RockNerd

By RockNerd

Oh, alright then!

I'm usually happy to accept advice painted on a pub.

The Coach and Horses in Isleworth is a mentioned in Dickens' Oliver Twist. Oliver is taken by Bill Sykes to commit a burglary in Chertsey. They get a lift in a carriers cart to Hounslow:

'As they passed the different milestones, Oliver wondered, more and more, where his companion meant to take him. Kensington, Hammersmith, Chiswick, Kew Bridge, Brentford, were all passé and yet they went on as steadily as if they had only just begun their journey. At length they came to a public house called the Coach and Horses, a little way beyond which another road appeared to turn off. And here the cart stopped.'

The first floor bay window enabled travellers to watch for approaching stage coaches. At the end of the 17th century the journey from London to Bristol took 3 days, and if arriving near Hounslow at dusk travellers would break their journey to avoid crossing Hounslow Heath, a notorious haunt of highwaymen, at night.

The journey to Bristol is quicker these days. Hounslow Heath after dark is probably still best avoided!

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