It was a cold night, and it had been snowing for about three hours. This is the year 1778. In the square by the General Post Office in London, there were about 45 Mail-coaches, all waiting for the trumpet sound, that would signal to them that it was 8.00pm, and they could start their long journey. Some of the coaches were going to towns and Cities throughout the country. Robert was a young man of 26, who had got the position of Guard on “The Merlin”. He was dressed smartly in a red jacket with blue lapels, and with gold braid around the cuffs.George was the coach driver, a skilled horse driver, a strong man in his early fifties, and dressed in black overcoat and a black top hat, typical wear, as drivers did not have a uniform. Robert was employed by the General Post Office, as are all of the guards. George and the other drivers are employed by the owners of the coach.

The snow was now beginning to lay around the square. The sound of the horses snorting, with steam from their breath filling the air, there was also the clip clop of their hooves, as they waited impatiently for the signal to go. Tonight the destination for Robert and George was Dorchester, the main town in Dorset. With four passengers inside and one up top sitting with the driver, the guards always sat at the rear of the coaches, and no one was allowed to sit near to the guard. It would be three long days before they would returned to London. The mail inside strong mail bags had been stored in the rear boot neatly, in the order that they would be taken out at postal points along the way. The passengers luggage was stowed in the front boot, along with all the odds and ends taken to carry out small repairs to the coach, should it be needed.

Robert knew that Lucy, the love of his life would be waiting for him at the Inn in Salisbury, he had proposed to her, and was to get her reply tomorrow, as he busied himself checking that everything was on board, as listed by the Post Office. Two hand pistols, a Blunderbuss, and all the ammunition boxed up there, and also the two Post Office clocks, one in the rear boot, the other in Robert pocket. Time was very important to the Postal coaches. Because time varied in England in those days, but the driver of the coaches were responsible fot getting the coach to get to its destination on time. There were also some bits of metal and string to carry out minor repairs. If the coach were to break down and be unusable, it was the guard who had to take one of the horses and deliver the mail at the next safe Inn or Post Office.