Every summer Newport is invaded by 19th century British mail coaches. Apparently, when the railroad took over the job of moving the mail over long distances in the UK and the US, the wealthy snapped them up and created the sport of coaching, involving the ability to control the four horses which pull one of these coaches. And the sport lives on; all of the coaches on view this weekend were driven by trained drivers. You can read more about it here.
In any case, since Thursday the twelve coaches involved have been parading through the streets of Newport twice a day, following routes which were engineered to pose the coaches in as many of the area's scenic spots as possible. And they are very impressive-looking trotting by the crashing waves or down shaded country lanes. But this morning, before taking off on their morning parade, they trotted up Bellevue Ave. to The Elms, where they strutted their stuff and showed off their paces to throngs of viewers. I can't even begin to tell you about each of the coaches, their whips (the sport's name for the drivers), or the horses pulling them, even though each was thoroughly explained by the master of ceremonies while they trotted about the field; I was too busy taking pictures to also take notes. The first shot is the parade up Bellevues Ave.; the rest were taken in The Elms' spacious back gardens.
In any case, since Thursday the twelve coaches involved have been parading through the streets of Newport twice a day, following routes which were engineered to pose the coaches in as many of the area's scenic spots as possible. And they are very impressive-looking trotting by the crashing waves or down shaded country lanes. But this morning, before taking off on their morning parade, they trotted up Bellevue Ave. to The Elms, where they strutted their stuff and showed off their paces to throngs of viewers. I can't even begin to tell you about each of the coaches, their whips (the sport's name for the drivers), or the horses pulling them, even though each was thoroughly explained by the master of ceremonies while they trotted about the field; I was too busy taking pictures to also take notes. The first shot is the parade up Bellevues Ave.; the rest were taken in The Elms' spacious back gardens.
© 2009 by A. Roy Hilbinger
Coolness! It looks like fun.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous. Might have re-read one of my Georgette Heyer Regency romances tonight!
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh nice Roy! Iahd trouble enough with one horse, never mind four of 'em!-LOL! Truly takes a bit of talent to do this, yes? And those white horses are by far the best!
ReplyDeleteLove the paints they're so flashy! Prince Phillip is a keen officianado of the sport in England!
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