I covered in a previous Fast Fact the average travelling speed and distance per day for various types of conveyance, such as on foot, on horseback, with a two-horse curricle, a four-horse carriage, etc. (complete with a chart!). The focus here is on travel considerations, those little persnickety things that would slow our heroes and heroines down in their travel. Not an exclusive list, by any means, but certainly a start.

Before we jump into a list, let’s consider the British mile compared to an American mile in the modern sense, and then we’ll travel back in time.

American roads are considerably different from British roads, as is travelling from one point to another. Generally speaking, if one is looking at travelling 5 miles in America, that means it’ll take 5 minutes to go from point A to point B. Sure, plenty of flexibility there, but let’s suppose we’re in a moderately driving car, the road is in good condition, there’s not much traffic, etc. We see Starbucks is 5 miles away. We’ll be there in 5 minutes. This scenario is quite different in England. At a safe bet, one should double the time for the mileage, and possibly add a little to be generous. 5 miles in England means it’ll take 10-15 minutes to go from point A to point B. The roads wind and meander, the lanes are narrow, the speeds are slow, you’re bound to end up stuck behind a flock of sheep or tractor or cyclist, there will be at least one detour, etc. If the mile-to-time factor is so different now, imagine it during the Georgian era.

Just because a hero’s horse can travel a safe 10 mph or so, that doesn’t mean he’ll have actually travelled 10 miles in an hour. Double that. Going 10 mph, it’ll take our hero two hours, and that’s if all conditions are favourable.

A few considerations of what will slow travel:

• Road condition (or worse—where’d the road go?)

• Road route (how meandering is the route)

• Elevation changes (ie the 20 hills and dales over the next 1 mile distance)

• Village thoroughfares (gotta’ slow to a walk, mind pedestrians and animals, etc.)

• Misdirection (darn Georgian-era GPS is never reliable)

• Thrown horseshoe, injury, jibbing, pebble in sole, or misadventure with carriage

• Traffic (when stuck behind a farmer’s gig, that flock of sheep, or whatnot)

• Tollgates (why is the tollkeeper never waiting when you need him?)

• Weather (guaranteed rain shower at least once per day or you’re in the wrong country)

• Highwaymen, footpads, bridge trolls (stand and deliver!)

• Damsel in distress (come on, are we really not going to help?)

• Potty breaks (Mum told you to go at the last pitstop)

• Water and food breaks (yes, the horse(s) needs this too, and far more frequently than the hero/heroine)

• Detour (road is flooded, road being resurfaced, dead body blocking the path, broken down carriage ahead, bridge in poor repair, ex-girlfriend pretending to be a damsel in distress ahead, etc.)

What have I missed? Let me know what else I should add to our travel considerations, especially if we want our hero/heroine to make it to ye’ olde coffeeshop in time for their lover’s tryst.