150th anniversary of the end of an era for Shrewsbury

Today marks the 150^th anniversary of the end of an era for Shrewsbury.

The Shrewsbury Chronicle announced: “July 27, 1861. Sale at the Lion, property of Mr George Curtis, 30 first-class coach or post horses, now engaged in working the Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth Mail and Coaches and well-known on the road for their fast pace and powers of endurance. Will be sold without reserve in consequence of the opening of a portion of the Welsh railway, and the retirement of Mr Curtis from working the Aberystwyth coaches.”

When the Shrewsbury Railway Station opened in 1848  offering five-hour train journeys to London the stagecoaches could not compete with the new transport which provided a cheaper, faster and more comfortable journey for passengers and the mail..

However, Shrewsbury and the owner of The Lion, Isaac Taylor, did not give up the transport battle without a fight.

On one unforgettable occasion, the Shrewsbury Wonder left its base in London at the same time as the Birmingham train and actually arrived in England’s second city first. Also Taylor had plenty of support in the town.

When the Hon. Thomas Kenyon, of  Pradoe, Shropshire, a famous whip, amateur coachman and Holyhead Road Commissioner, was rewarded with a commemorative plate at a dinner in Shrewsbury, a toast was drunk proposing ‘confusion to the rail-roads and a high gallows and a windy day to all enemies of the whip.’

The late 18^th century and early part of the 19^th century had been a golden age for Shrewsbury.

By 1835 there were 23 coaches leaving Shrewsbury every day with 15 from The Lion and 200 horses were accommodated in the town every night. Pictured below is one of the stagecoaches riding through Shropshire.

It was mainly due to Robert Lawrence, a former owner of The Lion, who persuaded the London-Dublin mail coach to come via Shrewsbury rather than Chester that the town had enjoyed such success and wealth from the stagecoach service.

Businesses were also helped by the legendary driver from The Lion, Samuel ‘Sam’ Hayward, who ran the Shrewsbury Wonder coach for 16 years without mishap and was a legend for his punctual timekeeping on the route to London.

Although The Lion Hotel led the fight to keep the stagecoaches for many years, the end of the road for the Golden Age of Coaching came with that sale on July 27, 1861.

It was the end of an era, but the memory still lives on as some of today’s Shrewsbury’s Park and Ride buses are named after the town’s stagecoaches.