TIME BILL OF THE “WONDER” COACH, LONDON TO SHREWSBURY
_Departed from the “Bull and Mouth” at 6.30 morning._ _Left the “Peacock,” Islington, at 6.45 morning._
┌─────────────┬─────────────┬──────┬─────────┬─────────┬───────┬──────┐ │Proprietors. │ Places. │Miles.│ Time │ Should │ Did │ Time │ │ │ │ │allowed. │ arrive. │arrive.│lost. │ ├─────────────┼─────────────┼──────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────┼──────┤ │ │ │ │ H. M.│ H. M.│ │ │ │Sherman │St. Albans │ 22½│ 2 3│ 8 48│ │ │ │J. Lilley │Redbourne │ 4½│ 0 25│ 9 13│ │ │ │ │ Breakfast │ │ 0 20│ │ │ │ │Goodyear │Dunstable │ 8¼│ 0 48│ 10 21│ │ │ │Sheppard │Daventry │ 29¾│ 2 54│ 2 15│ │ │ │Collier │Coventry │ 19 │ 1 47│ 4 2│ │ │ │ │ Business │ │ 0 5│ │ │ │ │Vyse │Birmingham │ 19 │ 1 39│ 5 46│ │ │ │ │ Dinner │ │ 0 35│ │ │ │ │Evans │Wolverhampton│ 14 │ 1 15│ 7 36│ │ │ │ │ Business │ │ 0 5│ │ │ │ │Evans │Summer House │ 6½│ 0 35│ 8 16│ │ │ │J. Taylor │Shiffnal │ 6½│ 0 35│ 8 51│ │ │ │H. J. Taylor │Haygate │ 8 │ 0 43│ 9 34│ │ │ │I. Taylor │Shrewsbury │ 10 │ 0 56│ 10 30│ │ │ ├─────────────┼─────────────┼──────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────┼──────┤ │ │ │ 158 │ 14 45│ │ │ │ └─────────────┴─────────────┴──────┴─────────┴─────────┴───────┴──────┘
This was a programme kept with surprising punctuality throughout the year; a punctuality and an evenness of working obtained only by the large number of horses kept and the frequent stages. The Shrewsbury “Wonder” thus came to be regarded with such veneration for its time-keeping qualities that watches and clocks were regulated by its passing. When the swift yellow coach hove in sight at the end of a village street, the inhabitants, finding their timepieces fast, would not assume the lateness of the “Wonder,” but would put back the hands with a thorough and well-merited belief in the coach.
The stud of horses kept for the “Wonder” numbered one hundred and fifty, all sleek and plump. None of the horses worked more than one hour out of the twenty-four, being required merely on one of the ten-mile stages, which they frequently performed in five minutes under schedule time, and then were taken fresh and vigorous from the traces. They were fed liberally, with the view of keeping them heavy, rather than muscular; strength for short and powerful exertion being required, rather than endurance. Their average value was £20 and they were seldom worked more than four years on this fast coach. Well groomed and cared for, theirs was a lot to be envied.