As you are reading it just imagine what it must have been like being on one of these coaches with two mad drivers going hell for leather. Also imagine how relieved you would have been after being jolted along for over 11 hours. Here's the story.
"On 30 December 1822 one of the most noteworthy recorded cases of horse-drawn coach drivers racing against each other occurred when the Norwich Times and the Norwich Day (Francis Day) coaches both left the La Belle Sauvageau Inn, Ludgate Hill, London at 5.30am. The Times was driven by John Thorogood, who not only had the reputation of being a crack coach driver but was also proprietor of the coach company.
"The route from London to Norwich was then a distance of 116 miles and both coaches raced along at breakneck speed, neither stopping to change horses or to pick up or drop passengers over the last 25 miles. In spite of Thorogood’s reputation, the Day was the first to arrive at the Coach & Horses in Bethel Street, Norwich at 4.45pm, 10 minutes ahead of the Times, the driver of the Day setting up a new record of 11 hours and 15 minutes.
"Rivalry between coach Companies was fierce and drivers of rival coaches plying the same route invariably competed to be the first to arrive at a destination. When John Thorogood finally retired in 1825 he had travelled several thousands of miles and had seen the cities of London and Norwich daily."
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There is so much political correctness in our world that at times we get swamped by being told what we can say and how we can act and what we mustn't say and how we mustn't act. I was very disappointed therefore at the comments on the BBC quiz show Celebrity Weakest Link on Thursday by the BBC's disability reporter Nikki Fox.
Nikki suffers from Muscular Dystrophy and has done outstanding work as a journalist in the field of disability but she let herself down big time on the quiz. After being the first person voted off, she accused the others of voting for her because she was disabled. This was obviously meant to be funny and a joke but it did bring a gasp from the other celebrities as in "that remark was rather in bad taste."
The problem is she had obviously rehearsed it as her exit line for when she was voted off. The real reason she was voted off was nothing to do with her disability but because she answered a very easy question wrong. So it's very sad to me that she played the disabled card.
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We seem to have been collecting library books over the past few weeks so I decided to take a whole load back yesterday. Our local library had a small book sale and I was so tempted by a book entitled "Just Boris - A Tale of Blond Ambition" The only thing that put me off was the price of £1. I couldn't believe a biography of Boris Johnson could be valued at that much.
Looked the book up on Amazon and listed next is one entitled: "Why Boris Johnson Deserves Trust, Respect and Admiration." I was horrified that such a title could exist. But on reading the reviews I realised the book is 200 blank pages. The author who calls himself a top political analyst states that he couldn't think of anything to say so buyers can use the pages for notes and sketches. The frontpage blurb calls it "refreshingly honest." This is my type of humour.
I see that the leaders of the three main political parties have issued their New Year message. Since when did politicians do this. Don't we hear enough from them the other 364 days of the year?