COACHES

Website: www.coachmakers.co.uk (The Coachmakers & Harness Makers Company)

Axle Cooling

Heath Street ponds were made so that the axles of carts and carriages could be cooled down after ascent.

Location: Heath Street, NW3 6TP

Coaching Inns

Piccadilly and the southern end of Kingsland Road had numerous coaching inns.

The Guildford-London coach service's London end was The White Horse on Piccadilly.

Location: Kingsland Road, E2 8FN (red, yellow)

White Horse Street, W1J 7LD (purple, brown)

Coachyards

The coachyard of The Black Lion pub in Plaistow is still intact.

Location: The Black Lion, 59-61 High Street, Plaistow, E13 0AD

Website: https://blacklionplaistow.co.uk

Coach Precedence

The Dukes of Norfolk hold the oldest English dukedom. In terms of social precedence, they have priority over all the other non-royal peers. However, during the eighteenth-century most of the Norfolks were Roman Catholics. This meant that they could only play a limited role in society. As a result, the 6^th Duke of Somerset, an Anglican, became the de facto first duke of England. He enjoyed his primacy so much that he commonly became known as the Proud Duke . Sir James Delaval, a man of pleasure, decided that he could make his grace give him precedence. He accepted a 1000 bet that he could achieve the feat within a year. Society awaited.

One day Somerset was travelling through the countryside in his coach. One of his coachmen announced that another coach was gaining ground on them. The road was only wide enough to allow one vehicle to travel along it at a time. The coachmen announced that the pursuant vehicle was emblazoned with the Duke of Norfolk's arms and that the men riding on it were dressed in his livery. Somerset, mindful of Norfolk's older title, ordered his driver to pull over to the side. The approaching vehicle sped past. As it did do, Sir James waved a cordial salute to the duke.

Hanson

Location: 28 Sumner Place, SW7 3NT (red, white)

Robert Hooke

Hooke s Law explained the behaviour of springs. This had an impact both on carriages and timepieces.

Hooke's Joint is used in cars to transmit power from the gearbox.

Long Acre

In the mid-17^thC Long Acre developed into a district where coach-builders clustered their businesses close to one another.

Location: Carriage Hall, 29 Long Acre, WC2E 9LA (orange, turquoise)

31 Long Acre, WC2E 9LA. A former carriage works.

See Also: CARS Air-Bound Shadows; STREETS, SPECIALISED (orange, grey)

Philip Godsal

Philip Godsal was born the child and grandchild coachmakers. He took over the family yard in Long Acre and turned it into one of the street's principal firms. The business grew so that it was building 200 coaches a year. This generated a turnover of over 30,000 p.a.. As a result, Godsal was able to extend banking services to some of his wealthy clients, who did not have his cash flow. Consequently, for a period, he held a mortgage on Marlborough House. He lived well, residing at fashionable addresses and collecting art. He was one of the investors behind the development of Cheltenham, which lay in Gloucestershire, a county to which he had family connections. His commercial success enabled his son to become a member of the landed gentry.

Location: 103 Long Acre, WC2E 9NR (purple, grey)

The Lord Mayor's Coach

The mayor-elect travels by coach to the Palace of Westminster to be sworn into. This is because in 1711, while going to swear his oath of office, Sir Gilbert Heathcote, the Lord Mayor-elect, fell off his horse and broke one of his legs. He made the journey in a hired coach. However, problems with hiring prompted the Aldermen to commission a coach. Each alderman subscribed 60 and agreed to pay 100 for repairs when he served as Lord Mayor. Joseph Berry of Leather Lane, Holborn, was paid 860 to build it.

The Lord Mayor Coach (1757) was built by Joseph Berry to a Rococo style that was created by the architect Sir Robert Taylor (Sir William Chambers's Royal State Coach (1760) was a harbinger of Neo-Classicism). Matthew Brettingham's decorations appear to have drawn on the Nicholas Pineau-designed Goldene Wagen (1738). The two merfolk that support the coachman s seat on the former vehicle were derived from Bernini's triton fountain in Rome. The Court of Aldermen furnished the 1065 that it cost to build. In 1777 the vehicle became the property of the Court of Common Council. It is still used for the Lord Mayor s Procession. Most of the time it is on exhibition in the Museum of London.

Location: The Museum of London, 150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN (blue, turquoise)

Website: www.collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/478905l www.lordmayorsshow.london/lord-mayors-procession/coach

Mail Coaches

In 1784 the mail coach was introduced. It was devised by John Palmer, he was a theatre owner in Bath who had become annoyed by the slowness of the mail. In 1795 John Besant devised the mail axle.

The Speaker's State Coach

The Speaker's State Coach (1698).

Website: http://www.parliament.uk/business/commons/the-speaker/history-and-traditions-of-the-speakership/speakers-state-coach

The Worshipful Company of Coachmakers & Coach-Harness Makers.

The members of Worshipful Company of Coachmakers & Coach-Harness Makers are involved in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Website: www.coachmakers.co.uk

David Backhouse 2024