber to Barton. Coaches for London were timetabled to meet passengers arriving from Hull by ferry.
There were two main coach networks: stage coaches and mail coaches. Stage coaches were introduced to meet the travel needs of the middle classes. They were aimed at people who couldnât afford their own coaches.
Stage coaches travelled between roadside inns which functioned 24 hours a day. The inns were often owned by coach proprietors. Mail coaches carried post between inns and also took passengers. They offered the fastest and safest means of transport.
Coaches may have been the most efficient means of transport before railways but they certainly werenât the most comfortable. Vibrations from the road made coach travel a painful experience. As the engraving on this goblet shows, drivers put speed before the comfort of the passengers.
Passengers were carried inside and outside the coach with outside being cheaper. Outsiders usually travelled on the coach roof. There were no seats at first so passengers were given handles to hold on to. These werenât much use and passengers were sometimes thrown off the coach as it lurched along the road.
